America...Backpedaling from Want..to Need

[SoCalDem]

We've spent decades, focusing on want..We have striven to re-define the parameters of what IS "the American Way of life".

Through the years, we have gone from "a chicken in every pot", to "more" of just about anything we currently have, or "some" of things we don;t have, but dearly want..

Every stratum of society has its own version, so the "ailment" is pervasive and not easy to change its ways.

The poorest American is RICH, compared to the poor in almost any 3rd world country. It always amuses me when people claim they are broke, but they have a cell phone, and cable tv, and buy their lunch , and "go to the mall" weekly.

We don't recognize "poor" anymore..

Poor is cutting down an older child's clothing, to fit a younger one, because you canot afford the time to have it sit in a box until they "grow into" it.
Poor is a hand-me-down tv with NO cable channels..
Poor is a cheapo used car with mechanics' bills galore, but no payments..or a bus pass
Poor is spending more than you can really afford, on not-quite-enough food, and buying food that has "shelf-life" instead of "freshness".


We have become accustomed to looking at wants, and seeing them as "needs".

No one NEEDS cable tv, or cell phones, or Xboxes, or a closet full of clothes and shoes (no matter HOW cheap they were).

Human needs are quite simple:

shelter from cold
water
food

We have changed "wants" into "needs" because we fear not having as much as "other people". Americans have always had a sense of entitlement, and until quite recently, many, if not most Americans, have bought into the belief that we deserve it. We are Stewart Smalleys. We believe that we are good enough, and we deserve "it".. whatever "it" happens to be at the time.

Our government knows how we think, and for decades they have man-handled us by promising us that we can have it all, and yet never have to pay for it...and we have wanted to believe. Government can have its way, as long as it can lull us into a bleary-eyed contentment with our toys and our houses and our cars and our multi-function electronics and our cheap goods, but the piper is here, and he has wants and needs too.. he wants to be paid, and he needs for us to pay him..NOW..

[pitohui]

1. hunan needs are NOT quite simple

you list shelter, water, food, from which i conclude you're either younger than age 25 or being deliberately disingenuous

the greatest most expensive need that is far more expensive than food, water, shelter combined is medicine and access to health technology, the price of which for many injuries or diseases costs more than you or i have earned in an entire lifetime of work

you begrudge someone a cell phone which if they gave it up for a year would pay for one doctor's visit and stave off bankruptcy approximately 26 minutes after they or their child or their parent were dx'd w. a serious illness

let's stop pretending that being poor is a state of mind and that it's something everyone could avoid if they were only happy to call themselves rich whilst living in a tent under a palm tree in fucking arizona -- get cancer in fucking arizona under the palm tree and you're just as damn dead as if it were minnesota in a blizzard

i'm just so fucking sick of the blame the victim crap

people give up and spend money on "stuff" because they realize they are not going to have the long life promised by technology, they are not going to have all the opportunities, and you begrudge them a fucking cell phone and a hoodie?

rant off, sorry, but fuck it's christmas


give the "it's your fault you can't pay for medicine because you had cable teevee in the 90s" crap a fucking break for just one day, okay? it isn't new, it isn't original, and it isn't helpful

[Warpy]

2. Thank you.

I feel like giving this one a rec for your rant.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. Impressive.

I tip my hat to you.

[leftstreet]

4. K&R for this excellent post

Thank you

[flvegan]

12. You wouldn't know want from need if it kicked you in the head.

"people give up and spend money on "stuff" because they realize they are not going to have the long life promised by technology, they are not going to have all the opportunities, and you begrudge them a fucking cell phone and a hoodie?" That's want. It's compromise.

Not that I'm surprised, considering.

[cpamomfromtexas]

16. You are correct, I just racked up about $70K the last 4 months

I told my husband he was way underpaid when I got a bill for a shot that cost $4800. Even the Dr that sent me over there almost fainted when I told her how much it was!

The Dr's in a lot of cases don't have any idea how much the corporations that bill for their services charge.

[varelse]

18. once again, I wish I could recommend a reply

thanks for this one.

If it weren't for medical care I received at the age of 18 months, I'd be blind in one eye now. If it weren't for taxpayer-funded emergency medical care, one of my younger sisters would be dead now. If they hadn't had medical insurance, another sister (as well as one of my aunts) would be dying slowly and painfully of cancer (melanoma, caught early).

