Nesessities Versus Luxuries...
Usene...@the-domain-in.sig
Pew Research Center survey and data...
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/323/luxury-or-necessity
Quoting Them...
------------------
As Americans navigate increasingly crowded lives, the number of
things they say they can't live without has multiplied in the
past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that
asks whether a broad array of everyday consumer products are
luxuries or necessities.
....
But one pattern was consistent: wherever there has been a
significant change in the past decade in the public's judgment
about these items, it's always been in the direction of
necessity. And on those items for which there are longer term
survey trends dating back to 1973, this march toward necessity
has tended to accelerate in the past ten years.
...
The Pew survey finds that people of different ages often make
these luxury-or-necessity calculations through different lenses.
But the pattern varies. For some items (mainly information era
technologies), it's the younger respondents who are more prone to
see a necessity. In other cases (mainly home appliances that
offer convenience, comfort and entertainment), it's the older
respondents more inclined to see a necessity.
...
When it comes to income levels, the story is different. Here, the
pattern tends to play out in one direction only: the more income
a person has, the more likely he or she is to view goods and
gadgets as necessities rather than luxuries.
...
Having something can sometimes be a proxy for needing something.
But not always.
For example, a nearly identical percentage of the public owns a
car (92%) and considers a car a necessity (91%). On the other
hand, nearly everyone (98%) owns a television, but just 64% of
adults consider it a necessity.
...
Two items on the list - a clothes washer and dryer - are
anomalies for a different reason. They're the only ones for which
the percentage of the public that considers them a necessity is
greater (albeit only slightly) than the percentage of the public
that owns them.
-------------
End Quoting Them
My ideas...
With the age/entertainment stats... Older people may view a
television set as being a "necessity" because they are retired,
and feel a "need" to kill time.
Also, some younger people may try for an intellectual snobbery,
by falsely claiming that they don't really "need" a TeeVee. Even
if they are just as addicted as the older folks.
Also, the age skew is to be expected. If you were forty years
old before something was available to you, then it may look like
a "luxury." OTOH, if that product/service was available since
you were a kid, that makes it look more basic - like a "need."
And, there can be some other, general snobbery. Like someone
(even a poor person) saying, "I am really high-class, because I
appreciate the finer things in life. Thus, my dishwasher, etc,
is a necessity for a high-class person like me." Just to pump
him/herself up.
Or, the issue of always (as an adult) having possessed something.
If someone has owned a car, since the age of sixteen, s/he may
feel frightened of the unknown. I.e. how to use public
transport. Or the fear of being socially branded as a loser.
OTOH, a clothes washer is viewed as a "need" by people without
one, because getting to/from a laundromat is such a hassle.
There also seem to be some factors (like an iPod or flat-screen
Teevee) which may be influenced by peer pressure. Like, "I neeed
such-and-such consumer item, in order to fit in with a social
clique, and to look kewl, so I can desperately beg for fwiends
and social approval (even from strangers on the street who see my
iPod...)"
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Anthony Matonak
> http://pewresearch.org/pubs/323/luxury-or-necessity
...
> As Americans navigate increasingly crowded lives, the number of
> things they say they can't live without has multiplied in the
> past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that
> asks whether a broad array of everyday consumer products are
> luxuries or necessities.
...
>
>
> With the age/entertainment stats... Older people may view a
> television set as being a "necessity" because they are retired,
> and feel a "need" to kill time.
I don't know about the killing time thing. I think it's more
likely a lifestyle issue and folks can see TV and newspapers
as means to keep informed.
For instance, TV is one method to learn if more earthquakes are
expected in your area or if you need to evacuate. They'll often
broadcast if something bad is headed your way, fires, floods,
hurricanes, mudslides, tornadoes or white ford broncos.
> Also, the age skew is to be expected. If you were forty years
> old before something was available to you, then it may look like
> a "luxury." OTOH, if that product/service was available since
> you were a kid, that makes it look more basic - like a "need."
