WIll more peacocks become BBFAs this COVID-19 season?

A link was sent for my consideration on the Financial Independence Telegram group lately. You can read this old paper here. The paper concludes something which we already have been aware for quite some time, a guys' reproductive success is tied largely to his economic power. 

But in many cases, economic power is invisible. No one gives a damn about my cash flow if I all I do is watch anime, paint miniatures and play RPGs the whole day. So males find ways to signal their economic prowess - they buy flashy watches, go skiing in foreign countries, and drive European cars to demonstrate their economic prowess, sometimes using credit to do so. Sadly, statistic shows that these peacocks do succeed in modern society. Surveys find that 'peacock' males wind up having more sexual encounters over time. Our dating websites confirm that Singapore women love Singapore men who ski.

Some of my other discussions concern the effect of COVID-19 and one effect hypothesised by my pals is that things will become so bad, it may permanently leave a scar on many guys when it comes to spending money. 

This, I heartily agree. 

In the Great Recession of 2009, the US discovered a lot of men who withdrew themselves from the mating pool after losing their jobs. They took up minimal gig economy roles and live lives of playing computer games in their parent's basement and generally beating a hasty withdrawal from mainstream society.

As far as I remember the impact of the Great Financial Recession was not that great compared to what we are currently going through. The economy continued humming and we were not locked down at home with nothing to do. 

This time around, a lot of guys will realise that :

• Even though it may be hard to divine the cause behind a downturn,  a major economic event may happen every 10 years.
• When this happens, survival is paramount. This means having cash reserves.
• The bare minimum lifestyle is actually quite liveable.
• Being a peacock that wastes economic resources to seem like you have plenty just does not make any sense. 

If not for my signing up with Datacamp and buying stuff for my daughter's birthday, my credit bills would have been reduced by 66%, less than the dividends cut I am experiencing this quarter. 

Furthermore, Netflix has been keeping BBFAs really busy lately with Season 2 of One Punch Man and Demon Slayer. Combine this with the newer games like Animal Crossing, there is really nothing preventing guys from volunteering to adopt a BBFA lifestyle instead of the sexually exhausting peacock lifestyle. 

The long term ramifications for the economy will be earth-shaking. Generation Z will find their economic power permanently impaired as they will graduate into difficult times and will have a very different way to look at their economic spending. They may be as frugal as the generation that emerged from the Great Depression and beyond an Amazon Prime account, have few material belongings.

Marriage will take a major hit as a lot of guys find it more feasible to withdraw from the mating pool and just live for themselves. A life of gaming and binge-watching is more enjoyable than managing kids and working from home at the same time. Ultimately, it is very tiring to keep trying to show off your eligibility as a provider by buying pointless jewellery and useless knick-knacks.  

So Singapore's problems are actually threefold:

• We need to get COVID-19 behind us and minimise the loss of lives.
• We need to restart the economy and minimise the loss of livelihoods.
• We need to somehow stem the withdrawal of men from the dating pool a decade forward and minimise the dearth of future Singaporeans in the far future. 

I suspect we will succeed in the first two and fail the last mission.

This is because as I connected with my hobbies and see the endless possibilities in the virtual world, I believe strongly that my single friends will get never get into forming families after this incident. 

I am working hard and accumulating wealth for two generations now to prevent my kids from taking this path.