You’ve seen our government right?
Look at 1992 LA rights or for a more recent example Ferguson. Now imagine this city wide because supply lines are down and some people are literally fighting to feed their families
We the people let this happen to our government. It has been trimmed and weakened to save a few bucks on the tax bill, and fewer complications for companies(helps maximize profits, don't cha know?).
I think this is an example of where modern supply practices become a problem. It is not common for stores to have a large stockroom anymore. The shelves are the storage for products. So when something happens, and people stock up, there is no extra supply any where in the supply chain to pick up the slack.
I will now give you an example of this being a bad practice long before this pandemic. I, like many others, enjoy chocolate covered peanuts. A nice tasty treat that is not completely bad for you. With modern supply practices, most stores only carry what can be sold in a small window, normally a weekend, but daily is common to. Because of this, the store I do most of my shopping at routinely runs out by noon. Not that most other stores are any better. More than half the time I get them, I have to go to Menards, or buy a store brand with cheap chocolate.
This is where capitalism fails. It does not take into account bad weather, fires, or what ever else life can throw at us. Despite
@LeVeL's praise for the "Free Market", and it rising to the challenge, what else are the companies that are shutdown going to do when they have nothing else to think about? They are going to try and save themselves by trying to save others.