Oh, and if it weren't for my internet access, I'd be forced to rely on mainstream media for news. We all know how that works out. *sigh*

[CoffeeCat]

5. The horrendously tragic fact missing from your...

post is the destructive force of credit cards and other debt.

The corporations, the politicians, the mainstream media and advertisers have colluded to convince Americans that they can
have anything and everything, and the American dream is theirs to grab--if they'll just put it all on a credit card or throw
away their home equity.

It worked.

We see this at all income levels. People "wanted" to live the "American dream"--defined by the power players as having
incredible things and beautiful surroundings. They made us salivate for everything. They made it sound so easy and
painless, so..."priceless."

I live in the suburbs, and I know double-income earners--professionals making well into the six-figure range. They're completely
broke. Mortgaged to the eyeballs and in heavy credit-card debt.

Most of the cell phones, televisions, closets full of clothes and Xboxes---have been purchased at 22 percent interest.

We have become a nation of shackled prisoners. We happily put the chains on our bodies, so we could look beautiful, have beautiful lawns
and live in showpiece homes. Look at what our President told us to to after Sept 11, "Go shopping."

As if we haven't figured it out yet. The neocons needed us enslaved, dependent and weak--if they were to pull off their crimes. They
needed us pulled inward and gazing at our trinkets--instead of open, self actualized and bonding with our communities and freely
discussing what's happening around us.

They convinced us we needed everything and they made it possible--by relaxing credit-card regulations, mortgage laws and credit-card laws. They
gave us the rope, and now we're hanging from it.

I don't begrudge anyone who has nice things or anyone who has money. Money is not the problem. Neither are Xboxes, granite countertops, McMansions
or iPods. The problem is purchasing things we can't afford and destroying our lives with insurmountable debt.

They've got us right where they want us, at this point.

[treestar]

6. It would be a good thing to come out of all this if we could become

less consumeristic.

It really turns people into bores. What they bought and where and how much they paid for it. Such fascinating conversations as one so often finds oneself privy to.

[Hannah Bell]

7. Tell it to the top 1% that take 25% of income & 40-50% of property.

I'm sick of this "you guys are spoiled" shit.

[Quantess]

8. Me too.

We're supposed to be grateful for some crumbs. I guess we should be happy to get some peanuts thrown our way, since that's more than people in third world countries get.

[Mass]

9. Poor equal having to choose between healthcare and food, and, as surprising as it may seem to you,

it does exist. Healthcare is not a want, it is a need, and if many more people have access to it here than in third world countries, too many people do not.

[Deja Q]

10. Is education a need or a want? How about people whose personality types aren't the norm?

You know, those bullied, heckled, et al. What do those people do all day in your fantasy world? Most humans would hate them just by looking, so keep them locked up with an xbox. That way, everybody right down to pro-lifers would be happy. :D

And you sure it's not government but corporate interest that's driving 'want' and 'need', especially in a society that claims pay phones are too expensive and everybody has cell phones anyway?

Life in the here and now is not as simple as you wet dream it to be, I'm sorry.

And you're right, even the poorest American is still rich... by comparison to some other countries. Except the homeless. Funny they are not mentioned.

[natrat]

11. trippy part is the speed that it's happening

[flvegan]

13. Most Americans have grown an ego so deeply entrenched in want

that need isn't even understood anymore.

I don't say this to shame anyone, or to play any holier-than-thou role, as I'm as guilty as many others. At least I know the difference.

You know those 7 Deadly Sins...all based in want, all based in ego.

[My Good Babushka]

14. Getting tired

I'm also getting tired of the "you're not poor enough" DU masochism. There is nothing wrong with striving to do better, to have a better standard of living with adequate nutrition and healthcare and educational opportunties. Not all middle class surplus is wasted on baubles, like so many DUers accuse. I "splurge" on my internet connection because I am starting a small home business. I want to do better. Just because I must take on debt and take risks, it's better than throwing up your hands and saying I give up, water, roof and some clothes is all I want for my family. That's nihilistic.

[natrat]

15. the designer water and the $300 roberto cavali shirt is optional

[tama]

17. Needs

The most basic and overwhelming thing that consumer society produces is NEEDS. Unfulfilled needs, constant unhpappiness in NEED of something consumable to fullfill that NEED just for a moment.

Consumers are never rich. They are allways the POOREST of the POOR, because they have the greatest (matetrial) NEEDS. Created by consumer society and criminals of the marketing departments etc.

Check out Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and then we can discuss who is truly rich and who poor...