Do you live in luxury?

[Saphire]

Someone quite wealthy on the radio said today, they have no complaints, they live in relative luxury.
It got me thinking, what do people define as 'luxurious living'?
It's all relative really.....but my definition would be, if you are warm, fed, with all the facilities to make life better than it was for our parents and grandparents, many of whom had no inside toilet, bathroom, central heating etc.....we are in fact, living in luxury.

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

Luxury is subjective isn't it? It's also addictive, the more of it you have, the more you want. I was born into a working-class environment, a crummy maisonette with few facilities. It did have an inside toilet/bathroom with one bar of soap that we all shared... So I considered myself poor, until later in life I started dating someone, saw how they lived and realised I lived in luxury compared to them. These days I would consider luxury to be able to travel first class, having private medical care, a detached house with acres of land, real diamonds instead of the cheap rubbish I have at the moment. it just goes on. It's like an itch you can't scratch

 

[Altair]

Luxury is subjective isn't it? It's also addictive, the more of it you have, the more you want. I was born into a working-class environment, a crummy maisonette with few facilities. It did have an inside toilet/bathroom with one bar of soap that we all shared... So I considered myself poor, until later in life I started dating someone, saw how they lived and realised I lived in luxury compared to them. These days I would consider luxury to be able to travel first class, having private medical care, a detached house with acres of land, real diamonds instead of the cheap rubbish I have at the moment. it just goes on. It's like an itch you can't scratch

Fab post Mrs woman on a roof.... On the lines of what I would have said.... To some, fresh water is a luxury.

I'm what I would call 'Comfortable'...I work for a living and I get what I pay for.

A lot depends on which country you live in re Standards of Luxury.

 

[Saphire]

Luxury is subjective isn't it? It's also addictive, the more of it you have, the more you want. I was born into a working-class environment, a crummy maisonette with few facilities. It did have an inside toilet/bathroom with one bar of soap that we all shared... So I considered myself poor, until later in life I started dating someone, saw how they lived and realised I lived in luxury compared to them. These days I would consider luxury to be able to travel first class, having private medical care, a detached house with acres of land, real diamonds instead of the cheap rubbish I have at the moment. it just goes on. It's like an itch you can't scratch

Same here regarding a poor upbringing.
And looking back, we were very poor, due to a crap father who abandoned his wife and 2 kids, we lived in what would definitely be regarded today as a slum, with none of the 'luxuries' of today, including central heating or inside toilet facilities.
To be honest though I never felt poor, maybe because in the area I lived in there were poorer.

I love your list of what you would now regard as luxuries, I expect people who have all of that don't consider them to be luxuries...like you say, it's all subjective.

 

[Saphire]

Fab post Mrs woman on a roof.... On the lines of what I would have said.... To some, fresh water is a luxury.

I'm what I would call 'Comfortable'...I work for a living and I get what I pay for.

A lot depends on which country you live in re Standards of Luxury.

Exactly, if you live in the slums of Calcutta, a dump with running cold water would be luxurious.

 

[megs233]

I like to say we live comfortably .

 

[hell2bwith76]

Some people would consider it to be a luxury to be able to walk; or breathe without an Oxgen cylinder; or hear the sound of birds and wind; etc etc.
All is relative

 

[SamBally]

I come from what I would describe as a lower working-class background and including by living standards back then. Our saving grace was my father was Armed Forces and so housing, although still crap, was much better than the alternative in civvy street.

Wiped my arse on a ripped-up Sun on countless occasions as a kid. Free school dinners, and no P.E kit at all. When chicken was a treat once a month or so and made to last for 2 or 3 more main meals after the obligatory Sunday roast and always with the same main ingredients, spuds and seasonal veg, which were plentiful and cheap.

Chicken 'curry' (with 3 small bits of chicken) anyone?


My neighbour on the other hand, who was born in the late 30s and would describe all the above as 'luxury'. Owning a microwave and a washing machine today could be described as a luxury. However, it is totally irrelevant when health, education, housing inequality etc produce such a wealth disparity between the haves and the have nots. It is not a luxury to die 15 years earlier in Blackpool than in more affluent areas. No matter what toys are owned or not.

