I thoroughly enjoyed this post by Dave Pollard: Need Less.
The essence of radical simplicity, of the gift/generosity economy, of natural community, and of natural entrepreneurship, I think, is needing less. Needing less makes us, as individuals, members of enterprises, communities and societies, more self-sufficient, and more resilient, and allows us to give more with the 'excess' time, energy and money that we have by virtue of needing less.
Dave goes on to list a few ways that needing less in everyday life might manifest itself. Perhaps obvious to some, overly abstract to others...a pleasant reminder for me.
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A long time ago I was with a friend and her teenage daughter and we ended up, not surprisingly, at the mall. The daughter (a kid I truly like) began prefacing every statement with "I need..." As in "I need those shoes; I need that magazine; I need that dress."
Of course there was no "need" involved, and ever the English wonk, I pointed out that the verb she really meant to employ was "want" ... or even "appreciate" or "like." But need? There was no need of any of these things. I'm not sure I made a teenager happy that day, but really: maybe we should pay attention to the language we use. Need is one thing; want, crave, lust after...far different beasts.