Need V. Want

As I read and visit with like-minded folks, one the subjects that frequently arises is that of need versus want. 

Coffee.  Flowers.  Air conditioning.  Sugar.  Wool socks.  Antibiotics.  Refrigeration.

Are they needs or wants?  And who gets to decide?

We do.  We decide whether to fill our lives with needs or wants and how to distinguish between them. 

I see preppers judging other preppers based on what they perceive as needs or wants, and it’s a really bad idea.  What you view as a want, or even a luxury, may indeed be a crucial need for them.  And it may be crucial for you as well, even if you don’t recognize it.  Here are some examples:

Refrigeration.  Being able to keep fresh milk or leftovers cold is often perceived as an industrialized world want that preppers better learn to live without.  However, for insulin-dependent diabetics and others who need to keep medications cool, reliable refrigeration is a true need.  For my type-1 diabetic husband and me, refrigeration approaches prepping obsession.  I think we’ve got eight options for it now. 

Air conditioning.  Along the same lines, some people, particularly the elderly, immunocompromised, and those with some forms of heart disease, risk death if they become overheated.  They’ve got to have plans in place for keeping cool.  If moving to a cooler climate isn’t an option, they need to have generators and fuel for running the AC, maybe even just a small unit in a bathroom.  It seems like a tremendous problem to me, but it’s not my problem, so I haven’t spent a lot of time working through solutions.  I just think it’s important to recognize that for some people, keeping cool is a need, not a want.

Coffee is a real addiction for some.  I think coffee addicts are going to be in a world of hurt when they can no longer satisfy their need.  I don’t envy the headaches that will come with withdrawals.  But for some people, coffee can actually be a medicinal need.  It helps elevate low blood pressure that can occur in the elderly after a meal.  And it can help asthmatics as well.  I find it easier and cheaper to store caffeine pills, but sometimes you need the caffeine to get into the bloodstream ASAP, and that’s where the coffee comes in.  (A couple of years ago, my local Grocery Outlet store—I really miss that place!—had a grocery cart full of cans of coffee for something like 50 cents each.  It was such a screaming deal that I really struggled with whether I should buy some for barter.  Ultimately, I decided I didn’t want to waste the space with a product we didn’t use.  I still wonder whether I made the right decision.)  For what it’s worth, tobacco also has a limited medicinal application.  But I’m not going there today, or ever possibly.  And yes, the cigarette (unlit) does go there.  Better to prep in other ways. 

Sugar.  As a nation, we’re a bunch of sugar addicts.  We really don’t need all that we consume, and we’ll become a lot healthier when we can’t consume all we wish.  However, it’s also interesting to hear preppers say they won’t use the recommended 60 pounds of sugar per year and hear them mock others who store that or more.  Sugar is a preservative.  It makes canned foods and jams last longer.  Sugar (and honey) are also antibacterial wound dressings.  Sugar feeds yeast so that breads rise better and/or faster.  It helps hide the off taste of powdered milk.  I’d call a generous supply of sugar a need, not a luxury.  And yet, most of us will be better off with less of it. 

Oil is like sugar in many ways, especially from a preparedness viewpoint.  We don’t need all we consume, we’ll be healthier when we cut back, and most say they would never use that much oil (20 pounds or pints recommended per person for a year).  Like sugar, some cooking oils, especially coconut and olive, have medicinal uses.  Mostly oil is valued because it can make so many foods that are unpalatable raw into something quite delicious when cooked in oil.  And again, like sugar, we can grow our own here but it takes a whole lot of effort to grow the food and then process it into oil. 

Wool and other animal fibers.  Those who live in cold climates are familiar with the value of wool in keeping warm.  What many do not know is the value of alpaca and angora, which are even warmer, ounce for ounce.  Some people can’t tolerate wool (which may be related to the shearing, the breed of sheep, or the processing, so fiber from other breeds of sheep may be more acceptable), and so alpaca and angora will be more along the lines of a need rather than want for keeping warm.  Angora and alpaca are so much softer, warmer, and less irritating. 

Flowers versus vegetables in the garden.  Don’t think that the guy who’s growing flowers is wasting valuable space that could be dedicated to crops.  He may have a plan.  For all you know those could be opium poppies for pain or honeysuckle or forsythia for antiviral remedies.  They could be nasturtiums for bacterial infections or warding off cabbage butterflies.  Even if they are doing nothing else, they could be helping to camouflage the entire garden as a flower garden instead of a vegetable garden.

We’re all going to have our needs that others will perceive as wants.  Others will have their needs that we might otherwise perceive as luxuries.  It’s not our position to judge.  It all comes down to how you use it, whether it’s essential for you.  If it’s essential for you, you have to plan for it.  No one else will do it for you.  

27 april 2024