(This is not a normal blog post, it is just a collection of thoughts. These aren't necessarily my final opinions, so if you don't agree with any of the things I've written here, challenge me please. I'm hoping to write a few more like this over the next year, and hopefully record how the internal argument that goes on in my head evolves.)
I always remember my Mum used to say two things to me and my sisters when we were little, to teach us manners:
"What's the magic word?" (when we forgot to say please after making a demand of her)
"I want doesn't get" (when we had tantrums from not having our own way)
Both of these severely annoyed me as a kid, but I think Mum and Dad must have done a good job, as I normally remember please, thank you and don't use I want - except where I'm really lazy or grumpy (apparently it happens some times…).
Coming back from Nepal this time, I've been thinking a lot about needs and wants. What things do we actually need, and what are wants? Is it greed all the things we have in our consumerist world? I realise the irony of talking about this whilst typing the blog on my shiny MacBook, listening to music blaring out of my iPod touch and texting my friends on smartphone (yes, I can sort of multitask!).
But it was something that someone said to me when I visited Dhawa in Gorkha, he thought that the village was too developed. Too developed? Really? Does that mean that all the things they aspire to have is an 'I want' rather than a 'I need'? Dhawa is a village where the water comes from a few water taps dotted around the village, families having to collect their water in a gagri and carry them back to the houses. The national power grid had reached there in the last year, but many households couldn't afford to connect to it. Even those that did, the power is less reliable than Nepali politicians, and would cut out just as evening fell, not returning until the next day. A village where 500 children went to school, but many others didn't because their families needed them to work on the land and earn money, or couldn't afford the small amount of cash to send them to school. In my mind, Dhawa had started along a good road, they were improving their school, trying to find ways to improve the water and sanitation for the whole village, women's meetings were taking place that went across all castes, but this was by no means too developed. Surely these are not things that we want but things that we actually need. They are our basic human rights. Things like this are covered under the UN's Millennium Development Goals, and to my mind are needs not wants. So what is the difference between basic human rights, aspiration, needs and wants?
I, along with most sane people, were appalled by the rioting in London and other cities around the UK in August. I was in Nepal at the time, and was all over the news there too. Although it started out as a legitimate protest, it slowly descended to anarchy, with people seeing it as a chance to get things that they wanted - the latest phone, TV, computer or so on. To me, it was a clear indictment of our consumer driven culture, where everyone must have the newest product, the latest gadget, and have it now, not next week or next year. Again, I do recognise the hypocrisy in my own actions on several occasions.
And this has made me think about my situation, and what are things I do that are wants, and what are needs. Where do I show the consumerism that we are all encouraged into as this will allow economic growth and make our country 'Great' again. I obviously need to eat and drink, but the chocolate and biscuits are definitely more wants, real weaknesses to me. I need some money to provide me with food, water, shelter and clothing, but do I really need as much as I have? And why do I use the brands I do - do I want to associate myself with the reputation of that brand? I sold my car almost 2 years ago, and I'd really like to get another one, but I don't really need this, it would be a nice-to-have and make my life a little bit easier. I certainly don't need to travel as much as I do, and quite often a pang of guilt hits me about my carbon footprint.
But then, it's some of these wants that actually make life worth living, not just surviving. But how you choose your wants is tricky, how can you work out what really makes you happy? Is your want because you deep down feel it would be amazing to have, or is just because all your peer group have it? And what if that has an impact on someone else? There has been a bit about this in the news recently, with the National Wellbeing Index which is an attempt by our government to measure our happiness. It really shows that what actually makes us happy are our family, friends and things you can't buy. (However, if you take MacBook, iPod or phone I'll be very sad.)
At the Small is… festival there was a lot of talk about whether our current economic system actually worked for the world we live in. I'm going to have a proper go at reading Schumacher's book, Small is beautiful and see what he had to say about the whole situation.
I would just like to finish with a thought from the Bible (1 Timothy 6:7-8):
"What did we bring into the world? Nothing! What can we take out of the world? Nothing! So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us."
SAM
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