Wants vs Needs
Last year, I took an introductory course to world politics to fill one of my graduation requirements. I thought I would find it interesting; I never thought I would fall in love with it! (Lots of credit goes to my professor, Dr. Alexa Royden, at Queens University in Charlotte for her knowledge and enthusiasm in the area.) After her class, I trekked over to my advisor and explained my dilemma – and voila! Now I have a double major – political science and psychology.
I tell you all this to tell you why I need a television.
Turns out that as a poli-sci major, I am expected to know what is going on in the world. Why is the health care bill so divisive? Who will Obama nominate if and when Supreme Court Justice Stevens retires? Why is partisan bickering holding up the business of the people because we have so many unfilled vacancies in the judicial system? What happened at the summit on global warming? And on and on.
And frankly, when a professor asks your opinon about Plan B – it’s not really a good plan to squirm in your seat and admit that you don’t know because you don’t have a TV.
As a non-traditional student, I have to watch every penny that goes out the door. I pack my lunches, I make my own coffee, I wear extra sweaters at home when it gets cold, I clip coupons, and I never use my credit cards unless there is an emergency – in short, I do everything I can to watch my expenses, and I don’t have alot of disposable income. I spend money on my needs, but not my wants.
This brings me to my current want vs. need dilemma. I need a TV – not to watch sitcoms, but to hear the political talk shows, to watch CNN and BBC America, to really watch, learn and understand what is happening in the political arena. What I WANT is to be able to watch these shows on a magnificent 52-inch flat screen TV. I’ll even settle for a smaller 32-inch flat screen. I can whip out my credit card and pay for it! I have even rationalized that since this is really a school expense I can use student loan money to pay for it.
And then I see the horrifying pictures of people in Haiti…and that really puts life into perspective. People who have lost simply everything, begging for a cup of water, some food, medical care – the basics of survival. They have needs that many of them have no way to fill – and they will die.
Suddenly going into debt for a flat-screen TV seems unappealing. Tomorrow I’ll head to Habitat for Humanity and buy a little TV for $35 and count myself so very fortunate that my needs are filled – and yes, some of my wants too.
BacktoCollegeNow! 
Perspective can be a powerful thing, I congratulate you on finding your’s.
With today’s instant gratification information world, can’t you get the news online?
It seems like the nice handy computer that you use to create this wonderful blog (or for me a time machine since many of the topics you raise take me back to the days when I wrestled with many of the same dilemma’s), would grant you access to the daily political news flow of the world. Not to mention you can get truly global updates and so especially for political news, you’d get a more global perspective.
Because, keep in mind, to get CNN and BBC on TV, you also have to subscribe to Cable or Satellite or some other means of getting the programming or you will be stuck with ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC – not that there’s anything wrong with the news from those channels. So your $35 dollars for a TV that you need, is going to increase in cost so that you can get the content that you need….or want.
Thank you! Excellent points. I was able to keep up with most news last semester through cnn.com and bbcamerica.com. (I think if I had used Fox as a newsource my professor would have flunked me, but I digress. 😉 ) You are right about the global perspective; some of my international student friends have already hooked me up with English news channels from their respective countries – Pakistan news certainly is eye-opening.
But – it means I spend hours on the computer surfing instead of being able to listen and work. Plus, in my case, adding cable to get the basic news stations adds $3.00 a month to my internet subscription rate which makes sense. If it had added $30/month, it would have been a no-go.