I've never understood toilet paper shortages. It's a commodity that is used at a fairly predictable rate, people don't start shitting significantly more. It is made from a feed stock that grows over an extended period (trees) which are planted and harvested at a steady rate. It is made in largely automated factories, it's production does not require a large workforce, so is not particularly susceptible to shortages of labor, or constraints of worker density. So, why are there toilet paper shortages all over the world, often for no apparent reason. One possibility is that it is a powerful psychological tool. People "need" toilet paper (not really, but they feel like they need it and will panic at even the prospect of running out). So, if you want to send a wave of anxiety through a community, just create a shortage of toilet paper. People will see the empty shelves and amplify that in their minds.... those shelves being empty is a portent of all the other shelves being empty soon. This tool can be used to create free floating anxiety in a community, one of the necessary pre-conditions for mass formation psychosis. A "solution" to some perceived problem, probably unrelated to toilet paper, will be offered, that will inevitably involve people surrendering their rights to a more powerful government. It's ALL about power.