Scarcity (also called paucity) is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs.
The notion of scarcity is that there is never enough (of something) to satisfy all conceivable human wants, even at advanced states of human technology. Scarcity involves making a sacrifice—giving something up, or making a tradeoff—in order to obtain more of the scarce resource that is wanted.
The condition of scarcity in the real world necessitates competition for scarce resources, and competition occurs "when people strive to meet the criteria that are being used to determine who gets what." The price system, or market prices, are one way to allocate scarce resources. "If a society coordinates economic plans on the basis of willingness to pay money, members of that society will [strive to compete] to make money" If other criteria are used, we would expect to see competition in terms of those other criteria.
Scarcity, in the area of social psychology, works much like scarcity in the area of economics. Simply put, humans place a higher value on an object that is scarce, and a lower value on those that are abundant. The thought that we, as humans, want something we cannot have drives us to desire the object even more. This idea is deeply embedded in the intensely popular, “Black Friday” shopping extravaganza that U.S. consumers participate in every year on the day after Thanksgiving. More than getting a bargain on a hot gift idea, shoppers thrive on the competition itself, in obtaining the scarce product.
There are two social psychology principles that work with scarcity that increase its powerful force. One is social proof. This is a contributing factor to the effectiveness of scarcity, because if a product is sold out, or inventory is extremely low, humans interpret that to mean the product must be good since everyone else appears to be buying it. The second contributing principle to scarcity is commitment and consistency. If someone has already committed themselves to something, then find out they cannot have it, it makes the person want the item more.
Day by day
You kneel down as today
Now humblier!
The enemy from shade of past
Changed ghastly dream
Into the reality
Tears of fright
On pallid face
A crucifix
In vibrant hands
Spasmodic prayers
For divine rescue
Without response
Last
Mind return to past
But time is fast