Chapter 1. Defining Economic Necessity
“So if we want to talk about developing real virtue and a life nourished on more than bread alone, we need to stop and critically examine our own desire and the real meaning of economic necessity. ..”
This line is actually worth considering. It is true, as I referenced previously, that our society has become a little too hung-up on material goods…myself included. This became all-too-clear to me after doing my income taxes a few weeks ago, seeing how much money we made and asking myself “where the HELL did it all go?”
Accordingly, my little brood is tightening the belt, paying for past sins and working towards a greater financial security than we currently have. Some of our material wants are going to have to take a back seat…which is, of course, easier said than done AND we will be required to look at some things to determine “Is this really necessary?” And, who knows? Maybe once we’ve established a new spending pattern, the wife and I will be free to explore some other options which MAY enhance our already happy family life. Maybe the wife can start a new career with fewer hours. Maybe she can quit working altogether. Or maybe I can just build that high-tech rec room in my basement with cash rather than on credit.
Sorry…old materialistic habits are hard to break.
“I would suggest that moving far away from one’s kin is virtually never a true economic necessity and almost always rooted in selfish desire.”
After reading this line, I needed to go online to learn a little about Mr. Stegall as I assumed that anyone who would make such a statement likely lives in his mother’s basement.
I was wrong, however. Mr. Stegall is a civil and commercial litigation attorney (read: "ambulance chaser") in Topeka Kansas who owns a farm somewhere close to his childhood home. These two points are indicative of the following:
Mr. Stegall is in a profession which can be found in the largest cities, the most rural hamlets and anywhere in between. Even an attorney who earns on the low-end of the spectrum still eeks out a fair payday…especially given the cost of living in rural Kansas.
Mr. Stegall has deep roots in fly-over territory and did not have a transient childhood. It happens that his roots are in a place where the cost of living and population density (or lack thereof) are extremely condusive to one’s ability to have a little family farm down the dirt road from Mom and Dad’s house.
I’m so happy for Mr. Stegall that he is in a situation which allows him to enjoy his chosen lifestyle. I take offense, however, at his castigation of those who are not similarly situated…even if we WANTED the same lifestyle.
Soon after getting married, my wife and I were faced with a very tough decision. My job, which is pretty specialized, was being moved from Ft. Worth to Atlanta. What made this such a tough decision is that both my family and my wife’s were all located within a 30 mile radius of our little $850 a month, 1000 square-foot apartment in one of the cheaper sections of the DFW area. Our options were pretty clear: be unemployed and risk losing what little we had (and little it was indeed) or follow our selfish desires to build something of our own and move 800 miles away.
It was indeed selfish of us because I put my pride ahead of my family…and by “pride” I mean my ability to feed, clothe and shelter myself and my new bride instead of asking my parents or in-laws to do it for me.
It was selfish because I put my desires ahead of my kin…and by “desire” I mean feeding the fundamental need of any newly married couple to build a life together without relying on the charity of their extended family.
Mr. Stegall’s statement is offensive as it takes one of the most difficult decisions my wife and I (and many MANY other families in this country) ever made and attributes it to selfishness. Of course, this is an easy indictment for one who does not appear to have ever been outside his own bubble to make.
This line is actually worth considering. It is true, as I referenced previously, that our society has become a little too hung-up on material goods…myself included. This became all-too-clear to me after doing my income taxes a few weeks ago, seeing how much money we made and asking myself “where the HELL did it all go?”
Accordingly, my little brood is tightening the belt, paying for past sins and working towards a greater financial security than we currently have. Some of our material wants are going to have to take a back seat…which is, of course, easier said than done AND we will be required to look at some things to determine “Is this really necessary?” And, who knows? Maybe once we’ve established a new spending pattern, the wife and I will be free to explore some other options which MAY enhance our already happy family life. Maybe the wife can start a new career with fewer hours. Maybe she can quit working altogether. Or maybe I can just build that high-tech rec room in my basement with cash rather than on credit.
Sorry…old materialistic habits are hard to break.
“I would suggest that moving far away from one’s kin is virtually never a true economic necessity and almost always rooted in selfish desire.”
After reading this line, I needed to go online to learn a little about Mr. Stegall as I assumed that anyone who would make such a statement likely lives in his mother’s basement.
I was wrong, however. Mr. Stegall is a civil and commercial litigation attorney (read: "ambulance chaser") in Topeka Kansas who owns a farm somewhere close to his childhood home. These two points are indicative of the following:
Mr. Stegall is in a profession which can be found in the largest cities, the most rural hamlets and anywhere in between. Even an attorney who earns on the low-end of the spectrum still eeks out a fair payday…especially given the cost of living in rural Kansas.
Mr. Stegall has deep roots in fly-over territory and did not have a transient childhood. It happens that his roots are in a place where the cost of living and population density (or lack thereof) are extremely condusive to one’s ability to have a little family farm down the dirt road from Mom and Dad’s house.
I’m so happy for Mr. Stegall that he is in a situation which allows him to enjoy his chosen lifestyle. I take offense, however, at his castigation of those who are not similarly situated…even if we WANTED the same lifestyle.
Soon after getting married, my wife and I were faced with a very tough decision. My job, which is pretty specialized, was being moved from Ft. Worth to Atlanta. What made this such a tough decision is that both my family and my wife’s were all located within a 30 mile radius of our little $850 a month, 1000 square-foot apartment in one of the cheaper sections of the DFW area. Our options were pretty clear: be unemployed and risk losing what little we had (and little it was indeed) or follow our selfish desires to build something of our own and move 800 miles away.
It was indeed selfish of us because I put my pride ahead of my family…and by “pride” I mean my ability to feed, clothe and shelter myself and my new bride instead of asking my parents or in-laws to do it for me.
It was selfish because I put my desires ahead of my kin…and by “desire” I mean feeding the fundamental need of any newly married couple to build a life together without relying on the charity of their extended family.
Mr. Stegall’s statement is offensive as it takes one of the most difficult decisions my wife and I (and many MANY other families in this country) ever made and attributes it to selfishness. Of course, this is an easy indictment for one who does not appear to have ever been outside his own bubble to make.
posted by Big Bad Dad at 1:29 PM
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