The Economics of Valentine's Day

This year I experienced Valentine’s Day to the fullest extent. I live on a hall with twenty other girls, half of which are in relationships. Our hall was filled with balloons, Valentine’s Day cards, flowers, and candy. I personally passed out elementary school style valentines to my hall mates. There were romantic dinners and single ladies’ nights and even a “Love Sucks” party to attend. I witnessed every side of college student viewpoints on love. However, in the aftermath of the cheesiest day of the year, I could not help wonder what motivates people to participate in Valentine’s Day.

For those in relationships, Valentine’s Day is a tool to determine the level of your partner’s affection. “The value of Valentine’s Day is that it creates an environment in which those in relationships can get information about how committed their partner is. Of course, we look for this information throughout the year, but February 14 is the one day when you have to show your hand,” argue McArthur and Adshade. In fact, 53% of women say that they would end their relationship if they did not receive anything for Valentine’s Day (StatiticBrain.com). People in relationships impose a certain pressure on one another to show their affection through silly gifts like flowers and candy.

This social pressure is also coming from businesses and restaurants who generate revenue from this holiday. The average annual spending on Valentine’s Days gifts is $13.19 Billion, averaging out to $116.21 per average participating consumer. About 180 million Valentine’s Day cards are sold, and 196 million roses were given out in 2015. In fact, about 40% of annual revenue of florists is generated on Valentine’s Day (Barzel, Gary). With approximately 62% of consumers participating in Valentine’s Day, florists, jewelry stores, restaurants, and other chocolate rendering corporations send out thousands of advertisements making this holiday of love something of national importance (StatisticBrain).

This social pressure to be in love devalues the single phase of one’s life. Being single is the time in your life to figure out your life goals and the purpose of your life. This social pressure can be damaging because it coerces people to feel the need for a partner. Valentine’s Day for singles can be a lonely time, if they allow themselves to be subject to the societal pressure to be in love.

Bibliography

McArthur, Neil, and Marina Adshade. "Why It's Better to Be Single on Valentine's Day." Time. Time, 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.

"Valentines Day Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. Statistic Brain, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.

Barzal, Gary. "Connect With Us." MintLife Blog. MintLife, 9 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.

Links to Articles:

http://time.com/3703157/valentines-day-single-is-better/

https://www.mint.com/blog/trends/how-valentines-day-helps-the-economy/

http://www.statisticbrain.com/valentines-day-statistics/

Adam Smith Disapproves This Message

Did you know that you have to own a license to braid hair? African immigrant, Jestina Clayton, moved from Sierra Leone to Utah and began to braid hair for a living. She was a professional at the braiding, and earned her living from this task. She had years of experience from her life in Sierra Leone and was well-qualified to braid hair for a living. Her customers proved this, as they returned again and again to Jestina Clayton’s services for four years. Then, in 2005, the government received word that she was braiding hair without a cosmetology license, and shut her business down. Jestina Clayton immediately looked into obtaining this license, and was dismayed to learn that it would require 2,000 hours of learning over a 50 week time period to obtain this license in order to learn a skill that she was already professional at. In order to restrict competition, a board of cosmetologists create the expensive price and time commitment of this licensing process, and control the issuing of this particular license.

This government regulation hinders the growth of vital competition. Competition is vital to any free market economy which utilizes competition to make society more efficient and reduce the price of goods and services for the consumer. With this licensing regulation that extends past hair braiding into virtually every part of our free market economy, it is more difficult for any American to start his own business. Licensing is a large time commitment and expense for brand new business to pay; and therefore is a way for the government to control competition (Stossel, John).

In this case, the ideology of Adam Smith is appropriate to respond to this movement. The laissez faire approach to government advocated by Smith is necessary to provide a gateway for Americans out of poverty. These restrictions on startup businesses are detrimental to the economy and reduce the freedom to begin or change careers. Smith’s ideas of the invisible hand guiding people to advance the common good by pursuing their own self-interest are present in the deregulation of licensing.

Bibliography

Stossel, John. "The Cancer of Regulation." Creators.com. JJCO, 20 June 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Yawning

9:30 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I find myself in a classroom at Furman University, sitting in a hard plastic desk, purposely designed to keep its user alert, staring at my professor in order to learn Spanish. Some days, I am caffeinated and awake, appearing well-put together; other days, it is a mystery how I managed to drag myself into my seat. My troubles are universal to any college student: poor time management, late night cram sessions, or perhaps a spontaneous adventure to Waffle House at midnight are just a few reasons why I am currently still in the process of waking up in my early morning Spanish class. The trend of sleepy eyes and the occasional yawn has spread among my classmates, and caused my professor to make an announcement, “Yawning is not allowed in my classroom because it is rude and shows disinterest.” She went on to claim that yawning is a cultural phenomenon and in her native country, Spain, people do not yawn. I interpret her statement as inaccurate. My cultural environment did not teach me the ability to yawn. A yawn in innate as a cough or sneeze, and to forbid a natural bodily action is unreasonable. This classroom rule is a violation of my natural rights.

