What do production chains have to do with me?

Production chains affect each and every one of us every day, as basically every single thing you use every day in modern life has been through a production chain.

From the food you eat to the computer you are using now, each article has gone through the stages of production, from raw materials through manufacturing, where the raw materials are turned into products, and then onto distribution, which brings the product on its final journey to you.

There is no way to avoid using products of these chains of production in our lives, as to a great extent they form the base on which we are supplied with the necessities of life.

You would be affected by chains of production even more if you were directly employed in primary industries, as then you would actually become part of the chain. For instance, a miner would then become the first stage of the chain, providing the raw material to be processed, refined and then used in whatever industry the material is suited to. In mining, this might be coal for electricity. This electricity might be used in the home or could in turn continue to be used in a smelter to manufacture aluminium to be used to make cars and other metal products.