``[...T]he untrained buyer fares better by
purchasing goods of the highest reputation, even though he may pay a
comparatively high price. But, needless to say, this is not a rule to
guide the expert merchandise buyer, for he is expected to judge
quality by examination and not solely by reputation, and at times he
may even sacrifice certain definite degrees of quality if that which
he obtains is adequate for his purpose and attractive in price''
---Benjamin Graham, David Dodd, `Security Analisys,' 1934, p.31.
The US culture revolves around consumerism and propaganda of consumerism. I can't help but start to, as it is known here, shop for everything I have to buy. In my case, this is also a natural consequence of my perfectionism. If it serves no other useful purpose, it at least throttles the rate of avoidable purchases because I have to research every one of them. But, of course, I can't resist the urge to broadcast my embarrassingly amateurish findings urbi et orbi.
