Material World

So I have thought many times about what people this day and age have compared to what our ancestors had. Along with that thought process I have also thought about what modern people consider a necessity compared to what really is a true necessity.

The whole reason this keeps coming to mind is I keep hearing people tell me electricity is a necessity or running water is a necessity. Granted don't get me wrong I love both of these inventions and I really don't want to go back to a time before they existed, but they aren't necessary to live. There are many people who to this day don't have either. Some of my second ex-fiancee's family for instance. My family a few times when we were living at campgrounds or we were moving some where. Hence probably why I can remember that they aren't necessary, but a really great luxury that we are privileged enough to have available enough to feel it is a necessity. Granted some will argue they are necessities in order to survive in this modern world. Alright on a business sense they are necessary, but on a human survival sense they aren't. Trust me those are recent modern inventions that haven't been around very long in the great scheme of things.

Another thing that people have a hard time believing isn't a necessity for living is a car. Again I think the car is a great invention. I love, love, love motorized vehicles. So please don't think I am saying we need to get rid of them. I am only trying to open your mind to the idea that we live in a privileged society and time. Cars have only been around for the public since around the end of the 1800's. Even then they didn't really begin to be mass produced for the general public for until after Henry Ford started his production line. The mass production of cars didn't even become as major of a deal for until around the 1950's when they started getting more customized and flashy. Now the modern generation of people have become dependent on having a car. I can't even tell you how many people I have met who won't even walk a few blocks to the store or a restaurant. When I think about it I start to wonder how we became so dependent on a vehicle. Maybe my perspective is different since I never learned to drive and there forth never owned a vehicle. Like I said I love the invention of motorized vehicles. My only concern is if in such a short span of time we have become so dependent on vehicles that we don't like to walk even a block some where then how dependent will the next generation be?


Another thing people have started acting like a person can't live without is internet. I am going to lump computers in with the internet since you have to have a computer to access the internet. The weird thing about people acting like the internet is a necessity is that I remember when most people didn't even know what it was. Even weirder is I remember when most people didn't even have a computer and schools were teaching kids how to do simple things like turn the computer on. So how is it within my lifetime of 33 years did we go from not having these things to now we feel we need them and we look at anyone without them as strange? Granted don't get me wrong I love having a computer. I love being able to look up anything within a matter of seconds and I love being able to stay in touch with family and friends so easily. Especially now that there are sites like Facebook that have helped me reconnect with old friends who I missed greatly. Yet I wouldn't say my computer is a necessity unless I am taking classes. At that point my home computer is a necessity due to the school makes it a necessity. Trust me I tried taking classes without one at one point. It didn't go so well. So what would I do if my computer died tomorrow and I couldn't use it as a source to stay in touch with friends? Well I guess I would have to stay in touch with the ones I can by phone. Granted my phone allows me to FB on it. So in my above scenario I guess I am going with I have no internet access. The point is I have lived without a computer and without internet available to me. So there for I can survive without it. My life just becomes a little more cumbersome and less exciting.

The final thing I have noticed people depending on as a life source is their phones; especially cell phones. Those of you who know me well also know I call my phone my life source. So please understand I am also wondering what is wrong with me that I go through phone withdrawals when something happens to my phone. Yet I have lived without a phone at all and up for until my friend was pregnant with my Goddaughter I didn't have a cell phone or a desire for one. I even kind of was upset that my friend felt I needed one for in case she went into labor since the father was a part of the picture. Granted I worked closer and was more likely to come running if she went into labor than he was at the time.So yes I get why she wanted me to have a reliable source of contact. Once I got the cell phone though I loved how convenient it was. I loved being able to call my family and talk to them whenever. I probably should have and still should use my phone to stay in touch with friends more. Yet they seem to always be busy and I get tired of being told that people are busy. My family on the other hand most of them don't have life's so bugging them is easy. I know I am mean, but the truth hurts sometimes. Plus I will readily admit I really don't have a life. If I did I probably wouldn't have time to be writing these blogs instead I would be in a bar or cafe discussing these things with my friends. So back to the phone thing again a fairly recent invention. So why do we feel it is a necessity to have them. Well we all like to be able to get help when we need it. This includes 911 or maybe asking a quick question like "Mom what ingredients other than chicken broth and chicken do I need for chicken soup, because I don't feel good." LOL. Seriously I had that conversation and many like it with my parents in a grocery store. Don't laugh. Ok you can laugh, but you know you have done something similar before.

Now for the big question. What is it about technology and the ease it gives us that we start feeling like we need all this stuff? I am not saying the feeling of wanting this stuff, but the actual feeling that it is necessary for our survival. I have met actual people who will argue with you that electricity, running water, their car, their cell phone, and their computer are things they could not live without. Trust me I have had these discussions and walked away wondering what happened, because the person wouldn't see that they were wants not actual needs. No, one of their arguments wasn't due to our modern society we need these things. That was one that I came up with or one of my friends who saw my side came up with during a discussion. I guess my concern isn't that we use these things or that we have them around. My concern is if so many people currently see them as a necessity what will future generations think are a necessity? Also what will the future be like if at some point we run out of resources for these items? Will there be any people left in our society that will know how to survive without these items? Just some things to think about. Like I said I love modern technology, but I also like to go camping and get a way from at least some of them.What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them.