| We just got back from a lovely beach trip away. Always good to get a break! We go to the same place every year and it is always fun to notice the change, trends and fashions. This year Cool Cabana beach shades and Tesla cars were everywhere! I listed to a great podcast by the Resilience Project on Mimetic Desire recently. Basically mimetic desire explains the phenomenon that we want what others want, or what others have. If someone else has something, it seems more desirable. Now anyone with a young teenage girl in their house needs no explanation of this concept. The girls head out the door in their wide legged jeans, white sneakers, baggy jumper and frank green drink bottle with their hair parted down the middle. They can only be differentiated from their pack of friends by colour (hair, jumper and drink bottle), ’cause you know, you don’t want to look the same as anyone else. Then they just walk around and giggle at all the boys with mullets, ’cause you know, who looks good in a mullet. Anyway, can’t laugh at them if we take a look at ourselves in farm work clothes can we? Clothes and hair are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things, but can mimetic desire play a part in farm business decisions? The people we are around are buying – we buy The people we are around are selling – we sell Everyone seems to be feedlotting, rather than selling – we feedlot Everyone seems to have a type of telehandler/sprayer/side-by-side/family vehicle – we want one too Not because these things are necessarily the best things for our farm business, backed up by economic analysis or science, suit or our situation, or our family, it’s because, in no small part, everyone else having something or doing something makes it seem more desirable. Just a point to ponder as we make plans for the coming year. |
