what people get wrong about the boots theory Once upon a…
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what people get wrong about the boots theory
Once upon a time, a brilliant author who wrote humor fantasy in a made up world created a character. This character, Sam Vines, was a watchman (the police of this fantasy world), and he patrolled the city on foot. Once, as he was patrolling, he mused upon how cheap boots cost less up front but, since they wear out quickly, end up costing more than a good pair of boots. So, if you’re too poor to afford good boots, you will end up spending more on cheaper boots. And that is Sam Vimes's 'Boots' Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness.
A lot of people like to quit quote it, even though it‘s not a novel idea. Also, most people don’t realize that there are more nuggets of economic wisdom where that came from.
After reading all of Terry Pratchett’s books, I realized that Vimes does a lot of reflecting on socioeconomics. Vimes is from the lower classes, but he ends up marrying one of the richest women of the city, and he observes the disparities up front.
One of my favorite observations is when he realizes that his wife barely buys anything, and he poses that the rich get richer because they have heirlooms to turn to when they need something. They have homes full of spare rooms with spare articles of high-quality furniture or clothing or tableware or whatever.
So the boots theory has to be complemented with: once you buy those high quality boots, you hold on to them. You don’t “declutter” them because they go out of style. You don’t throw them away if you can repair them. You keep them and you store them forever, and then you leave them to your descendants.
And while most of us don’t have the space to keep our parents’ (and their parents’) stuff, I do believe that holding on to the things that we can (high-waisted jeans now that low-rise are back in style, or the fancy china your parents never used) is better than throwing them away.
Of course, you need to have the space to keep stuff, and the staff to look after it, and the butler to organize it for you…otherwise it can become hoarding.
#finance
source
Once upon a time, a brilliant author who wrote humor fantasy in a made up world created a character. This character, Sam Vines, was a watchman (the police of this fantasy world), and he patrolled the city on foot. Once, as he was patrolling, he mused upon how cheap boots cost less up front but, since they wear out quickly, end up costing more than a good pair of boots. So, if you’re too poor to afford good boots, you will end up spending more on cheaper boots. And that is Sam Vimes's 'Boots' Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness.
A lot of people like to quit quote it, even though it‘s not a novel idea. Also, most people don’t realize that there are more nuggets of economic wisdom where that came from.
After reading all of Terry Pratchett’s books, I realized that Vimes does a lot of reflecting on socioeconomics. Vimes is from the lower classes, but he ends up marrying one of the richest women of the city, and he observes the disparities up front.
One of my favorite observations is when he realizes that his wife barely buys anything, and he poses that the rich get richer because they have heirlooms to turn to when they need something. They have homes full of spare rooms with spare articles of high-quality furniture or clothing or tableware or whatever.
So the boots theory has to be complemented with: once you buy those high quality boots, you hold on to them. You don’t “declutter” them because they go out of style. You don’t throw them away if you can repair them. You keep them and you store them forever, and then you leave them to your descendants.
And while most of us don’t have the space to keep our parents’ (and their parents’) stuff, I do believe that holding on to the things that we can (high-waisted jeans now that low-rise are back in style, or the fancy china your parents never used) is better than throwing them away.
Of course, you need to have the space to keep stuff, and the staff to look after it, and the butler to organize it for you…otherwise it can become hoarding.
#finance
source
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