Basic Necessities of life:
In my
words, the Basic Necessities of life are what is needed for man’s daily living
irrespective of where one is. These basic necessities also influence how well
the break of everyday is anticipated by all humans. From the latter words, it
can be concluded that these needs are paramount to life being meaningful, as
lack of these – Basic Necessities – lead one to disregarding the usefulness of
life and at best, venturing into criminal activities, which puts one’s life in
the line.
What then
are these basic necessities of life? While I was still in elementary school –
some 18 years ago – I remember being taught several times that the Basic
Necessities of life are Food (Water), Clothing and Shelter.
However, a
deep analysis of these further probes a handful of questions because worthy
living is beyond food (water), shelter and clothing which is why I opine that American
Psychologist, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs paint a perfect picture of
what the Basic Necessities of life is all about. This is the basis for this
article.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Abraham
Maslow, the great American Psychologist saw things differently. With the
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a pyramid was designed to illustrate the
hierarchical fulfillment of human needs in 5 broad stages. In Saul Mcleaod’s view, “Maslow wanted to
understand what motivates people. He believed that individuals possess a set of
motivational systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. “Maslow
stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is
fulfilled, a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on.
In as much
as the needs and wants of man are insatiable due to their disparity nature, as
well as man’s desire for more, I opine that the quest for the satisfaction of
these needs is optimised by the nature of the environment (laws/rules and
security of the land and the developmental progress of the neighbourhood).
According
to Maslow, these needs as indicated in ascending order in the pyramid below
are; Physiological,
Safety, Social, Esteem and Self Actualisation.
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological
Needs: This comprises air, food, drink (water), shelter, warmth,
sex and sleep. Simply put, they are the Basic “living or existence
characteristics of humans”. Thus the physiological needs are those needs that
speak to man being optimally alive.
Safety
Needs: These are those needs that are important to the security of
man being achieved. These wide ranging component of Safety Needs include;
security, law and order on the land, freedom from fear and stability.
Social
Needs: The social needs of Maslow are those which speaks to the
interrelationship of man with individuals in his family, society, place of work
and even the opposite sex, especially romantic relationship.
Esteem
Needs: These needs are squarely on the respect of one and the
society at large.
Self
Actualisation Needs: This is centred on the peak of one in ones set goals
and objectives. Self actualisation needs are what speaks to the success of an
individual, having assiduously achieved his or her immediate and long term
goals and objectives.
The above
needs propounded by Maslow were classified into Basic or (deficiency) and
growth needs. The Basic needs comprise the first four needs in the pyramid – in
ascending order -, while the growth needs is solely the last item – the self actualisation
need.
Having had
a brief of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is time we employed these needs in
speaking to how they can serve as a tool to achieving an equitable State,
thereby driving the achievement of the economic significance of a given
geographical entity in the global political and economic space.
The employ of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in driving
an equitable economy
In driving
equitable economy, the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs would be grouped into 2, the
Primary Necessities and the Secondary Necessities.
1. The Primary
Necessities:
As noted
earlier, the Physiological needs comprise air, food, drink (water), shelter,
warmth, sex and sleep while the Safety needs comprise laws, rules
and regulation with the safety and security of an individual achieved.
However, a key
study of these first 2 needs from Maslow Hierarchy of needs exude that the
satisfaction of these needs are largely dependent on the laws and rules of the
land of the land with respect to safety needs.
In addition,
the policies of government (which also fall into laws) on the production activities
by the government and the private sector in meeting the availability of food,
water and even the air speaks to the sensitivity of government in taking
serious business the drive for economic efficiency which speaks to the physiological
needs. For example, the one child policy by the Chinese government
hugely contributed in the population control of the country, thereby
strengthening its economic planning and prosperity drive.
The safety
and physiological needs are therefore grouped into what I call the Primary
Necessities. By the primary
necessities, I mean those fundamental activities by the government in making
life meaningful to its citizenries and foreigners alike. To this end, the effectiveness
of these primary necessities are gauged by the activities of the government or
state on the meaningfulness of the Primary Necessities – Physiological and
Safety needs – to the entirety of the
populace within the given geographical location, especially a country.
In order
words, the primary necessities are those needs guided by laws which are
paramount to driving economic prosperity through the short term spur of
individuals in the country. If people are not encouraged to venture into productive
activities, then there is a problem in the nation in question because even
foreigners would be discouraged from immigrating into the country, thus
adversely affecting the Foreign Direct Investment (F.D.I.).
The primary
necessities (Physiological and Safety needs) are integral to a country reducing
its poverty level, as well as driving the economic prosperity of its
citizenries which in the intermediate and long run affects the social, esteem
and self actualisation needs.
2. The
Secondary Necessities:
On the
flip, the Social Needs, Esteem and Self Actualisation Needs are what I call
the Secondary
Necessities.
By secondary
necessities, I mean those needs whose achievement is determined by the
efficiency of the primary necessities earlier discussed.
The social
needs, especially in this modern age are met when the primary necessities –
Physiological and Safety Needs – are met. The meeting of the esteem and self actualisation
needs are also controlled by the primary necessities, as determined, controlled
and made efficient by the government.
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs as a tool in driving economic efficiency by the government
of a nation
The absence of laws in a state entails the
presence of anarchy and the neglect/inability of government to make the right
laws and policies, especially economically sheds light on the level of meaningfulness
of Maslow’s pyramid of needs to the populace in the country.
References:
McLeod, S.
A. (2007). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Wikeipedia (2013).
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs
