Needs and wants

Post 123 “Let your needs not be in want, and your wants not be in need”

My first lesson on needs and wants in basic economics has given me a lasting impression. Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation are our needs while goods and services are wants that we wish for but can do without. One may settle for ordinary clothes instead of the designed and the branded ones; for simple food instead of sumptuous meals; for a roof over one’s head without asking for a mansion; and for a reliable transportation rather than cars that cost more than an ordinary house.

One’s appetite for needs and wants decides one’s happiness index, especially when one tries to keep up with the Joneses. When one uses one’s richer neighbour as a benchmark for social status or the accumulation of material wealth, one is deemed to have manifested one’s inferiority complex. A Chinese saying has it that when one compares oneself with another person, one will die of anger. It is better for one to live a life based on one’s resources in accordance with the proverb of cutting one’s coat to suit one’s cloth.

There are other things that one can happily pursue in life: reading, writing, listening to music, sports, and other lifelong learning activities. They are ‘needs’ necessary to make one’s life fulfilling, and ‘wants’ that are easily available.

“Let your needs not be in want, and your wants not be in need” – Ho Nee Yong

20 December 2011