Again, probably a lifestyle thing. If you are retired and stay
at home then you might not need a car but if you work and there
is no public transit then you do.
Cell phones used to be a luxury but with the demise of pay phones
it's become much more of a necessity.
> And, there can be some other, general snobbery. Like someone
> (even a poor person) saying, "I am really high-class, because I
> appreciate the finer things in life. Thus, my dishwasher, etc,
> is a necessity for a high-class person like me." Just to pump
> him/herself up.
Modern appliances often save time. If you are a working stiff
then time is not something you have to waste. The higher your
income, the more time means more than money and the more saving
time becomes a necessity.
Anthony
Rod Speed
Those arent necessitys, they're a convenience.
rick++
You can get a serviceable color TV for less than $100,
a microwave for $30.
Rod Speed
> Isnt it a luxury f it costs a noticeable amount of money?
Nope.
> You can get a serviceable color TV for less than $100,
> a microwave for $30.
Doesnt mean that either is a necessity.
ra...@vt.edu
> Nope.
It's a false dichotomy. Some things might be neither
a necessity nor a luxury. A radio or TV is hardly a
necessity, but they really aren't luxuries if you buy
the inexpensive sort. That is not to imply expensive
is the defining character of luxury, though it's easy to
make that mistake.
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.
Rod Speed
>>> Isnt it a luxury f it costs a noticeable amount of money?
>> Nope.
What matters isnt the price, its what the alternatives are.
>>> You can get a serviceable color TV for less than $100,
>>> a microwave for $30.
>> Doesnt mean that either is a necessity.
> It's a false dichotomy.
There is no dichotomy, false or otherwise.
> Some things might be neither a necessity nor a luxury.
Duh.
> A radio or TV is hardly a necessity,
Depends on the circumstances.
And in the ultimate even clothes and houses arent a necessity.
> but they really aren't luxuries if you buy the inexpensive sort.
That depends on the use of that word. Quite a bit of the
time its used as an alternative to the word necessity.
http://onelook.com/?w=luxury
> That is not to imply expensive is the defining character
> of luxury, though it's easy to make that mistake.
It is at times, most obviously with the word luxurious.
hchi...@hotmail.com
<antho...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote:
>Modern appliances often save time. If you are a working stiff
>then time is not something you have to waste. The higher your
>income, the more time means more than money and the more saving
>time becomes a necessity.
Nicely put. We all play the dastardly game of Maslow's Heirarchies.
Once we have water, food, and shelter, then the next item on the list
becomes a necessity. Some folks don't know the level of the game where
"The only way to win this game is not to play it."
Television, for me, is cheap entertainment and infotainment, because
I'm more likely to watch the history programs and obscure stuff than
dreck like "America's Most Bodacious Ta-Tas."
We had an interesting experience when we first moved, where we only
got a few local channels. Our tv watching dropped to one local news
show for the headlines (about 10 minutes), because broadcast tv was so
inane. Now that we have Directv and Tivo back, we are back to maybe
an hour or two of tv a night (although I tivo much more and discard
it). So much of life is about selection.
BTW, thanks Anthony, for plugging away to keep the newsgroup going. I
haven't said it before, but I appreciate the effort.
Gordon Burditt
No. For example, housing is the largest piece of many families'
budgets, but it's not a luxury. On the other hand, pet rocks are
cheap, but very few people consider them a necessity.
A heart transplant is extremely expensive. Some people have medical
conditions which make a transplant a necessity or they will die,
soon. Many of those people cannot afford one, even WITH insurance.
Rick
I disagree. We live in a market driven by a false sense of necessity.
Saying that something is inexpensive is hardly the line to be drawn as
to whether it constitutes a luxury or a necessity. A TV is nice, but not
a necessity. But it can't be just a TV. It has to be a BIG TV. No, now
it has to be a BIG STEREO TV. No that's not good enough - it has to be a
BIG STEREO WIDE SCREEN TV. Crap - now you have to buy a BIG STEREO 5.1
WIDE SCREEN HIGH DEFINITION TV.
