As the black market dollar is set to rise further, due to the lack of real political reasons to prevent it, and with the Lebanese pound continuing its downward trend, the lifted subsidies on fuel will push prices upwards in the coming stages. This will lead to an increase in the prices of all goods, along with additional difficulties for many people in securing their food, drink, and medicines. The result is a state of "mini famine" and a "new version" of "times of death," along with the difficulties and problems that await us, with expectations of cascading collapses in the future, within a seemingly endless "peak of collapse."
What are the ways to withstand such a situation? What can the weaker social segments do in terms of appropriate consumer behavior for this type of crisis?
It's true that traders are preparing to "scoop" more and more profits. It's also true that most of them are "sharpening their teeth" for immense wealth in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. However, some consumer behaviors can raise the rates of losses for these groups and force them to reduce prices and cut back on their profits and thefts, even if only minimally.
For example, there are many goods that spoil if they don't find customers within a maximum of a few days. If their prices are exceedingly high, Lebanese citizens may ignore them and leave them on the "shelves," either leading to spoilage and losses for greedy traders or forcing them to reduce prices after 24, or perhaps 48 hours, if they find that these items fail to achieve the desired sales rates in the required time.
A Shrinking Basket...
A source monitoring the collapse in Lebanon pointed out that the "financial crisis the country is going through has reflected on people's purchasing power. Most numbers and statistics show that Lebanese are focusing on buying necessities over other items, and that the food basket has shrunk significantly for a considerable number of people."
He noted in a conversation with "Akhbar Al-Youm" agency that "these are increasingly evident data in our society, but they are not enough to say that the Lebanese have reached a level of awareness regarding necessary consumer behaviors to turn the tables on those manipulating prices and benefiting from crises to amass wealth. Lebanese people are shouting against a political class they say is draining their blood through its numerous syndicates present in every field and sector, and they talk about traders who steal and exploit them, but this has never reached a level where they adopt consumer behaviors that would close the channels of theft."
The Future of the Country
The source emphasized that "Lebanese people are generally different from other nations, in that they strengthen their positions against one another and 'bite' each other, and their greed and avarice increase abnormally in times of crises, instead of coming together and pushing the state to change the difficult conditions."
He concluded, "It is said that hunger is a nonbeliever and is the cause of security violations, which is what scares some the most these days. In light of the ongoing financial and economic collapse, the absence of any real recovery plan, and the lack of guarantees for any program with the 'International Monetary Fund,' alongside intermittent public criticisms or movements that are more political than reformative, it's difficult to talk about a real future for Lebanon."
