International business wants us to buy several kinds of products. Sometimes those products are necessary, sometimes useless, and sometimes even harmful – like guns, for instance. They can also be luxury, like guns. Paying attention to what you buy is very sensible indeed. Loss of capital is often a minor problem compared to some of the effects faulty buying practices can lead to.
Before proceeding with our buyer’s guide to everything we must first be aware of the fact that we have no idea which kinds of consumers will read this article: wealthy, poor, bankrupt but resourceful…? This responsibility – trying to second-guess a thing that is completely up to chance – would daunt a less courageous editor. I was a bit afraid myself, but being intelligent I managed to cook up some sort of a flimsy compromise. Such is always better than an utter catastrophe later, I’m told.
The compromise? I will add what (I believe) is called a caveat: every time a product, service or the kind is mentioned in the text, it is the reader’s responsibility to adjust his view of the instance according to all the socio-economical factors that could cause the said product, service or the like to be outside of his so-called price range. For instance, if the article mentions a Kalashnikov and you think you could never afford one, exchange it in your mind for a Luger, a BB gun, or a slingshot – all according to your own circumstances. Conversely, if a Kalashnikov seems like a ridiculously cheap and inefficient product to you, imagine a Sherman tank, a battleship, or a cruise missile in its place. This is a very flexible system that leaves us with no responsibility whatsoever.
With all this out of the way, we can proceed.
When you are about to buy something – a slingshot, for instance – the first thing to consider is: are you going to hurt yourself or someone else with it? Can you use this Kalashnikov to shoot your neighbour? Or if you are going to buy something like a cruise missile, are you certain you will not accidentally sink someone’s battleship with it? If the answer in your mind is: “No, this slingshot could never sink a battleship”, you are safe to proceed. Safety is not the only factor, however.
A slingshot can be prohibitively expensive for someone who lives in the Beverly Hills or in Monaco. It might be far more expedient to purchase a simple assault rifle. It is also true that sinking a battleship with an assault rifle is far less likely than doing it with a BB gun. And don’t forget: if you do decide to buy that battleship, you will always need to be nervous around people with slingshots. That will not happen if you get a tank instead.
It might appear that this article has barely scratched the surface of what could well turn into a very complicated issue. This view is justified – but only to an extent. If the caveat of the article is kept firmly in mind, this article is unbelievably extensive and helpful. Just keep adjusting. It is always useful in any case.