Big Knowledge in Little Succulents - The Economy Behind Succulents

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Images and text: Aha

Economic theory and succulents seem to have nothing to do with each other, but as the curator is someone who studied international trade, it's time to talk about the relationship between economics and succulents.

Demographic dividend

Everyone understands it: you buy one succulent and that means you own many succulents. Succulents breed succulents.

Matthew effect

It's the phenomenon where the beautiful become more beautiful and those with many succulents get even more; those who have some must plant several more times as many, and those who don't have any must definitely buy some.

Middle income trap

When the succulents you grow reach a certain scale, they enter stagnation or decline. Eventually you can't take care of them all anymore, and even watering becomes a headache; when summer comes, it gets even more terrifying. But once you get through all this, you can hope to walk the path of a master grower.

Keeping up with the Joneses

A person's happiness has little to do with the succulents they own, but has a lot to do with having more and more beautiful succulents and better growing space than others. Think about others planting succulents rooftop after rooftop, while you don't even have a windowsill - doesn't that already make you feel unhappy?

Ponzi scheme

Everyone knows it - it's the story of passing the drum and passing the flower. Three or four years ago, when succulents first became popular, people bought many expensive varieties in a flurry, hoping to raise succulents with succulents. But now the expensive varieties have become common ones; the money that used to buy a single leaf can now buy a whole plant with change to spare. There's no way around it - it's caused by market interests.

Greater fool theory

A common variety is labeled with a high price, a common variety is given an expensive-sounding name and labeled with a high price, someone buys a succulent at a high price, grows it for a while, labels it with a high price again, and then waits for someone to buy it.

Winner's curse

The winning bidder wins at a price higher than the true value of the item, and there is no production or service activity in between to account for the difference. At some WeChat group/forum succulent auctions, some people got a bargain, but more people paid tuition.

Veblen effect

Also called "conspicuous consumption," it reflects how some people prefer to buy expensive varieties and show them off, even though expensive varieties may not look as good as common ones.

Paradox of thrift

To save money, you don't buy soil and dig your own, spending time, and then a pest outbreak erupts.

To save money, you buy seeds and grow them yourself, and then you get fake seeds.

To save money, you buy seeds and grow them yourself. In spring, while others show off their succulents, you show off your soil. The seeds finally sprout and slowly grow up, and then... and then... they're slowly taken away by your own watering, and when summer comes they're wiped out in one wave.

Weekend effect

It refers to how people near the weekend predict whether they can receive their goods by the weekend, which affects whether they buy succulents on Taobao. And on regular workdays they soak in succulent websites to learn, while on weekends they find more opportunities to get up close and personal with their succulents.

Learning by doing effect

You learn while you grow, and soon you understand everything. Like this uncle here, who now often learns but has no time to do - he knows a bit about everything, but sometimes he only dares to speak vaguely. Why? Because he practices too little and doesn't dare to mislead others. But conversely, just because something worked doesn't mean doing it that way is fine; you should still sum up your experience more.

Mushroom rule

It can also be considered an unexpected blessing. Seemingly neglected and left in a harsh, unremarkable environment to fend for itself, it unexpectedly bursts forth in a wave of beauty, growing even better than some people's carefully tended (watered) plants.

Target shooting principle

When watering, don't keep agonizing over how to water properly. You should water a few times first; even if you water wrong, it provides a basis for correcting your aim. Keep correcting based on experience, and you'll know how to water.

Black swan event

Refers to highly unpredictable and unusual events that usually lead to succulent catastrophe - for example, a typhoon, a sudden overnight snowfall, a summer rainstorm leaving succulents uncollected, a mischievous child visiting, a girlfriend helping to look after them, or the dog getting upstairs.

Crab effect

You alone fall into the succulent pit; with your own ability you could have climbed out, but if the people around you or your WeChat friends have also fallen into the pit, you won't be able to climb out - they'll be like crabs, pulling you down and not letting you out of the pit. After all, the succulent pit is as deep as the sea.

Lipstick phenomenon

Whenever the economy is in recession, lipstick sales rise. If lipstick sales haven't risen, it may be that these girls have taken the money for lipstick and bought succulents instead.

Hemline index

There's a saying that the better the economy, the shorter women's skirts. If that's not happening, it may be that they've bought lots of succulents and are wearing pants while busily working on their succulents.

Survivorship bias

You only see the results of others' succulents surviving outdoors, but don't notice their daily care process and local environment. You think you can achieve it in one step like them and easily grow beautiful succulents, only to find your succulents meet disaster. For beginners, successful experiences are worth learning from, but failed experiences are even more worth referencing, as they can save you from many risks of being burned.

Beauty-is-good effect

A succulent with a beautiful appearance - then everything about it is good. Well, there's nothing wrong with that; in our succulent circle, we most love judging succulents by their looks.

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