Breaking Down Barriers: How Scarcity Fuels Fear of Death and Racism, Creating Divisions in Society

Scarcity is generally recognized as a socio-economic term that denotes a state of some good/commodity/service being in short supply:  scarcity implies that there is a predefined, finite amount of any given item/service to be distributed, and once that supply is exhausted, there is no more to be had.   The principle of scarcity - in terms of economic disciplines - underlies the tenets of supply and demand: the fewer of a given item there is in supply, the greater the demand will be, and consquently, a higher price will be paid for its acquisition.  Economists will find many holes in my definition here, and I'm oversimpmlifying the concept of scarcity in a major way, but I'm doing so for my readers (and myself) who do not have a background in economics, since we need to understand this concept for what I'm writing about here.   I want us to take a look at how scarcity fuesl the fear of death, and causes other (maybe even deeper) schisms in our culture, like racism.  I've touched on this before, but I'm going a bit deeper in this post. 

If scarcity is the very definition of a limited supply of something (like this example of drinkable water), and we know that when there is only a certain amout of that something to be had or acquired, then it creates within us a sense of urgency.  Keep in mind that this urgency created within us isn't necessarily something we're consciously aware of; but it does drive our consumer behaviors within the marketplace as a whole, and creates an underlying sense of "not enough" in our day-to-day business, such that we are likely not even realizing we are making decisions based on it.   For now, I'm asking my readers not to assign any value to it - I'm merely wanting to state an observation about this phenomenon.  We can explore this part to a greater degree in a future post if we want to. 

So scarcity, in its most simplistic of definitions, is essentially the idea that there isn’t enough – of potatoes, of currency, of pillows, of Cartier watches – to go around for everyone, implies that there is a finite limitation on these things and that in order to procure them, you must be one of two things:  quick enough to get to the pile of goods first, or “in” enough to be allotted them based on your cultural position.  Scarcity, however, is created only when there is a limit on production – and there is definitely a limit on production. After all, we live in a finite world.    However, our modern myth of progress compels us to believe that prosperity means that we must ever acquire more of something – that its scarcity makes it valuable and rare and that if we’re to be seen as “in” or affluent, acquisition of whatever good or service is an absolute must - illustrate that the idea of scarcity drives much of our behavior through the course of written history, and the concept of it perpetuates the myth of progress: the myth that one day – always somewhere in the distant future – we will arrive at the pinnacle of achievement, and eliminate scarcity and all of its offspring, which are things like othering, racism, and – perhaps most importantly for our discussions here – the fear of death.

During the first part of the pandemic, toilet paper was in short supply in the US. 

How is scarcity linked to the fear of death?   Well, in a very real sense, if there isn’t enough to go around of any certain item – let’s take food, for example – then the limitations on food supply mean some will get fed and others will not.  In our very finite world, this simple view means that there exists the possibility of biomechanical death if food is not acquired.  Of course, this isn’t openly discussed.  Our headlines discuss famine and poverty often enough, but we don’t often simplify the issues in this way.   We instead court them at a higher level, discussing the politics of aid and food production in a way that implies we might be able to do something about it if only we can achieve a certain (as yet undefined and nebulous) milestone. This again furthers the horizon of hope:  implying we’ll get there, eventually. To be safe, though, since in this example food is scarce, you would do well to make sure you’re in the group that is fed regularly, and for whom access to food is a given, and not questionable.   Otherwise, starvation might be a very real threat, and death by starvation is possible.   In our modern culture, this embodies an unspoken rule:  you need to be rich and white to have access to these amenities, and remove yourself from the mere possibility that you may expire from hunger. 

The myth of progress, then, dangles the carrot that one day – somewhere way out there in the future – we’ll have eliminated these concepts, and all of us will be equal.   This tenet, also a product of the myth of progress, perpetuates the message of scarcity and lack, and creates further obstacles to achieving this goal, whether we realize it or not.  Scarcity, meanwhile, continues to rear its ugly head, and the fear of imminent death is an ever-present reality that is subsidized by economic scarcity - if you don't have enough, you might die! Scarcity, then, is like a match to gasoline:  it drives the fear of death, which further creates dividing lines in our culture, and creates imaginary scenarios in our individualized worldviews that might sound something like this: “I’m too important to die, because I’m with the “in” group, so naturally I’ll be afforded the resources I need to continue my lifestyle.  I’ll make sure to donate to the poor people through a charity of my choosing, so that I can feel better about perpetuating this mythology and not have to make any real changes.”

I recognize I’ve oversimplified a lot here.  I also recognize that I am not an economist, nor am I a social philosopher. And before anyone asks, I’m a financially secure white woman.   I’m certain I’m considered part of the “in” group, for whom scarcity might be a fringe idea, rather than a daily part of life. But its clear to me, even from my privileged seat, that our fear of death, supported by our concepts of scarcity, is fueling our class division and social breakdown.  And if we continue to adhere to the tenets of our faith – the faith in progress – we will continue to advance these fears, and as a result, we’ll face a number of challenges whose features we can’t yet even define.