we're pretty far from anything resembling supply chain collapses. I don't know why "the left" doesn't bother to look into like... the supply chains, plural because there are many of them, and single ones breaking doesn't actually mean much. Rail workers striking? They scab with boats (I know, I know). Boat gets stuck? There's enough meds in warehouses to load balance common formulations, but you may need a worse administration route for those cases. But even during wartime, they don't just break down. Why?
Because there's money in selling you things, even during collapse.
There's so much fear on the left just out of like, ignorance (And by extension, hearing it from people who are ignorant of it) but just like violent revolution, that's the least of your worries long before it actually gets to that point.
to be clear: the below examples are for the US. they're true other places too, probably, but I don't know how much each country was affected, and I know grocery shortages did hit parts of austrailia.
The estradiol shortages were for injectable, not other formulations, because pfizer didn't bother to keep up with population numbers for cis women. The testosterone shortages were because they didn't anticipate cis men were going to be scared into thinking they're losing all their vitality at 40. They weren't from supply chain issues, outside of 'they didn't make enough'. Adderall? DEA sets limits, and decided people were being overprescribed, instead of pandemic making more people hit their breaking point, go to the psych, and get their un-diagnosed ADHD diagnosed.
The chip shortage? China's soft blockade of Taiwan chip supplies, mixed with high demand and no stockpiling. The grocery shortage? made up. The supply chain disruptions are a good excuse, but haven't really been a thing since 2020, and the more recent lockdown -- but critical supplies (meds, especially) were still being shipped. But that hasn't anything to do with collapse either.
This isn't the fault of people who end up believing it, but when the media says things, they're usually pretty wrong about it lately if it's complex at all, and when "the left" then uncritically reports on what the media are saying, it's pretty easy for them to launder that, probably without realizing unless they actually look into the issue. And when everyone around you is saying the same things because they all have the same info sources, well. I can't blame people for the fear, but maybe this allays it.
there's worse things to worry about, supply collapse isn't really one of them. because, again, it's not profitable to not deliver things you need. Supply finds a way to where the money is. There'd be markup, but it's still there (And you can rob them if you had to. 50 people can do anything)
I try to make this clear whenever I can, but it seems to be cropping up again.
Sorry for the tone being so agitated, but this is actually A Problem On The Left and until it changes I am going to be annoyed, because it's been a problem for OVER SEVEN YEARS.
the thing about living in a capitalist system is you can't ascribe other value systems to it when analyzing it. capitalism is selling to both sides of a civil war. capitalism is fuel arbitrage between Dallas and twice the price in hurricane struck puerto rico.
a great illustration here is natural gas gouging to the middle of the Northeast US because they can choose the price. why? they ship it here.
Because activists collectively didn't think about supply lines when they fought pipelines (good) but did it right as others were trying to get the coal power plants replaced with natural gas, as it creates less direct community pollution (and CO2) than thermal coal. But it now requires natural gas to be shipped (fine, better than pipelines, trading shipping co2 for not spilling it all over indigenous and rural land). if we don't get an understanding of supply lines that isn't just what people regurgitate without looking, we risk doing similar, or worrying where the worry is unnecessary
its almost always phrased as if it's inevitable and sudden, but that's how nothing works.
but simultaneously it's talked about as it is going to be permanent, so stockpiling by getting twice your dose prescribed isn't seen as viable, nor is stopgap production.
empire doesn't fail like that, even the big ones, unless they're invaded. and then the invaders? sell you meds, and whatever else, unless they're Russia (who can't afford to sell what they've got, because they're currently undergoing collapse thanks to an aggressive war with an inadequate supply base for having your world cut off. And yet a lot of non-NATO countries still sell them meds and supplies). Because the entire point of invasion is low friction natural resources and... brand new markets. imperialism against superpowers isn't eliminationist in the way colonialism against outgunned nations is. that's both terrible and powerful in it's own way. if you're an insurgent, sure, getting meds will be hard, but most of the people worried about this are better at ISR than holding a gun, anyway, if things go down some day.
this isn't optimism, it's just how things are. like how our bridges are rotted out but only one or two fail a year, empires collapse slowly, held up by their own bureaucratic inertia. And as much as the rest of the left is tells us the US is crumbling, it is, unfortunately, doing quite well for itself.
even if trump republicans get all the congress and the presidency in 2024 somehow, pfizer will still sell to you, and so will CVS, because that's how capitalism works. just have your doctor say it's for early menopause thanks to surgical gonadal intervention. That's how we used to have to get around insurance -- but the pharmacies and pharma didn't care, because we made them money. i get that in some way it's a welcome distraction from actionable things, but like. so is watching train videos.