 

[TwoWhalesInAPool]

Cannibalism ‘definitely an option’ for the poor, says Coffey​

Thérèse Coffey has called on the poor to do more to help themselves, suggesting that cannibalism, culling the sick, and living in large communal holes are all options they should consider.

“I’m not unsympathetic to the poor,” said the Work and Pensions Secretary as she feasted on roasted snow-leopard in swan gravy.

“In fact, I understand that there are some of them aren’t even smelly and ugly, but I do think they could do more to help themselves.

“For instance, if Grandad dies then why waste tax-payer funded benefits to hold what would almost certainly be a ghastly funeral with all its attendant beer, Findus crispy pancakes, and poorly spelt tombstones, and just pop his carcass in the freezer instead.

“I would imagine a fully grown human male could feed a family for at least a week, with a buttock serving as a very pleasant Sunday Roast.”

Thérèse Coffey made the comments in the wake of reports that the benefits system has made many worse off.

“I do find it infuriating, we have spent many years on the universal credit system, and people who complain that they’ll be worse off haven’t even considered moving into a hole in the ground, or culling an ill Aunt and eating her flesh.

“It’s just a culture of entitlement.”

Ms Coffey then returned to her meal for a desert of monkey-gland and diamond soufflé.

via - Daily Cruelty

 

[SamBally]

Cannibalism is not so far-fetched.

I read a piece today so outlandish, it could have been a film scene from a dystopian future as the inevitable collapse of neoliberalism finally destroys the remnants of what remains.

Teachers from fund-starved schools in South Dakota scrabbled for $5,000 $1 bills strewn on the ice during an interval at a junior ice hockey match.

The most picked up was $800, a mere £600 and the teacher concerned said "I've been throwing my name in the hat everywhere I can find so that way I can get opportunities to get money for the kids".

The UK is not much different, we just describe it in more 'civilized' terms as "charity" and where various needy causes compete to win the prize.

 

[breakwake_]

I can afford some luxuries but wouldn't say I live in luxury. My dad was a miser, I was brought up with few luxuries compared to what my schoolmates had. What I know of olden days I live in luxury and I have more than a homeless has.

 

[casiquaire]

Luxury is subjective isn't it? It's also addictive, the more of it you have, the more you want. I was born into a working-class environment, a crummy maisonette with few facilities. It did have an inside toilet/bathroom with one bar of soap that we all shared... So I considered myself poor, until later in life I started dating someone, saw how they lived and realised I lived in luxury compared to them. These days I would consider luxury to be able to travel first class, having private medical care, a detached house with acres of land, real diamonds instead of the cheap rubbish I have at the moment. it just goes on. It's like an itch you can't scratch

Thats the problem, i dont wish to live a life where my life is governed by consumerist materialism and its that itch i no longer wish to scratch. Some people are that poor all they have is money, they focus on everything but the things that matter, like what Hell2 said about being able to hear the birds sing, the sound of the wind. I no longer have that addiction you mentioned and certainly over the last 2 years ive realised what really matters, id rather live free with zero luxuries than be miserable surrounded by what other people consider luxuries.

 

[Saphire]

The only extra thing I want in my life that costs money, is travel. Either here or abroad, to me, it makes life more interesting.

This last 2 years (almost) it's either not been possible, or not worth the hassle....so after all the basics are taken care of, what is there to spend money on anyway?

Also, the first few months of hard lockdown, when there was nothing open to spend money on, they were so quiet and peaceful, no planes, few cars, ...it brought back the simplicity of life that was so very enjoyable.

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

The only extra thing I want in my life that costs money, is travel. Either here or abroad, to me, it makes life more interesting.

This last 2 years (almost) it's either not been possible, or not worth the hassle....so after all the basics are taken care of, what is there to spend money on anyway?

Also, the first few months of hard lockdown, when there was nothing open to spend money on, they were so quiet and peaceful, no planes, few cars, ...it brought back the simplicity of life that was so very enjoyable.

