Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics How Much is Enough?

How much is enough? When I'm bored with the respective products, information, or processes.

Hmmmmm, maybe if something makes me cry and beg for mercy...now that might well be enough of whatever.

If I were in prison I might find that experience to become a matter of "enough is enough" in a very short time.

If our freedoms are being taken away by politicians, then how much is enough? Now that is a genuine question that apparently is before us today.

This may be the best answer to this question. Ultimately, there is never really enough. Although there are those who will attempt to find balance and be content with that, it appears to be in our nature to take all we can get until we can't get no more. Just look around you.

I agree.

How much is enough?
Enough.
It amazes me how little we really need and how few people know that.

At a cemetary near my grandmother's house was a sign that said, "It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have." I have more than I need and less than I want, but wanting is what causes one to strive, no? Enough is stagnation, complacence.

My formula is this: I want to have enough that I do not feel need, but not so much that I don't want.

I've had enough of the Bush administration - I don't want any more. I don't have enough hope, I want more. I want more freedom, I want more honesty, I want more caring.

nwp, I'm not sure I'll agree with you 100% on that.

I am lucky enough to have more than I need, and pretty generally more than I want. I don't feel stagnant; I feel ... content, mostly. And grateful.

I still have way more cr*p than I need/want. I still live like a middle-class American.

I don't think my contentment is so much internal as it is that I am not exposed to nearly as much advertising as the average person. I notice that if I'm around tv or magazines, I start to "want" more. That's when I put the magazine down, or walk away from the tv.

And I'm not sure I disagree with anything you've said, Julia. I have more than I need, that is certainly true. I don't have all the "things" that I want, but I have more than most. I'd like another guitar (or two), I own three; I'd like a new keyboard (two); a new car, another motorcycle, and lots of vacations. That last I probably do need. I think I am mostly content, but there are occasionally things that I want that I just get because I can, and some things that I won't get because I shouldn't. I know that I am lucky, and I don't flaunt it, but an occasional pricey wine or really smelly cheese really sets me up.

To be honest, I think a lot of my urge to minimize comes from being single and having moved a lot. Any time I look around at my possessions and think "moving would be a real hassle" -- that's when I know I'm overgrown and need pruning!

I too have much more than I need and increasingly as the years pass the wanting diminishes. I think that is fairly common.

But NWP I think it is not wanting that staves off complacency but as Julia posits contentment. The latter can be present at any level of having above survival. I have been content living in a forest getting my meals by dumpster diving. I have earned significant amounts and bought luxury. In all circumstances, it was not wanting more that drove my energies but the desire to succeed as a goal in itself, however "succeed" might have been defined at the moment.

I find that most of what I "want" isn't really me wanting anyway, it is someone telling me what I should want for whatever reason.

Clothing.

30 shirts is enough.

10 suitable for work
5 buttoned shirts for weekends, (think hawaiian)
10 T-shirts
5 or fewer long underwear tops, bicycle jerseys, etc.

It took a while to understand that limit, but it works well for me.

10 neckties is enough.
1 tuxedo is enough.
1 suit is enough, though if I had a different career, perhaps 10 would be the right maximum number. Any more than that and I would just be feeding the moths.

1 car per driver in the household is enough (I am extravagent there, I own 3 cars for a household of 2).

Anyone brave enough to say how many pairs of shoes are enough?
10 pairs for a man, 30 pairs for a woman. (ouch, stop throwing your extras at my head)

beechhouse, you inspired me to go and count my shoes. I included the plastic crocs out on the porch and the old dusty slippers and the flipflops I left under the coffee table last night...and I'm approaching 30 pairs. Some of them I really can't or don't wear, but they are too good to discard. While I was counting, I actually picked up one pair and put it in the Goodwill bag. But today I wore a pair that I hadn't worn in a year.

So how much is enough? I don't know. When it comes to shoes....

EmmahusseinG