Posted on 07/10/2017 4:46:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Another thing would be to "define unnecessary purchases". I would wager that there are many people who think smart phones, eating out, SUVs, air conditioning, trips to the amusement park etc are necessities.
They are only necessities if you don’t buy more of them as your income rises.
IF you buy more of them as your income rises they become luxuries.
Wacky definitions bring wacky conclusions.
And what demographic exactly needed 50 years to see the obvious?
The taxpaying Victims?
The fraud-bent perps?
The dumber-than-rocks clueless politician elected criminal enablers?
Something I have learned during my life is that the vast majority of people are just barely rational on their best days.
Put them in a stressful situation and that bit of rationality evaporates.
Have a guy lose his job and watch him spend $100 on lottery tickets.
We all have our moments. The key is to know you are under stress, to know that you are not thinking clearly. Then make yourself stop for a moment and think through what is going on and what you can reasonably do about it.
Most people will not do that and will act impulsively.
How you think and what you do under stress is in my mind is what separates the Homo Sapien (Thinking Man) from the mere humans.
I live in Texas and I guarantee you air conditioning is not a luxury. Might be true in Massachusetts. But then I’d tell you your home heating oil is a luxury, not a necessity.
I agree. Lots of people now can’t or won’t distinguish desire with need. Credit cards and status envy makes it easy to turn a luxury into an essential.
Quite true.
Why be responsible with other people’s money?
Ironic isn’t it. I’ve also noticed those same types take very nice spring break vacations with their EITC “refunds” while I am working to pay daddy gubermint.
The article would be better if it defined what it meant by “luxuries” - otherwise it is a random label used by the survey creators.
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