the toilet paper deliberation

And last but not least...  About two weeks ago a very mysterious thing happened.  All of the toilet paper in Cuba disappeared.  You couldn’t find it in any shops and it simply doesn’t exist in public bathrooms here…well rarely it does, but not without a lady who hands you only a square or two for peso.  And so, I spent two weeks looking in every window I passed and regularly checking the local ferreterria (which is the closest thing to a walmart that exists here), but no tamale.  Every time I used a bathroom, I was dying to ask someone how they were dealing with this problem, as I was desperately saving napkins or using newspaper.  However, no one else really seemed to notice. –As a side note, I believe I’ve learned that Cubans don’t see TP as a necessity here, as they are quite resourceful with whatever is at hand (no pun intended. Really none)–

Finally one day, I was buying some pasta, beans, and ice cream from the ferreterria and there it was, a mountain of TP…stacked from ceiling to floor in a 12x12ft square and wrapped in plastic.  So I asked the cashier if I could buy some, and she directed me to a different section of the store (in this type of store there are various sections each with its own cashier stations and security).  When I walked in, I saw three times as much TP, again stacked ceiling to floor and wrapped in plastic.  This is the point where I knew it would be too easy to just walk up to one of these piles and attempt to take a roll or two to the counter… and sure enough there it was a line of more then 10 people waiting just to enter yet another section where you could purchase the toilet paper.  So…what could I do, as they say here “I made the tail” (stood in line) –ice  cream melting and all.  When I finally got inside this section of the store, I stood in another 15-person line of people with packages of toilet paper.  Here I waited for another 15-20 min to purchase my long awaited, but not over priced TP.  And this is the point to which I would like to bring attention. 

If there were a toilet paper shortage in the US, I think everyone who had more than three rolls would be out in the streets scalping the rest of the world for $10 and $20 rolls of TP.  The rest of us would probably be calling our congressmen and writing letters to senators.  All the same, TP would suddenly become ridiculously expensive and only people with money to burn would buy it. However, here in Cuba, it may disappear, but when it finally arrives it will cost the same as it did before the shortage and thus everyone will more or less have the same access to it as they did before it disappeared.  For me this illustrates a very simple economic truth.  In a restriction-free business economy, every person exploits their resources to gain capital.  Thus if you have toilet paper and someone else needs it, you raise the price as high as you can, regardless of the ability of the average public to pay.  As long as someone can pay, you win.  Unless you are the guy who can’t pay, and than you buy a lot of hand sanitizer or an extra newspaper.  Simple right, supply and demand.In contrast, in a system which is highly regulated, you may not have everything you want at the time when you want it, but when it arrives you will have equal access to it. Thus everyone has to be creative, resourceful, and learn how to live without.  But, at least no one will get rich off selling you overpriced TP, nor will anyone go broke trying to keep their ass clean.  In this type of system, everyone shares in the commodities of the county.