Products Reliability And Happiness

     In college thirty plus years ago I wrote an essay for a political science class called Products Reliability And Happiness. I will attempt to paraphrase it and add to it here. For a long time humans did not have the luxury of having products and services to choose from. In between the major civilizations people had to eke out an existence as best they could. There was nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with as you have no money. Barter at best. I cannot imagine how that would be. Of course you didn't have to live by a clock. Only daylight and dark. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. 

     Fast forward a few centuries. Now it is all about products and services. House payment or rent. It is a product or service. Utilities. A product and service. Transportation (airplane, ships, autos, buses, bikes) are also a product and service. Food is also a product and service. Clothing also. I cannot remember the last time I made my own pants. Perhaps never. 

     So all the things we want are available to us. All we need is money. How do you get money. I guess you have to be an entrepreneur or employee. Or perhaps someone who has saved their money and retired. You could also just live off the fat of the land. In any event you will probably get enough to get by. 

     After time we all develop preferences and desires. "I could really go for a Coke right now". "Gee they are out of such and such thing that I am looking for". If we cannot find them we are not happy. Distraught. We get so fixated on a product or service that it causes ourselves a great deal of unhappiness if that product or service is no longer or presently available. Waaa!

     The main thing is that we are employed (for the most part) to provide the products and services that people desire. If we produced a product or service that was not desired we would have a position that would be obsolete. Therefore we would have to learn to live off the fat of the land. Unfortunately the fat is starting to run lean. 

     Throughout the 1990s you would probably catch me driving a Jaguar, Mercedes, or BMW. Of course I had a Chevy or Ford too. For work you know. Do you know how much an oil change is in those imports? A whole bunch. But you can run into people who can really afford these cars in the waiting room. Nothing like networking. 

      So we all want the things we want. Human nature. So we all things that we really want. Can't live without. A certain something. I do not need to list them as they are as personal as anything. I see people everyday and myself included into this. So we are the most happy when we can get the the products and services we desire.

        In this day and age we have became so accustomed to products and services that we are addicted to them . "Oh no I am not addicted to anything." Well think again. How about toilet paper. We use it every day!