How much of this is down to genuine financial difficulty, and how much to personal extravagance?
the million dollar question.
Current events may well force people to re-assess what's important, and getting the latest iphone etc is(or should be) quite low down the list.
Quite a startling contrast isn't it the last couple of months!
the other side of christmas,people were fighting in the aisles for the latest electronic gizmo's, now it's fighting over household essentials like bog roll.
I do hope that at the end of this,people will be a bit more considerate toward one another, but I have a feeling that it is not sufficiently painful yet to force that to happen...it will take a lot of "blood in the streets and food fights",over a prolonged period to get people free of the spell of me,me,me.
Some people never will, some people are programmed to survive at all costs- quite a high number if people are really pushed to their limits.
Some of these people will not learn that sometimes it is better to cooperate occasionally and have someone have your back,than purely go it alone and bully people to get your own way.
The readers of "how to win friends and influence people" will learn the hard way about establishing TRUE friendships,as well as honing their bartering skills to get stuff done/pay off potential informants-ie fresh produce,dairy,eggs and pasta shipment ETA at tescos courtesy of employee in exchange for a packet of amber leaf and some rizla's...maybe a staff canteen will over-order and keep a bit by for you,or potentailly assailants if not physically capable of confronting them,They could perhaps be bought off,or a potential bodyguard if they need a "dealer",and you need protection!
I'm using prison contraband as an example, but it could equally be applied to skills...ie my car's knackered,but I'm quite handy at plumbing,so if you fix the motor,I'll clear your bog out/fix your shower etc.
Not that I wish things to descend into chaos,but barring the odd break out,things have been quite orderly...aside from the odd few,people are still in general quite polite in the supermarkets.God forbid we ever get to the stage of armed guards on tesco lorries and people standing in line for their one 9 pack of andrex, only to get mugged at knifepoint as they drive around the corner.