September Eleventh shattered what meant most to anyone: safety and freedom from danger. 911 made it now possible for terrorists to strike us in not only our hearts, with fear of personal injury, but in our minds we have this sort of fear mentality in which it is now possible for terrorists to destroy the civilian populace of a nationstate. But I say, why should we let terrorists take from us what rightfully belongs to us? We should utilize the principles of economics, namely microeceonomics, to fight terrorism as best we can… because with our troops in Iraq, in what the writer of the Art of War would call a ‘heavily protracted warfare’, we cannot afford to just sit around and hope that our government fends in for us. We must stand our ground for our principles and fight terrorism where it may strike us worst: in the free markets.
I can see of the laws of supply and demand being powerful weapons for the rational, highly-intelligent erudite individual. in this day and age, everyone has to know how to defend himself against terror, and the markets are where the everyday person can do this. If you are an everyday person, such as a business person, a salesman, a CEO, a home-biz trep, a teenager, or a ninety year old grandmother, you too can use the laws of supply and demand to fight terrorism and keep yourself safe. Economics used as a defense mechanism is like better than MMA – it allows you to smash the enemy while benefitting from the situation.
There are two simple tools that can be used very effectively: supply of consumer items, and demand for those items. In order to say, cause terrorists to not be able to build bombs, which they need ammonia nitrate (fertilizer) for, just buy more and more fertilizer than you really need, stock up for next year, and the demand whill shift right, driving the price up. After three hours of continuous purchasing, the supply of fertilizer would also drop, causing further price increases. If pulled off correctly, the price of a bag of fertilizer could shoot up from 20 USD a bag to 20000 USD per bag in a day.
Another example of economics used to fight terrorism is in what is known as NBC. No, that is not the National Broadcasting Company, that stands for Nuclear Biological Chemical. In this situation, let’s say terrorists wanted to make organic tear gas (which I doubt they would, but it’s a possibility, one that could be used, if used in large quantities, to suffocate students at a school) using onions and thaihots. They would need to get these from a grocery store. All the average consumer needs to do is drive the equilibrium price to a level a few more dollars above the market price, just above what the terrorists are willing to pay, but below anyone else’s opportunity cost. Thus, the terrorists would not be able to pull off that attack, and all it does is inconvenience those who really need the hots.
Another example of economics fighting terror is in the market for soap. SOAP??!?!?? you ask. Yes, soap. It is a sanitary contingent, so that’s why we will discuss soap… If the terrorists want to destroy the supply of soap, and likewise attack the sewage systems (seriously, when my new book “Defcon Five: Story of a Bad Day” comes out you should seriously consider reading it…) then the populace should promptly buy less soap and more soap alternatives… Thus bringing the price of soap down and making the terrorists attack nullified… Then we can make less use of the necessities and do our stuff in the forest… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! no, I’m just kidding… that was just put there to see if you were still with me… Actually, once we have stopped the rise in the price of soap, then we can call our respective governments and tell them that there is a terror attack in the process…
UUUhhhhhggg,, I am losing my bludshed here, well, maybe this can be part I and I will see you all next time… whenever that may be…
