scarcity

noun [ U ]us  /ˈsker.sə.t̬i/ uk  /ˈskeə.sə.ti/

a situation in which something is not easy to find or get

a lack of something

“Again, I take a deep breath (I set you free)
You know I said I want some more
(Uh, yeah, that’s you, you, you, you)
They all wanna move how I move
Naturally, that’s cool
‘Til there’s nothing left of what we could wish for
I just can’t stop
Yeah, I need a break”

Fashion flows from creative responses to it. Music embraces the experience of it. Creativity blooms from the chasing of our dreams. Baggy jeans have ebbed and flowed along with scarcity. When the source of our belongings relies on what is filling the racks at second-hand shops, finding a perfect fit is next to impossible. Baggy is better than too tight, durable and easy to wash is preferable to dry clean only, and comfort reigns when trendy is out of reach. Scarcity makes us get creative. We find our abundance .

From Wikipedia: ” The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incumbent president George H. W. Bush. The recession also included the resignation of Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, the reduction of active companies by 15% and unemployment up to nearly 20% in Finland, civil disturbances in the United Kingdom and the growth of discount stores in the United States and beyond.”

Jump – House of Pain (1992)

Thrift Shop – Macklemore (2012)

From Wikipedia – “The causes of the Great Recession include a combination of vulnerabilities that developed in the financial system, along with a series of triggering events that began with the bursting of the United States housing bubble in 2005–2012. When housing prices fell and homeowners began to abandon their mortgages, the value of mortgage-backed securities held by investment banks declined in 2007–2008, causing several to collapse or be bailed out in September 2008. This 2007–2008 phase was called the subprime mortgage crisis.”

Material scarcity is not the only scarcity behind the choice to wear an extravagant silhouette. Cultural pride in the face of persecution led to the glorious colors and culture of the Pachuco.

Not all reactions to scarcity create something out of our abundance. Some reactions work to create the illusion of abundance.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Shakespeare – Hamlet

When people are afraid they will often attempt to create the illusion that they are someone to be feared. They might tout how dangerous they are by creating tales that focus on their willingness to take actions that are generally considered unacceptable by the society they live in. These tales are often unsubstantiated and take place in the past. If the story creates a backlash leading to negative judgement from general society, it can work in the favor of the person wanting to be feared. They begin to feel less afraid as the power they wield to cause fear in others increases. Because the truth is known to the story teller, the fear never disappears. They must increase the volume of their actions to continue the charade. Fear loses its power with time and proximity.

The story that created their fearsome, or unpredictable, reputation need not be true. Most of the tales told in such situations, are fantasies. But they won’t be questioned because the idea that someone would make up a story, in order to be seen as an awful person, doesn’t make sense to the general public. The scarcity that would create that response doesn’t have the same outcome in most cases. Cricket may not have existed at all. The situation, and the players, might be a complete fabrication. A carefully crafted image will often be believed because most people are not willing to maintain that level of theater, and don’t expect it in their lives.

George Santos, a former congressman, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. (Not the real Santos in this video clip) He didn’t try to create a fearsome persona. He created a persona of wealth, and pride, that focused on attaining the respect of those he saw as above him.

The AI generated images of perfection, the filters that hide reality, the inflated resumes, and the little white lies all are creations of scarcity. At the same time, the music, the stories, the movies, fashion, and the arts are also creations of scarcity. The difference lies in whether we are working with what we have to create more, or if we’re working with what we have to hide what we don’t have.