A radio or a TV are absolutely not necessities. Neither are new clothes
every 90 days, iPods, new computers and software every year, game
consoles, 10 pair of shoes per person, one car per person per household,
cell phones, Blu ray DVD's to replace regular DVD's to replace VHS
recorders, hi-def television to watch the ever decreasing quality of
content, satellite radio, microwave popcorn, "concentrated" detergents,
refrigerators with built in televisions, bottled water, thermal cooler
packs to put your bottle of bottled water in, espresso machines,
microwave burritos, salad spinners, label makers, light up toilet seats,
ovens that refrigerate food until it begins the cooking cycle...
The USA is the piggiest nation in the world, spending more money on
useless non necessities because of the marketing driven gullibility of
the consumer. If you don't by "that" you are less of a person. You have
a hole in your life. And the marketing firms play you like a fiddle.
Rick
Rod Speed
Or decent modern products are dirt cheap now that so many of them are
made in china and only a fool wouldnt buy what makes things convenient.
Only a fool only buys necessitys when they can comfortably afford what
makes things convenient, and that last clearly applys to most of us.
m...@privacy.net
>Or decent modern products are dirt cheap now that so many of them are
>made in china and only a fool wouldnt buy what makes things convenient.
>
>Only a fool only buys necessitys when they can comfortably afford what
>makes things convenient, and that last clearly applys to most of us.
what things would you have even if considered NOT a
necessity?
what things in YOUR mind have value in just making life
better, easier, etc.... but are NOT necessities?
Rod Speed
> "Rod Speed" <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Or decent modern products are dirt cheap now that so many of them are
>> made in china and only a fool wouldnt buy what makes things
>> convenient.
>>
>> Only a fool only buys necessitys when they can comfortably afford
>> what makes things convenient, and that last clearly applys to most
>> of us.
> what things would you have even if considered NOT a necessity?
Really depends on how you define a necessity.
There's really only a few which are real necessitys in the strictest
sense, just food and water really. Even clothes and houses arent
really a necessity in the sense that you wont die without them.
Gets harder if you define necessitys as stuff you
choose to not be without unless you are destitute etc.
> what things in YOUR mind have value in just making
> life better, easier, etc.... but are NOT necessities?
Virtually everything, particularly the house I designed and built myself,
the bulk of my clothes, my car, I choose to buy a new one every 30 years
or so, rather than buy old bombs whenever the previous one dies, and
I can certainly do without a car at all and have one for the convenience
even tho I cant ride a bike anymore. The flying was certainly not a
necessity, I did it for the enjoyment etc. The internet certainly isnt
a necessity, its what I find convenient. TV etc too. Books to read
in spades. Beer isnt a necessity, tap water keeps me alive fine.
All holidays/trips etc.
Dennis
>what things would you have even if considered NOT a
>necessity?
>
>what things in YOUR mind have value in just making life
>better, easier, etc.... but are NOT necessities?
I do quite a bit of DIY projects and repairs. I would not want to be
without my cordless screwdriver/drill or my Sawzall. Certainly, I can
(and have) done projects without them, but they make it so much faster
and easier. I'm also beginning to think the same of my air nailer.
Dennis (evil)
--
I'm behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave,
dodging the bullet and pushing the envelope. -George Carlin
m...@privacy.net
>I do quite a bit of DIY projects and repairs. I would not want to be
>without my cordless screwdriver/drill or my Sawzall. Certainly, I can
>(and have) done projects without them, but they make it so much faster
>and easier. I'm also beginning to think the same of my air nailer.
I see
Well it's an interesting question no doubt
I for one could NOT do without some form of Internet
connection. Its the ultimate "tool" for me
I could do without lots of other things but not
Internet
In fact.... Id even like to carry the Internet WITH me
in the form of a smart phone such as Apples new iPhone
or Treo
Rod Speed
Yeah, I'd never do without it again.