Every kid goes through a time when they “want, want, want” something, and it turns into an all-consuming emotional moment while they are demanding that toy or that candy treat or that time with their friends.\u00a0 Part of parents’ role in guidance and education is to help that child understand the difference between “need” and “want”.<\/p>\n
Over time, the word “need”\u00a0in the adult world of commerce in particular\u00a0has become, somehow, something that means less-than-good<\/em> or not-quite-enough<\/em>.\u00a0 It represents sacrifice and a minimum palatable result.\u00a0\u00a0Even more, using the word “need” to define your own goals\u00a0makes you into\u00a0a beggar of sorts. And a person who is confident and responsible, a stable and settled contributor to society, gets his or her “wants” because the implication is\u00a0they have paid their dues and now deserve that freedom and choice.<\/p>\n I have a big problem with this. Not about people having freedom and choice, but the notion that “need” is a bad thing. We have to re-engineer clearer\u00a0words that do not connote negativity. It takes great skill to understand true need and what can be created in the process of meeting that need. Defining my needs is a strong, clear and honest approach to making a plan and achieving it well. And no one should think that defining what I “need” is synonymous with me low-balling my goals. There is no call\u00a0for pity or contempt.<\/p>\n “Want” should also not be treated as always catering to the selfish or spoiled. People of all status levels deserve not only their “needs” but their “wants” – with the qualifier that\u00a0their wants cannot\u00a0take something away from others. This is where we are most askew in the modern age. The problem is that we have this\u00a0mentality:\u00a0if something is out there and usable\u00a0and we don’t use it someone else will and that’s not fair (?). Water rights, for example, are often built on the premise of first use. In some cases, owners of water rights continue to pump and dump water out of aquifers even when they have no use for the water.\u00a0By doing this, they legally ensure they keep their water rights, yet they spend energy and money on accessing something they don’t need when there are others who may truly have a need for the water. I have heard people say that they will not reduce their gas or oil use because they have just as much right to it as anyone else, so why shouldn’t they turn up the heat in their house instead of sitting with a lap blanket, or putting on a sweater? If they conserve, someone else will just use it anyway. They can bloody well afford to pay for it, so it’s their right.<\/p>\n Is it? Is there a way that we can reform our understanding of resource use, especially the natural resources that we now understand are closed systems and limited? Do we have the right to use something with\u00a0total disregard for others just because we can pay for it? What are we paying for? We certainly are not paying, at this point, for the externalities such as the emissions from fossil fuel use or the degradations to our water systems as a whole. We\u00a0create situations that enforce resource abuses, such as neighborhood agreements that fine people for using the clothesline. Yet then\u00a0many\u00a0complain when government must step in to pay for security during electricity brown-outs, or for cleanup from an oil spill or for provision of clean water, clean air or decent food to meet someone’s minimum need. Isn’t this just our current messy way of paying for the externalities? Pay for it in the bill (resisted) or pay for it with extra remediation services later, including hazardous cleanup, lawsuits, chronic and unmanageable healthcare costs, and bad press.<\/p>\n I’m not sure who the parent is in our current scenario, but I can tell you pretty much all of us are the kids, needing to learn the difference between what we need and what we want. This is not to say we shouldn’t work toward obtaining or achieving\u00a0what we want, but being able to pay for it cannot be the only layer of permission. One of the many things I want is\u00a0richer coffee, and I can pay for it. I don’t need it, in fact I don’t need coffee at all\u00a0(my husband would argue that).\u00a0In meeting my “want”\u00a0I do better for me and for all by\u00a0finding coffee that protects forests and uses fair labor practices. Our needs and wants can and should consider the effects on the greater community of planet earth. Buying fair trade coffee means I meet my want and do so with respect for others’ needs and wants.\u00a0The same can be applied to food purchases, to clothing, to resource uses, to life in general.<\/p>\n Maybe the parents in this scenario need to solely teach us kids about our place in the world. We are each\u00a0one small piece of a complex, richly diverse, and exciting planet-wide community that we have a role in fostering and cherishing. This role for each of us is\u00a0valuable and critical.\u00a0We need<\/em> to embrace this role, even when we want<\/em> to think only of ourselves.<\/p>\n Seeking my place in the world,<\/p>\n Jodi<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every kid goes through a time when they “want, want, want” something, and it turns into an all-consuming emotional moment while they are demanding that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,10,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-critical-commentary","category-personal-reflections","category-deep-green"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p40KlT-8x","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":833,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=833","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":0},"title":"Language: Redundancy is NOT a Dirty Word","author":"greenerjsa","date":"March 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Your position is redundant\". \"Let\u2019s not be redundant.\" \"We seek efficiency so let\u2019s eliminate redundancies.\" All dreaded uses of the word and derivations of \"redundant\". \u00a0It is well past time to reassess this connotation and comprehend that in this time of needed resiliency, redundancy is a benefit. Think of redundancy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bio-synergistic design"","block_context":{"text":"Bio-synergistic design","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":747,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=747","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":1},"title":"Compromise: Not a Dirty Word","author":"greenerjsa","date":"November 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I am still reeling from the election results, and from ongoing posts on FB and everywhere. Many still are, I am sure. Some are trying to get the electoral college to decide that the popular vote should stand. Some are taking the election as permission to discriminate and to perpetuate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2222,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=2222","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":2},"title":"Bring on the “Razzies”","author":"greenerjsa","date":"October 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Peril -\u00a0This is the word that keeps playing through my mind, along with the realization that no one sees it but me. I know it\u2019s not fair to say \u201cno one\u201d but you get the idea. I want people to stop telling me \u201cIt is what it is\u201d. This expression\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Advocacy"","block_context":{"text":"Advocacy","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=128"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":656,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=656","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":3},"title":"LEED and Yoga TWO: Language","author":"greenerjsa","date":"July 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As previously mentioned, we\u2019ve gained\u00a0comfort in the beginner exercises LEED has presented to us, and now it is time to stretch a bit more. There are\u00a0several nice new poses in LEEDv4. Some are just refinements of the moves we know, and a few are brand new to us. Language is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Critical commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Critical commentary","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LEED-v4-Points-by-Category.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LEED-v4-Points-by-Category.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LEED-v4-Points-by-Category.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":487,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=487","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":4},"title":"Should we be safe or intelligent?","author":"greenerjsa","date":"January 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I work with many amazing, knowledgeable and giving colleagues. Some are fully behind the greener work we implement, some don't yet get it, and some get it but really like to tease and banter and play devil's advocate about the whys and hows. At a large meeting, one of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Critical commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Critical commentary","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1640,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1640","url_meta":{"origin":529,"position":5},"title":"Gentrification Improvement","author":"greenerjsa","date":"September 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What if \"gentrification\" did not have to be the dirty word it has become? What if the benefits of increased attraction and a rise in local property values could translate into a more robust, grounded community, still open to the diversity and the history that made it attractive in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diversity\"","block_context":{"text":"diversity","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?tag=diversity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/IMG_1444.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}