Work is the fundamental principle of economics. Energy and time place a cost on any work done by a person. Whether or not a task is considered worth that cost depends upon it’s perceived value or importance. That perceived value is tied tightly to a person’s concept of needs and wants. Needs and wants is the first concept I remember learning about in economics. It is a concept that probably every human being understands--there are certain things you need to survive, and certain things you want, even though your survival does not depend on them.
Needs are those things upon which your survival depends. They are relatively limited, and are universal to all humans. Everyone needs food and water, shelter of some sort, and clothing of some sort. However, needs are not entitlements--the fact that we need food and water does not mean we deserve them. We need them to survive, and therefore must provide them for ourselves. Let us go back to the Caveman Economics approach. Imagine you are a caveman alone on a deserted island. There is no government that will step in to help you. You are the one responsible to do the work needed to keep yourself alive. You need food, so you need to find berries or fruits so that you can eat. You need shelter, so you explore your island and find a cave that protects you from the elements. Needs may be limited, but they require work to fulfill.
The above paragraph does raise the question of the person who cannot provide for himself. There are many in this world who cannot survive on their own--children, many elderly, and many disabled. These people survive either on the provision of others, or they die. This may sound cold, but it is a fact of life--needs would not be needs if they were not necessary for life. Hopefully, this harsh reality should motivate us to help others who cannot fend for themselves, either through teaching them and enabling them to fend for themselves, or merely providing for them if they are unable to be taught. For example, a child can be taught to fend for himself. As he grows older, that teaching will translate into actual ability, and hopefully some day the child will be completely self sufficient. However, an aging parent is likely losing the ability to survive. This person doesn’t need to be taught how to survive. He needs to be cared for and provided for. Since needs are not entitlements, no one is automatically going to provide for those unable to provide for themselves. Someone has to step up and do the work.
Wants are those things you desire, but things you could physically survive without. Wants are pretty much unlimited (unless you have developed an amazing level of contentment) and can differ vastly among humans. We all have desires, and those desires are not universal--I may want things you abhor. Whatever the desires, the satisfaction of one want leads you to want something greater than the previous want. If you survive as a caveman for long enough, after a while you may begin to get really good at catching squirrels. However, squirrel meat every night is going to get boring. While it may once have been something you really wanted (since your need for food was met with berries), now catching squirrels is something you do with your eyes closed. You want something more. But in order to chase something meatier than a squirrel, you are going to have to work harder. Even something as seemingly basic as higher quality food, if it is not necessary for survival, can become a want. Wants also require work to fulfill, and greater wants require more work to fulfill than lesser wants..
Needs and wants alike require work to fulfill. However, thanks to the unlimited nature of wants, and the fact that our time and energy with which we can work to fulfill those wants is limited, we have to choose. That is the essence of the Economic Problem, which will be Part 4 of this series.
In the more primitive societies like your cave, the ability to provide for passengers is more limited than when there are fewer passengers and more providers. Also the health limitations that will result from the limited diet are just part of your experience. As you become more civilised you can lengthen life. So as a cave man it is a vicious circle working against you - unless you work. Its called survival. Now in our "advanced" state of "civilisation" we can even carry socialist passengers until the time they get in control and they start eating the workers and discouraging them so there are way more passengers than wucka's. Eish, the peeepuls start dying.
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