Yes, there are somethings you can't do on the cheap, travel is one of them. I'm discounting back-packing Cruises cannot be done on a budget, well I couldn't anyway. Inside cabin? forget it! Even a balcony would be pushing it. To do it in style you want a suite with 24/7 butler service.

During the first lockdown I remember seeing a plane high up in the sky and pointing at it shouting 'look! a plane" So I take the point about the simplicity of life.

 

[Saphire]

Yes, there are somethings you can't do on the cheap, travel is one of them. I'm discounting back-packing Cruises cannot be done on a budget, well I couldn't anyway. Inside cabin? forget it! Even a balcony would be pushing it. To do it in style you want a suite with 24/7 butler service.

During the first lockdown I remember seeing a plane high up in the sky and pointing at it shouting 'look! a plane" So I take the point about the simplicity of life.

The same here re a plane.

We also heard a train, must have been a goods train, the track is quite a long way away...but in all the years we have lived here we have never heard a train before in the daytime.

The weather was warm, so the ones of us who are lucky enough to have gardens, had the opportunity to really see and hear nature, possibly more than we usually do.
Simple pleasures money can't buy.

 

[casiquaire]

cost me nothing

 

[Altair]

The only extra thing I want in my life that costs money, is travel. Either here or abroad, to me, it makes life more interesting.

This last 2 years (almost) it's either not been possible, or not worth the hassle....so after all the basics are taken care of, what is there to spend money on anyway?

Also, the first few months of hard lockdown, when there was nothing open to spend money on, they were so quiet and peaceful, no planes, few cars, ...it brought back the simplicity of life that was so very enjoyable.

Call Me old fashioned. But in MY book 'WANT' doesn't 'Get'. Quote " So after all the basics are taken care of, what is there to spend money on anyway"... Where exactly are you getting the money from to spend on travel?.

 

[Altair]

I come from what I would describe as a lower working-class background and including by living standards back then. Our saving grace was my father was Armed Forces and so housing, although still crap, was much better than the alternative in civvy street.

Wiped my arse on a ripped-up Sun on countless occasions as a kid. Free school dinners, and no P.E kit at all. When chicken was a treat once a month or so and made to last for 2 or 3 more main meals after the obligatory Sunday roast and always with the same main ingredients, spuds and seasonal veg, which were plentiful and cheap.

Chicken 'curry' (with 3 small bits of chicken) anyone?


My neighbour on the other hand, who was born in the late 30s and would describe all the above as 'luxury'. Owning a microwave and a washing machine today could be described as a luxury. However, it is totally irrelevant when health, education, housing inequality etc produce such a wealth disparity between the haves and the have nots. It is not a luxury to die 15 years earlier in Blackpool than in more affluent areas. No matter what toys are owned or not.

Good post Sam. My father was an Officer in the British Army. His father was a Lawyer. (My Grandad.). My father left the army in 1960. He didn't go into the 'Solicitor' business my Grand Father set up. He didn't like being in an 'Office' !...My Father became a salesman for the British Gas board.. Selling cookers. Then he went on to sell Aluminium Double Glazing...He was an excellent sales man...BUT... My father was Oxford educated.!!!

A complete and total waste of a chance was ruined. In a heart beat.

All because MY dad didn't want to be stuck in an office.!

Hense: I never became a lawyer...But it's in my blood..! Watch out

 

[hell2bwith76]

Call Me old fashioned. But in MY book 'WANT' doesn't 'Get'. Quote " So after all the basics are taken care of, what is there to spend money on anyway"... Where exactly are you getting the money from to spend on travel?.

cost me nothingView attachment 6764

I do hope that you cleared the odd bits of beach rubbish up while you were there ?

 

[Altair]

Yes, there are somethings you can't do on the cheap, travel is one of them. I'm discounting back-packing Cruises cannot be done on a budget, well I couldn't anyway. Inside cabin? forget it! Even a balcony would be pushing it. To do it in style you want a suite with 24/7 butler service.

During the first lockdown I remember seeing a plane high up in the sky and pointing at it shouting 'look! a plane" So I take the point about the simplicity of life.

Dearest: That wasn't a Plane you saw...That was a Jet Liner. BIG difference honey..!