Needs vs Wants
Many people have a recurring struggle of trying to differentiate their wants, and their needs. This seems to be the case for most individuals because who doesn't love having extra things? In this paper, I will be explaining what wants/ needs are, and why they seem to vary between most people in the world.
First of all, let's talk about our needs. Needs are commonly defined as something that you can't live without, or something that is required. Examples of this may be food, water, shelter, or some form of medical treatment if you have an illness or disease. These types of needs don't vary between people around the world because you can only go so long without food and/or water, and the same goes for shelter or medical treatments depending on your health. If you look more in depth though, you can find ways in which your needs would be much different than most other peoples in the world. If you look at things such as physical needs they depend on the person. For example, more money for the organization, more staff or volunteers, better lighting for the community, and more safe homes for foster children are all different physical needs, but they are only relevant to an individual if they are involved in something that has one of these examples as an issue. This is basically how our needs can vary, depending on the person.
Next, there are our wants. The common definition of “want” is to have a desire to, possess, wish for, or do something. As well, as something that is not necessary. As you may have noticed an individual's wants may or may not be similar to someone else's. This all depends on who you are as a person and what your interests may be. Some examples of what a person's wants may be are toys, games, entertainment, jewelry, clothes, and so on. Unlike needs, with wants, many people want the same things. For example, kids always want toys, most women want jewelry, and everyone wants lots of money. A common way to differentiate the two is to ask yourself, “Do I really need this in order to survive and/or complete the task I am doing?”.
Overall, this is how our wants may or may not vary on the person, and how they are different that our needs.
In conclusion, our wants are always something we can live without and our needs are something that is mandatory. Our wants can still vary on the person but are often much more common to share, whereas our needs are much more complex, and really depend on a certain person.
