Yeah, “non-essential goods,” why should my consumption be limited solely to non-essential goods? I render services that someone in society has deemed valuable to earn money to allow to acquire things that I want.
And as you note, how is something deemed essential or not?
If a firearm is used for recreational shooting for years, but in one night it is used to defend the family during a home invasion, when did it stop being a, "want," and start being a, "need"?
If a hobby, independent of one's livelihood, promotes one's psychological well-being, is money spent on that hobby a need or want?
Utterly absurd and meaningless statistic. As I noted, it is not a useless statistic; it's very useful to those wishing to inflame class animosity.
If a function cannot be performed without it, it is essential. But is the function essential?
Yeah Bagman, first world problems. I have 6 functional TV’s (digital flat screens) in my house and I don’t feel guilty about it. Me and the wife have worked hard and gotten to the point that we earn an upper middle class living and can afford that stuff. I thank God every day that I was born in this country and that my Dad instilled a work ethic in me and my siblings so we could get through life as earners and not takers.
Am I an oppressive practitioner of white priveledge? Nope, just a guy enjoying his life. I have not stolen, cheated or harmed anyone to be able to acquire “non essential goods”. We pay a crap load of taxes (not sure I’m gonna be able to afford continuing to live in Nebraska after retirement but that’s another story) so Uncle Sugar can subsidize other people’s lifestyle. Trying to make people feel guilty (which I think is the point of this very interesting and informative article) is a non starter with me and mine, FRiend. Sounds like also with you?