The Pandemic’s Effect on everyday people

Causes of panic-buying and results

This has been happening all over the globe at a massive scale. What most don’t realize
that it’s not just anxiety and fear of the unknown that’s fueling people to stock up, it’s the other
panic-buyers as well. Think of it this way: You walk into a grocery store only wanting to buy
want you needed for the week, then you see other people with 2-3 carts filled to the brim with
supplies then you think to yourself, “Oh what if I run out because more people are buying more
products?”. As you walk down the aisles, you unconsciously start reasoning to yourself why you
need to buy more of what you needed for the week.

“By this time next week, I won’t be so lucky to have it still on the shelf.”
“It’s all going to run out soon with all these people buying in bulk.”
“I’m better of safe than sorry.”

The psychology behind the social phenomenon known as, “bandwagon” is clearly taking
place and no seems to notice it because they’re so caught up in their own need to have a bit of
control when everything is going haywire. Bandwagon by definition is a phenomenon whereby
the pace of take-up of convictions, thoughts, crazes and patterns increases in regards to the extent
of which other people have done as well. As more individuals come to believe in something,
others will "get on board with" paying little mind to the hidden proof or the evidences that tell
not to do otherwise. Bandwagon is usually because of peer or social pressure but in this case it is
more of a step by step process wherein you first have a stressors like seeing people buying in
bulk and psyching yourself out with “what if” scenarios and the trigger would be the false
realization that you are going to run out of supply and you will suffer. A panic-buyer is fully
committed to the false fact that he or she will run out of supplies which why he or she should get
this much while it’s still there.

Results of this will genuine shortages whether the shortage was real or perceived. There
is a finite amount of supplies that can be delivered and manufactured within a certain amount of
time although a shortage of supplies is highly unlikely. If panic-buying continues not only will
supply be depleted but it is putting other less fortunate individuals at risk. People who panic buy
are generally people who are well-off, those who can afford to buy food for a month in an
instant. Individuals who are on the poverty line are then left with the scarps left behind. Not only
those with little to no income affected by a massive loss of job opportunities but they are also left
with no a scare amount of supplies due to mass-bulk buying.
Horseman of Wages:
Closing down of businesses put more than just the businesses at risk they put people at risk too
Due to the rapid increase in safety hazards caused by the COVID-19 virus, various
businesses have shut down because of the lack of customers which then results in people being
let off. There had been over 3,000 companies that have reported to be temporarily shut down
leaving behind an estimated 100,000 workers without a source of income. Over 26% of the
Philippines businesses have reported to either be temporarily out of commission or permanently
shut down. In the Philippines alone, over 7.3 million people have lost their jobs because of this
pandemic resulting in the mass shutdown of businesses has led to the country's highest-recorded
unemployment rate.

Covid-19 has not just shut down businesses it has consequently the heightened levels of
public debt and additional pressures brought on by the pandemic on all major sources of
development and income for the people. Unemployed individuals are struggling to keep up with
their public health and social and economic responses to the pandemic.

To think that over 7.3 million Filipinos will be left without steady income in a time where
supplies are progressively getting more expensive and the threat of getting infected by the virus
which results in hospitalization which outs an individual further in debt without a company
insurance. Risks that individuals who have lost their jobs are not only limited to financial risks
but they go beyond to safety risks as well because not everyone will have the resources to find
work within their expertise and most often times they will result in working manual labor
wherein they have to go outside and increase their risk of infection.

It’s not just the stock and economy dropping but it is the moral of the people as well not
only are they terrified of the risk of infection but many are effected by what we call , financial
anxiety. Financial anxiety is characterized as "a psychosocial disorder whereby people have an
uncomfortable and undesirable mentality toward drawing in with and regulating their own
accounts in an effective manner." It may also be known as "money anxiety" is a term in some
cases used to portray a state of steady stress and anxiety over cash. This form of anxiety deters
people who are already desperate for work, from playing it safe against the rapidly unsettling
spread of the virus.

Yet, the anxiety from finances works uniquely in contrast to an actual infection of a
disease. It is shaped from a series of events depending on an individual but commonly it through
the following: seeing others' absence of certainty, and their emotional response to the declines in
various aspects of their everyday lives. An antagonistic bubble in the stock market happens when
individuals see costs falling. Attempts to find the reason behind the decline spreads information
and stories that clarify the decrease whether it is truthful or not. At that point, costs fall on
resulting days, and over and over which further lowers the morale of the people because that just
means more businesses are getting closed and more people are losing their jobs.

Horseman of Debt
Keeping up with bills and rent

As if we weren’t struggling to stay financially afloat, COVID comes in and decides to

drag us down to the DEBTS of despair. Heh, get it? Debts of despair? Anyways, because of the
massive negative impact the pandemic has brought upon the world over millions of people
worldwide will be left homeless and evicted. People are struggling to make ends meet because a
severe inequity in the amount of job opportunities that help them maintain their homes and
maintain their necessities. Eviction and homeless rates all over the globe have skyrocketed ever
since COVID brought about an antagonistic effect on the business world. Individuals who have
become financially depressed due to the pandemic for reasons ranging from job loss or minimum
wage now have to worry about the threat of being evicted and left homeless.

If you thought people were going to be more sympathetic regarding the situation you
would be far from the truth. A good portion of the people getting evicted from their homes,
boarding houses and apartments are front-liners whose landlords kicked them out for fear of
infection. It’s honestly quite sad and just so very wrong. To think that people were scared enough
to kick out a modern day hero for doing their job and keeping them safe. Mass hysteria is at its
finest work, it has driven communities apart instead if uniting them against a common foe and
ear of something is making us forget who the true enemy is.

People who are under duress due to financial troubles should still pay their rent or
mortgage on time as the lessees rely on their payments as their source of income. It is
understandable why the Department of Trade and Industry’s suggestions of discounted rent or
deferment of payment is met with positive responses from renters but they are putting a heavy
amount of risk for the lessees. Lease contracts would have required an advance installment of
rent for specific time period, and would have a standard clause wherein force majeure doesn't
pardon non-payment of lease.