Aug 14, 2023–I used to wonder why TV’s Jeopardy had a Potpourri column. I now realize it was simply a place for the writing staff to dump all the question/answers that didn’t fit under one heading.
Ergo…
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I’m convinced our gardens are more productive when we treat them like weed patches. By totally ignoring it all summer, I have bumper crops of romaine, peppers, kale, and basil. And I didn’t plant, cultivate, or weed any of it.
Feral veggies.
There’s a deeper message here.
What are weeds? Weeds are simply plants growing in places we don’t want them to grow.
Vegetables, on the other hand, are plants we want to grow.
So we can eat them.
A commentator used to say “If we want more of something, we need to eat it.”
As counter-intuitive as that sounds, it is true.
If we want to preserve an animal, we need to eat it.
Cows, sheep, pigs, chicken, shrimp. We almost killed off the American bison. Now that we serve their meat at upscale bistros, ranchers are raising herds of them.
I guess the lesson is, if it’s not delicious, it perishes.
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If you ever need proof that the general population does not understand economics, read the comments under any social post.
A restaurant goes out of business?
“Someone” should take it over and do it right.
A movie theater shuts down?
“Someone” should open it and run it right.
Why is it always someone else? Because knowing how to use your own money and energy to create a successful business is hard.
The other “tell” of economic ignorance is when people lament the proliferation of banks, nail salons, chicken joints, and auto parts stores. Why are there so many? Because they make money and people use them. That is capitalism.
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Should you buy that new bicycle or find a cheaper one, used?
This is a model question for almost every transaction.
For us cheapskates, the calculation is simple. Get the cheaper one.
However, as I’ve grown in wisdom, I have been applying a different calculus.
Let’s walk through it.
Recently I decided my grand deserved a better bicycle. To simplify, let’s imagine it came to two choices: a new $100 bike. Or a used $20 bike.
The secret, I’ve learned, is to not think about the initial price, but instead think of “cost per use.”
So let’s start with the $100 bike. The math is simple. If she rides it one time, it costs $100 per use. For two rides, the cost is cut in half: $50 per ride. Five rides equals $20 per use. And so on. If she rides it 100 times, that’s $1 per ride. A thousand rides means we bought that new bike for 10 cents a ride.
Now the $20 bike works the same. However, with a used bike, there is a lower upper limit on the number of rides. Let’s say it only gives you 200 rides. That comes out to 10 cents a ride. The same as the new bike, but only one-fifth as many rides. And the rides are less wonderful because the bike was more worn to begin with, and probably not with the right size and color choices you get with a new bike.
The same approach works with every purchase–a car, house, computer, camera, a nice suit, comfortable shoes. When you look at every purchase through the “cost per use” lens, you achieve a whole new perspective on how to waste our money.
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Final thought: If you want to sell your garbage, call it potpourri.