The roots of luxury

It has been years since I started ruminating about luxury and necessity. To be precise, it was towards the end of teenage that the concept of luxury wriggled its fingers into the convulsions of my brain. Ever since then, every relationship I have had, has ended due to my consciousness of relative luxury.

From that point of very first break up, till date, I have come up with dozens of methods to define what a luxury is. I would scribble the words, sit in awe of the feat I had conquered, find a logical fallacy, then crumble the piece of paper and toss it into the dustbin. Therefore, what I am sharing with you, is a definition that survived and the storms it has to withstand. And if you will hang on, I might as well share a realist relationship advice with you.

That which is in excess of necessity is a luxury.

Sounds simple, right? Now lets delve deeper.

The first question.

What is an “excess of necessity”?

First, lets uncover the nature of necessity. To do this, I cancel out every other necessity of a human being except for Oxygen. Oxygen is a universal necessity for humans to survive, without it life cannot be sustained. But is the necessity of the gas same for all people. What I mean to ask is, is the magnitude of necessity of Oxygen same for all people?

The obvious answer: No!

The Sherpas living in the Himalayas can survive off less Oxygen than an average person. Their necessity for the gas is less than average. Now, I am not going to make rash conclusions out of this little thought. The only conclusion I draw is “necessity is subjective.”

What about an excess then? Is the determination of an excess of a good subjective too?

When I was young, my father used to eat at least 10 rotis in a meal. Despite decimating a huge pile of the bread, he would still complain about being hungry. I could never figure out how many rotis would he need to consume in order to satisfy his need. At the same time, I would eat three of them and the everything served next was an excess for me.

This is just an example of a plethora of experience that made me conclude that the determination of excess is subjective too.

Next Question.

What causes this subjectivity?

I am somewhat sure that the answer I am offering will be contested by many. Therefore, before I even mutter it, let me confess that I understand that there can other reasons behind the subjectivity of necessity and excess. Lets just say my answer stood out because it is connected to a deeper reason behind the subjectivity.

Consumption pattern. But how?

Lets say two individuals want to eat momo. Ceteris Paribas, they have different consumption pattern. One eats the same 10 dumplings at a corner store for 80 bucks. The other pays a visit to a posh restaurant and pays 400 bucks for the same food. What would happen to the consumption pattern of the duo if the two stores sold identical momo? Well, that does not normally happen in reality.

Let me reframe the question with another example. Why would someone buy a cigarette at a nightclub for Rs 30 when it can be bought for Rs 15 at a shop? Same tobacco, same filter, same cigarette. Yet, there are always some people who would spend double the market price for the cigarette even when they know how much it costs. Therefore, in our preceding momo question, the pattern would hardly change at all.

Back to the momo quandary, lets try to lure the corner store guy into the posh restaurant. The first requirement would be an incentive. Assume that the restaurant offers a superior quality of momo at a reasonable price, say Rs 160. Would the individual visit the restaurant? No. He/She would rather eat two plates of momo at the corner store for a total of Rs 160.

The tendency of the individual to not visit the restaurant, even when he has sufficient funds, is the product of what I call class bubble.

Next question. What is a class bubble?

I would be lying if I made up a definition and fed it to you for I am yet to conceive one. But if I were to compare, I would compare it to inertia. Like inertia, a person in a particular class bubble will remain in the bubble forever, until and unless an external force exerts its effect. Also, a person outside a certain bubble will never enter it unless some pulls him in from inside. Now, you may have already noticed it; we are reaching the conclusion that the existence of class bubbles is the root of luxury. However, it is not that simple.

Now the next set of questions arise.

What could be done to break out of a class bubble? What will happen if one breaks out of a bubble? Do we always have to remain in a singular bubble? Does the difficulty in breaking out of a bubble depend on the type of the bubble? Is there an all-encompassing bubble?

We will discuss it all. And I will also share that relationship advice. But let us wait till the next discourse for that.