Need vs. Want

I am always amazed when my friends say things like: I need a new bag, or I need new shoes.

Why do you "need" new shoes?

Because I got this new outfit from Vivien Tam that is just so cool, and I need shoes to go with it, oh and a new bag too. (Riiiigght)

I smile and nod, but I'm thinking: dear, you don't "need" new shoes, you "want" new shoes....

I live in a country that generates one-third of net sales for Louis Vuitton. When the Louis Vuitton boutique in Omotesando opened in 2002, some people queued outside for 2days. TWO DAYS!!! Why? Because the LV products sold in Omotesando have a special label inside that says:"Louis Vuitton, Omotesando". Yes, they make good quality luggage, but is it necessary to camp out for days just to get that bag you *think* you "need"?

I live in a country where Shaken (motorvehicle roadworthiness testing, similar to MOT in England), which is performed every 2 years, costs so much that most people opt to buy a new car once every 2 years; I live in a country where 9 year-old children (often an only child) plead with their parents to buy them designer T-shirts that cost 12,000yen (US$117)... (and we are talking about an "average" family here, not the Hilton's of Japan...)

Madness!

"I don't understand anything," she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. "Nothing. Least of all," she continued in another tone "why you don't take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you'd be jolly. So jolly."

-- Lelina in Brave New World, Aldus Huxley

"Purchasing Power" -- yes that illusion is the soma of today's society. We are constantly bombarded with messages telling us that we "need" a new TV, we "need" a new handbag, and we "need" those new shoes. We are bound by a system that we have created -- market economy. It tells us that we do not have enough, and we "need" some more, for this is the only way market economy can sustain itself. Yes, I'll admit that humanity would probably not have developed to the level that we have reached without our economic system, but don't you think it's about time we moved on to the next level of evolution, instead of shopping for *more* bags?

I need air, food, water, shelter, companionship, solitude, my mind, my heart, and most of all inner and outer peace -- the rest, are just nice to haves. They are Wants.

Oh, and no soma for me, thank you. (not today anyway... I don't "need" anything.)

(Post script. Of those that I mentioned as my "needs" there is a price tag on all but three items. Pharmaceutical companies and the public sector are trying really hard, right now, to put a price tag on the two out of three. Imagine our Brave New World, our dystopia, where our clean air comes out of a pressurised canister, and inner peace comes in a little pink pill....

I have a dream that one day parents will teach their children to think for themselves and be able to identify the difference between "need" and "want".

I have a dream that one day the corporate fat cats will realise that there are somethings that they cannot sell or market to us.

I have a dream today.

And I hope one day I can join hands with all those who share my views, and sing from the top of my voice: "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty (even tho I am not religious), free at last. I DON'T NEED TO WORK ANYMORE!!"

Unfortunately I will wake up from my dream tomoro morning, get into my suit, and become one of the cog wheels that churn our economy. )