Because large groups of people have shown, time and again, they don't act rationally.

Look at toilet paper - one rumour that it would run out, despite shops, the government, everyone, saying there is more than enough and the rabble went out and hoarded.

The solution to the toilet paper problem wasn't lying to everyone by telling them that toilet paper was ineffective at removing shit from our asses. It was ultimately handled at the retail end where stores limited the number that people could buy and/or held back inventory.

Masks could have been handled in the same way: from the manufacturer/retailer end. Masks could have been pulled off shelves and diverted to healthcare workers until they could be sold in limited numbers to consumers.

> It was ultimately handled at the retail end

To be clear “handling” here meant that there were extensive and pervasive country-wide shortages, and many people went without toilet paper for weeks, including myself. People who needed toilet paper went without, while others hoarded more than they’d need for a year.

That’s the problem people were trying to avoid with masks. First responders and doctors needed them most, but we had people out there literally willing to buy as many as they could for their own personal supply. You can’t wait for the invisible hand of the market to just sort this kind of thing out.

I agree, it was miserable for people who couldn't get any and retailers took way too long to respond. It absolutely could have been handled better. I was glad to see stores refuse to allow returns and crack down on price gouging afterwards at least. Even the justice system got involved

https://www.today.com/news/brothers-who-hoarded-17-700-bottl...

> removing shit from our asses.

Get a bidet, and buy a newspaper (no need to read it; it's already covered in shit).

> they don't act rationally.

Buying toilet paper when there is a toilet paper "bank run" is rational just as it is rational to take out your money from a failing bank.

Were I lived we had toilet paper but were all out of yeast. One person could buy all the store's 300 yeast bags for like 30USD. And as soon as people realized the yeast were gone they seemed to always buy yeast when available, making a shortage for a long time.

A way to prevent this is some soft limit on the amount people can buy. But it need to be in place before the shelves are empty.

> Look at toilet paper

So you are saying, the authorities should have send out a public messaging: "Don't buy toilet paper, toilet paper doesn't work", and that would have solved the situation?

Toilet paper doesn't work. It just moves the shit around. Wash your sphincter with water.

I don’t believe toilet paper ran out because of one ‘rumor it would run out’. I think it running out was just an example of how fragile or supply chains and distribution of goods really is. It wasn’t just TP, it was bread, milk, frozen/canned vegetables, and other essential ‘raw materials’. There are other things that cause runs on groceries as well, like a big snow storm for example. It’s not like we’ve never seen it before, but not for the extended amount of time that the fear and panic Covid caused. It should be rude wake up call to all of us that this modern way of living we have created can all come collapsing down in an instant. There isn’t nearly enough grocery stores or supplies to satiate everyone in a time of crisis/ panic. The way they operate is predicated on the assumption that goods will trickle in & out at a mostly constant, slow rate.

And it ran out. Did you go buy toilet paper when there was a run on it? If not, did you run out of toilet paper? Stores around me were empty for weeks. You can argue that they were empty because of the run on toilet paper but that is of small comfort when you are sitting at home and your family is having weekly votes to decide their least favorite of their dwindling paperback novels. I bought a few cases of it as soon as I heard the first rumor of supplies being low. You may call me part of the rabble but my family was taken care of.

Some people are convinced they are being lied to by people in power. Even if it's not true 99% of the time, the 1% will harden their beliefs.

You are coming up against a confirmation bias.

If my doctor lied to me about effectiveness or other aspects of my medication 1% of the time, they would rightly lose their medical license and go to prison if their lies caused any harm.

If your doctor was right 99% of the time, you would listen to them without much critical pushback. If your bar for trusted anyone else in this world is 100% accuracy, you can't ever trust anyone.

Well, it worked so well for the toilet paper, who could think there'd be a negative reaction if everyone thought they'd die from the mystery illness w/o the PPE that needed to be saved for medical professionals. Yeah, totally great point you made there.