It is a glut of consumerism, and we should all be ashamed. After all, there are starving people in Kenya who want nothing more than food and shelter. But wait, you mean they want more than they have?
Admittedly, those people in Kenya have nothing, so its hard to fault them for wanting more, but that begs the question of what is acceptable. We all strive to increase our net value, be it in material ownership, available skill sets, or as an intellectual resource. I've interacted with the upper, middle, and lower classes of the US. I've been to the slums of Mexico and the factories of China. I've stayed at the 'camp', a 7 bedroom resort built in the middle of nowhere with an industrial grade stove, 2 laundry rooms, 5 bathrooms, a small theater, a garage with 2 bedroom apartment overhead, a boathouse, and a massive generator to power it all belonging to a family that uses that as a weekend getaway. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't want to have the freedom of that much luxury (assuming I don't have to clean it).
Imagine the class system, as defined by our net worth, as layers of a cake. When you're in a layer, you interact primarily with the layers just above and below you. Occasionally you get insight to what's way at the top, and what's way at the bottom. You imagine what it would be like to be at the top, but at the same time thank yourself that you're not at the bottom. But where should you, and everyone else belong as a minimum? Given that you only really know the layer that you're now in, and you're not completely miserable, that seems reasonable. But, at the same time, that next layer up would be a pretty nice place to be. So you want more than what you have, and you're a bad person right? What does that mean?
For the single mom working 3 full time jobs and a car that's always on the brink of falling apart, it's a stable partner or at the very least more income to afford a bit more time to spend with the kids. For the renter, its the desire to own a home. For the 16 year old, its the desire to have one's own car and gain independence. For the collector, its to find that last rare piece that'll make one's collection complete. For the gamer, its the latest console or game.
You can chide the gamer plunking down yet another $400-$600 on gaming hardware when his last console still works and there are plenty of games on it that he hasn't played. But can you chide the renter for wanting his or her own house? What allows you to see one's desires as frivolous and another's as reasonable/warranted?
At this point some might quote Mazlow's hierarchy of needs for self actualization. In it, you can reason that one needs things like shelter, food, water, social interaction, etc, all culminating in a wonderful self actualization at the top. That's great and all, but it doesn't apply to all cultures. The Amish place a higher priority on the community than they do the individual. Maybe they're not becoming self-actualized, but they seem plenty happy and have been getting along quite nicely for several hundred years. If not self actualization, where is the justification for wanting anything other than food and water? Shelter is nice, especially when the weather turns hostile. But need it be owned, or is rented acceptable?
For a long time my wife and I've wanted a house. We saved our pennies for a sufficient downpayment and now we're saving our pennies to meet the monthly mortgage payments. My wife went back to school and we got a second car to support our different schedules. Is it wrong to want these things? Is it wrong to desire a promotion or raise. Is it wrong to want to upgrade one's home, get a higher education degree, or get a degree at all?
What is the standard that we all should strive for? Once we get there, do we stop and proceed to help those behind us catch up? If we were noble we might do that. It'd be great, we all reach the same layer of decadence and have a great party once we're there. All we have to do is agree on which layer that is...
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