And so do individuals. There's plenty of tragic or difficult moments that come unexpected in one's life, and it's easy to make them cover for unrelated issues, because questioning the explanation would be greatly untactful. A somewhat stereotypical example - a student that excuses their lack of homework and unpreparedness by mentioning their aunt died, even though they weren't really close with their aunt and they learned about the death an hour before the class started - it's an easy way out that nobody will dare question.

> come to think about it, governments also do this

This was my thought watching the video in the article. It went on and on about supply shortages, China, and the Biden administration’s talks to prevent shortage as well as Chinese competition, and then near the end of the video, two little details slip by so fast you could miss them: auto makers cancelled their own orders, now they want their place in line back, and the biggest chip maker (TSMC) is in Taiwan, but it’s really close to China, so it still counts.

Yes, preventing supply shortages and paying attention to national security are good things. But neither of those would address the specific “shortage” behind this article & video.