division of labor

THE DIVISION OF LABOR

Did you ever hear of Ludwig von Mises a very prominent Austrian economist! He wrote about the division of labor. No one can know and do everything.

On Friday a fellow came into Marc’s store Wiggy’s Alaska looking for a bivi bag. Marc asked why and he said he was a Lt in paratrooper unit based I guess at Ft. Richardson now known as JBER. They had just completed a winter exercise and he was freezing his a** off. Temperatures have been in the -30 to -50 degree range this year. Marc told him he does not sell bivi bags because they have no purpose in Alaska.

Marc asked what bag he had; it was a theoretical -30 degree rated bag. Marc suggested getting a Wiggy bag since what he showed Marc was maybe as thick as a Wiggy’s Ultra-Light. He bought nothing. He did tell Marc he is new to Alaska. We do not know if his unit purchased it for him or if he purchased it on his own. What I do know is he has what is represented as a sleeping bag, but as he found out it is not a sleeping bag. How can it be if you cannot sleep in it, except maybe in your heated house?

This fellow has been in the military for a few years doing warrior things so that is his labor, or how he makes a living. Someone else in life flies commercial aircraft owns a bakery, works in a steel mill and there are countless other occupations such as making sleeping bags. This is an example of division of labor.

He just like millions of other people has to count on other people who make things that work for them. To learn everything is obviously not possible. So this fellow if he bought the bag on his own was just relying on the limited information given him by a clerk in a store or the procurement department of his unit purchased bags based upon what they have been told and the price of the bags. They purchasing people cannot know or as I believe do not care. The guy showing them the bags is in most cases ex-military, and is only interested in giving them the least expensive product that in theory will do what is wanted.

If the sleeping bag is not a Wiggy’s bag it does not have continuous filament fiber insulation, but rather inexpensive CHOPPED STAPLE FIBERFILL. There are no chopped staple fiberfill bags madetoday of ever that have been capable of performing at -30 degrees.

The bottom line as I see it is that the guy in the field is being given in the case of sleeping bags a bag that has no chance of doing what is needed. Nothing new as far as I am concerned!

Maybe someday the GSA contract holders will wake up and only offer what actually works. As time has gone by I have been walking away from these GSA contract holders because I do not care to deal with people who put our military personnel in greater danger than they already face going into combat or arctic regions of the world to train.