Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick
Leave it to the most paranoid writer of all time to nail the truth of it.
I've been looking for a way to say this for a long time. It pretty much makes moot all the talk, all the media spin, all the hopes and desires, fears and failures.
It is what it is.
There are a plethora of articles about the "New Frugality"; a paradigm shift in spendings. I don't think I believe that. I think people still want to spend money.
The reality, if anything, is more alarming.
They simply don't have the money to spend. I feel as though most of the drop off in sales I've seen have come from a very basic fact; some of my customers have lost their jobs, others have had their income cut back.
So what I've seen is people simply dropping their comic shelves, period. No cutting back. Either they buy or they quit. And once they quit, it's unlikely I'll get them back. But like I said, most of the ones that quit were rumbling about lost wages or lost jobs or moving out of town. Real stuff. Not some amorphous, "Gee, I think I'll be careful with my spending, now...."
I think the cutting back for frugality is more or less a media invention, at least from the perspective of Pegasus Books. Having money and choosing not to spend it, isn't the same thing as not having money at all.
The New Frugality makes it sound as though the situation is within our control. Whereas, a downturn because people are broke is much more serious.
Both things are going on, of course. But saying that people are "being frugal" is almost an excuse, in my opinion, to not do anything. "Oh, it's just people being careful." Not, "It's people who are broke, and in debt up their ears, and in trouble."
Haves and have nots. Those who have a steady job, and those who don't. Those who have health insurance, and those who don't. Those who have an affordable mortgage, and those who don't.
Frugal is all well and good. I'm all for it.
But being broke makes being 'frugal' a joke.
--Philip K. Dick
Leave it to the most paranoid writer of all time to nail the truth of it.
I've been looking for a way to say this for a long time. It pretty much makes moot all the talk, all the media spin, all the hopes and desires, fears and failures.
It is what it is.
There are a plethora of articles about the "New Frugality"; a paradigm shift in spendings. I don't think I believe that. I think people still want to spend money.
The reality, if anything, is more alarming.
They simply don't have the money to spend. I feel as though most of the drop off in sales I've seen have come from a very basic fact; some of my customers have lost their jobs, others have had their income cut back.
So what I've seen is people simply dropping their comic shelves, period. No cutting back. Either they buy or they quit. And once they quit, it's unlikely I'll get them back. But like I said, most of the ones that quit were rumbling about lost wages or lost jobs or moving out of town. Real stuff. Not some amorphous, "Gee, I think I'll be careful with my spending, now...."
I think the cutting back for frugality is more or less a media invention, at least from the perspective of Pegasus Books. Having money and choosing not to spend it, isn't the same thing as not having money at all.
The New Frugality makes it sound as though the situation is within our control. Whereas, a downturn because people are broke is much more serious.
Both things are going on, of course. But saying that people are "being frugal" is almost an excuse, in my opinion, to not do anything. "Oh, it's just people being careful." Not, "It's people who are broke, and in debt up their ears, and in trouble."
Haves and have nots. Those who have a steady job, and those who don't. Those who have health insurance, and those who don't. Those who have an affordable mortgage, and those who don't.
Frugal is all well and good. I'm all for it.
But being broke makes being 'frugal' a joke.