Everything man-made happened because someone wanted it more than the alternative

If you walk down any street you’ll see a whole load of things that only exist because people want them.

Bookies, pubs, charity shops, Argos, McDonalds… Some might have a Crabtree and Evelyn or a Pizza Express or several interchangeable coffee shops.

In fact, people don’t just want them, they want them enough to justify an ongoing business.

And beyond those retail establishments we also have drainpipes, yellow lines, cars, people, dogs, houses, windows (I could go on, really I could: paving stones, bouncers, litter…). And they’re all there because people want them to be there.

Some human beings enjoyed the idea of backing up their differences of opinion with money, then at some point since then enough people agreed that this was a good way of spending time to justify entire multi-million-pound chains of bookmakers.

Other human beings liked to be able to drive up the street without parked cars getting in the way, so a bunch of them got together and arranged for people in charge to paint yellow lines next to the kerb and fine people for parking on them.

Still others came across dogs and quite liked their yappy warmth, or their ability to fetch stuff, so they trained them to be domesticated. Then so many other people liked this idea that they spent millions of pounds breeding them into types that would be most likeable, covering a very wide definition of that word. Then pet shops were created and here we are with loads of people owning loads of dogs.

They want them.

I find this interesting because I regularly catch myself dismissing all sorts of things as being ‘shite’ or ‘rubbish’ (e.g.: X-Factor, Adam Sandler movies, lots of types of trainers etc.). But the truth is they only exist because people like them, and if they’ve come to my attention, we’re probably talking millions of people. So they’re not shite or rubbish; they’re just some stuff I don’t like. But they exist because an awful lot of people disagree with me.

That doesn’t mean I can’t try to justify my dislike for them, but it does help put that in perspective sometimes (hint: especially when you’re a London media twat writing an ad for washing powder that needs to tickle the fancy of a housewife in Warrington).

Happy New Year!