Community Chat

[QueenDanceALot]

Is there a point to arguing semantics?

Surely people understand the difference between a need and a want.

People just seem to get so defensive around the whole issue.

[Mj12]

On 7/2/2014 wookie said:

On 7/2/2014 songbird said:

On 7/2/2014 wookie said:

On 7/2/2014 songbird said:

The average single home in my state goes for over $300,000.00. That a three bedroom starter home. The American dream is to own a single home and the the one acre land it's built on. They want privacy. They want protection against noisy neighbors and crime. They want a rural environment. They don't want to live in city or even a large town. They want clean air and clean water. They want their kids to see nature everyday, and not to see/hear buses and trucks everyday.

That's how much they want a house paid for by worthless paper money that increases everyday. The actual wealth is that land and house. The lucky few that are able to get it, are very lucky indeed. The rest have to settle for urban squalor.

That pretty much describes the situation in our area. We have a basic home that sits on almost two acres. I would have preferred to have more house on less land, especially now that we are getting older.

My state has been described as one of the most affluent in the country. That's all very nice and well, but the cost of getting a house in a decent area is extraordinary expensive. New homes in my area are going for $500,000.00 to $900,0000 4 bedrooms for a family with 2-3 kids and both parents with degrees. Huge houses sitting on only quarter acre land lots. Land is that expensive. The drive is really for land. Many couples buying acres to build later.

I live in an affluent area, too. Montgomery County, Maryland. That's why I responded to your post the way I did.

Hi Wookie - ITA with your posts. Montgomery County is one of the most affluent counties in the nation, and I think it's the highest for post-grad degrees?

[Mominohio]

On 7/2/2014 dmod nj said:

The good old days were only good for some people. I don't want to live in the past. I prefer to look forward.

What is a starter home to some is a forever home to others.

Unless I misunderstood the reasons for your post, I don't understand why this bothers you. Are you jealous?

If I misunderstood, I apologize.

moxie, well said.

No apologies necessary! No, I'm not jealous, I have everything I need, and most of what I want, and feel very blessed to be in that situation, as well as worked hard for it.

I just think it points to a real flaw in our society today, when there are so many people who really can't grasp the reality between want and need. As my original post stated, anyone who earns their way has the right to have whatever they want whether I think it is excessive or not is not the point. The point is they try to justify as "need" things that are not a need. As I posted prior, those living in places without clean water, food, medical care, adequate housing, etc. are really in need, and in comparison for example, multiple bathrooms for two people living in one house is most generally not a need, and should be described as what it really is, a want, or an accommodation that would make their life happier or easier.

[CardinalGirl]

On 7/2/2014 mominohio said:

On 7/2/2014 CardinalGirl_ said:

When these people say they "need" this-or-that in a house, they don't mean they "need" it to survive. They mean they need it to be able to enjoy the lifestyle they choose to have.

I truly don't get why anyone thinks they have a right to judge someone else for wanting to maintain a lifestyle that they enjoy.

For instance, I love to entertain, including both formal and casual dinners.....so I "need" a formal dining room and a large kitchen. I love having out-of-town family and friends come spend a few days, so I "need" several guest rooms and a coupld of extra bathrooms. My grandchildren love to come spend the night, and it's nice to have the extra rooms.

Other people might wonder why my husband and I choose to have a large home when only the two of us live here, but it's really not their place to worry about it.

Then they "need" to be clear, it is not a real need, it is a want. Something they wish for or are going to have, but not need. We do a terrible disservice to those in this world who truly need. Those that need clean water, those that need food, because they have none, and no way to get it, those that need shelter because they attempt to survive in shacks or tents, those that need healthcare and medicines, but there is none available.

I'm not judging anyone for WANTING to maintain a lifestyle, I'm judging people who are so selfish to call these things of excess (relative to those people listed above) needs. I'm also pointing out that millions even in this country lived, or have lived in the past, with much less, and it really isn't the horrible sacrifice that some make it sound.

They need to be clear? Really? You actually believed that they meant they needed these things to be able to exist?

It's very clear to me that they need these things to maintain the lifestyle they wish to have, not that they need them to live and breath. I guess I'm just perceptive that way.

[Mominohio]

On 7/2/2014 ~moxie~ said: People should be able to do what they want, whether they are modest or extravagant. It is none of my business.

Yep! I stated the same in the second paragraph of this original post. If they earn the money, they spend it as they see fit. Point wasn't about wealth being controlled by my values, but about people not being honest about what is a need and what is a want.

[BellaPaprika]

I'm not "arguing semantics". I just have a different take on the concept of what many view as "wants" and "needs". I think many Americans believe that they actually do NEED these material things in order to be happy, in order to have any kind of life. As I said in my earlier post, this is due to the brain washing they've suffered at the hands of advertisers for corporate America. It's extended into Europe too to an extent but here it's the worst.

[Mominohio]

On 7/2/2014 straykatz said:

On 7/2/2014 ennui1 said:

I've been saying that Americans are spoiled for years. We are a wealthy country. We use more water to flush one toilet than some people have for a week.

Yes...we are very wasteful in this country.

ennui 1 and straykatz, this is more along the lines of the point I was trying to make. We are spoiled, and even the poor in this nation live better than a very significant amount of the rest of the world's population.

We, as a society, want more and more with each generation, and inappropriately call it "need". It makes me angry when there are so many in the world with real need. Not that we can't want these things or have these things, but be grateful for them and call them what they are, wants or luxuries. not needs.

[evelomaddict]

just give me a roll of toilet paper, some water and a good book and i'm all set. and, if i happen to run out of toilet paper, i can always use the book.

[Mominohio]

On 7/2/2014 TaxyLady said:

In order to combat self centeredness and greed, every American should spend a week in Uganda. I believe they would have a new appreciation for what they have.

And may learn that their lives are full of things they really and truly could live without, thus not really a need.

[evelomaddict]

On 7/2/2014 mominohio said:

On 7/2/2014 TaxyLady said:

In order to combat self centeredness and greed, every American should spend a week in Uganda. I believe they would have a new appreciation for what they have.

And may learn that their lives are full of things they really and truly could live without, thus not really a need.

much like the computers we're using to waste our time on this forum?