Everyone has heard the old saying "love makes the world go round." Most have heard the typical rebuttal "money makes the world go round." But in reality, neither of these actually explains the movement of the universe.

The phenomenon that actually fuels the world in its revolutionary progress is purchasing. Money doesn’t have much of an effect on anything until it is used; until a purchase is made.

Some might say that the way in which money is used is determined by the individual in whose hand the bills reside; that the use of money depends upon personal and/or family needs and individual circumstances. To these people I would like to offer my congratulations on their idealistic vision of the world around them.

The world might be a better place if I could agree, but I would argue that the majority of today’s financial decisions are influenced so heavily by outside forces that they can’t really be said to be the direct result of personal needs or circumstances.

For instance, once upon a time if a man needed an egg, he wandered in the forest until he found an unguarded nest and he took the egg he needed (or all the eggs if he was greedy.)

A little time passed and a similar need would arise with a similar man and the man would fulfill the need by wandering out to his henhouse, lifting up a hen and taking the egg he needed. More time passed and a similar man with a similar need might walk to the town market to purchase or barter for the egg he required.

Still more time passes; another similar man with the same need visits his local grocer on his way home from work to procure the needed egg.

Even more time flies away and we find ourselves in the world of today. But this man faces many questions before he will be able to obtain the object of his desire.

The first question is where will he purchase the egg? Is he going to go to a convenient store? It’s quicker; it’s more expensive; it may be very close.

6Is he going to visit a grocery store? And if so, which one? Will he go to the closest store to his home? Will he visit the one nearest to his work on the way home for the day? Will he visit the grocery store that has the best sales? Will he visit the grocery store that is known to have the highest quality products? Will he visit the grocery store that is known for its specialty items? Will he go to a health food store? Will he go to the store he is most familiar with for that reason alone?

Once he arrives at the chosen location he will be faced with still more questions. How many eggs will he be purchasing? Will he go with a flat dozen? Does he need a dozen and a half? Will he look to see if they can be had by the half dozen? Or maybe he should buy in bulk.

Next he will need to know if small, medium, or large eggs suit his needs the best. Brand names and prices will vary and offer more options.

Some men would even go so far as to include the chickens from which the egg originated into their purchasing equation. Did the eggs come from cage-free chickens?

Page 1 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next