Yawning is not a product of the cultural environment. In fact, unborn fetuses even yawn. On Live Science, there is a video of an ultrasound of a 30 week old fetus yawning. According to their study, fetal yawning is linked to healthy brain development. An unborn fetus has no exposure to the culture of the outside world, proving that a yawn is innate and a natural bodily function (Ghose, Tia). In addition to this, animals also yawn. There are countless times where I have personally observed my two dogs yawning. Animals are not affected by the customs o the American culture in response to yawning. Yawning is natural process like breathing, coughing, or breathing. No other person is harmed from the process of the yawn. Prohibiting me from yawning is an infringement on my personal freedom. This is my body, the thing that I possess the most fully and entirely. I have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of yawning.

It is reasonable to expect a certain etiquette in stifling a yawn. One may cover the yawn with their hand. One may stop the noise that usually accompanies the best of yawns. Or one may try not to open their mouth and instead make a convoluted expression that is almost worse than the actual yawn. After the yawn, one could offer an apologizing remark to excuse the yawn. This is the proper etiquette of a yawn, and this is reasonable discipline to expect from the yawner; however, the right to yawn must always exist in these free, fifty states.

 Bibliography

Ghose, Tia. "Fetus Yawning Reveals Brain Development." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Facing the Statistics on Marriage

There is nothing simple about the typical modern day wedding. The bride, charged with the task of planning the wedding, spends innumerable hours shopping for the perfect wedding dress, picking out the right color combinations like champagne and blush for the decorations and flowers, choosing menu options, discussing venues, arranging schedules, and attending wedding expos in order to find a photo booth and DJ. It is a thrilling process filled with surprises, joys, setbacks and indecision. There are also mini events like bridal showers and bachelor/bachelorette parties. Planning these events alone are time consuming because it’s challenging to organize the schedules of the wedding party. Family feuds must be mended and seating charts carefully arranged. Who’s invited and who’s not? The couple must register for wedding gifts and select the furnishings of their new home. The amount of energy and money that go into planning a wedding is mentally taxing and costly. In short, the modern day wedding is elaborate. Months are spent planning the event, and the typical wedding costs $25,200 (http://www.costofwedding.com/).  

From all of this effort, a surprising statistic arises; according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce. Why does the average American spend $25,200 on an elaborate wedding ceremony and reception in order to take a vow that constitutes only a 50% success rate? Is there an excess in the amount of planning of the wedding day and not enough planning of a successful future with one’s potential lifelong spouse? The focus seems to be misdirected from the marriage to the wedding.

Facing an uncertain future, the bride and groom promise “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health.” I believe there is an underlying courage to take a vow to commit to love each other for the rest of their earthly lives and mean it. Perhaps their hope is stronger than their reason as a young couple prepares to take on the world together, unaware of the challenges that come with marriage. They cannot anticipate the hardships that they will endure together nor can they anticipate if they will be strong enough together to make it past them. This represents the nature of the human being to hope against all odds (50% not in their favor) that their marriage will last in love. This notion is romantic if not practical.

I am sure that there is no correlation between the percentage of divorce and the amount spent on wedding ceremonies and receptions; however, this trend in the increasing price of weddings in spite of these divorce statistics caused me to pause.

Bibliography

"Marriage and Divorce: Patterns by Gender, Race, and Educational Attainment : Monthly Labor Review: U.S.   

Bureau of Labor Statistics."U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.

"Average Wedding Cost in the United States Is $25,200." Average Wedding Cost in the United States Is

$25,200. The Wedding Report, 2015. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.

The Frozen Phenomenon

The Frozen Phenomenon

When I saw the commercials for the Disney movie Frozen, I expected the typical Disney princess movie: a princess wearing a sparkly ball gown and long flowing hair, a magical ability to talk to animals, a beautiful singing voice, and most importantly a true love. As an avid Disney fan, I immediately bought tickets to see it in theater. I already knew the ending! The princess would be swept off her feet by a dashing prince who would save her from the evil villain and ultimately win her heart. Disney princess movies had followed this plot line for over sixty years since the release of Cinderella in 1950; however, this never stopped me from watching every movie multiple times.

And so I sat down in my plush theater seat with my bag of popcorn and large soda and began to watch Frozen. Beautiful princess? Check. Songs to push the plot line? Check. Talking Animal? Olaf’s adorable! Disney magic? Of course. And Prince Charming saving the damsel in distress? No! No? Disney had switched up its typical plot line. This time, it was another princess sacrificing herself to rescue her sister. A woman had saved the day. Disney had finally realized its influence in empowering women by creating characters who were not dependent on another individual.

For better or for worse, Disney princesses serve as role models for young girls. Naturally, a young girl is attracted to the gorgeous, magical princess who can chat with woodland creatures. During Halloween, many young girls dress up as their favorite princesses in ball gowns and tiaras to go trick or treating. The princesses of the past were unable to escape their circumstances without the help of another. Now girls could dress up like Princess Ana and Queen Elsa from Frozen as women who were powerful, independent and capable of saving themselves. This Frozen phenomenon could only be beneficial to society by providing young women with examples of striking women with leadership abilities, competence and skill. Disney’s character change from a damsel in distress to a capable leader reflects the desire for young girls to choose their own destiny.