What’s a Luxury? What’s a Necessity?

by Little Miss Attila on August 20, 2010

A lot of the stuff that we think we need, we really don’t.

On the other hand, it’s easy dismiss things as “luxuries” that make it possible for people to work the long hours they need to get ahead. For instance, I don’t think I’d want to live without a car and without either a microwave or a toaster oven—some means of heating up food quickly at the end of the day.

And those who get mad when they see homeless people with cell phones are sometimes forgetting that these people don’t have landlines, so having a cell phone may be a good idea if the homeless person is to get back on his/her feet by attaining a job, or maintain medications he/she may need.

UPDATE: Yes, I see the juxtaposition between this post and the last one. I’m letting it stand.

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

CGHill August 20, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Besides, pay-as-you-go cell phones, while pricey on a per-minute basis compared to the deals we strike for monthly minutes, aren’t hideously expensive, and fresh minutes are as close as Wal-Mart. You can go for a long time on a 60-minute card if you watch what you’re doing. (With some, you can even text; I had one once that charged one-third of a unit [minute] for each text.)

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John August 20, 2010 at 10:54 pm

A regular oven is hideously more expensive to operate than a microwave oven. The heating element drinks electricity like nothing else in the house. There is the warm-up period before the food goes in, plus the extra time it takes a pre-heated oven to warm the food, vs. the quicker times for a microwave, and then all of the extra wasted heat generated by the oven becomes a load on the home air conditioner (if there is one).

Far from being wasteful and indulgent luxuries, microwave ovens increase the energy efficiency of the homes that make regular use of them.

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John August 20, 2010 at 11:20 pm

That being said, the difference between different cooking methods makes far less of a difference than things like how high or low the home is heated or cooled, whether you wash in hot or cold water, and whether you use a dryer or a clothesline.

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Joe August 21, 2010 at 8:57 am

OT, but what is your take on Didier and his refusal to back Rossi? Just curious.

It is not something I need, but something I am curious about!

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Joy McCann August 21, 2010 at 11:29 am

I don’t follow Washington state politics as closely as I should, but I feel like Didier may be overplaying his hand. I’m concerned that his manuevering may be keeping Patty Murray in office.

OTOH, I do respect Sarah Palin’s judgement, and she has a larger research staff than I do, so I could easily be missing something.

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