Illustration Essay

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Foster Wheeler Mrs. Dobbins ENG101 February 26, 2015 The Best Things in Life Are Not Free
The American saying of ‘The best things in life are free’ definitely contradicts the society that we truly live in. Where the things that we interact on a daily basis are most certainly not free in any sense. Most everything in our lives has a cost, one way or another physical currency was spent to do our daily lives. Whether it’s the cars we drive, the homes that we live in or just simply the clothes we wear, there is no day that we go through that’s truly free, no matter if its just a minute spending.
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it’s quite clear that the most important things that are needed in life are some of the most expensive amenities. At the lowest point on the pyramid is the physiological needs, things that are needed simply in order to survive as a person. Food, water, sleep and breathing are a few of the things that can be thrown into this category.
Obviously, with the exception of breathing and sleep, these things are not free, we pay our water bills and food is an everyday that can get quite pricey at times. Moving up we see things such as safety, which includes our shelter, employment, and our basic resources such as cars and clothing, all things that are far from the free price tag (Wahba 225).
Going on, if you think about the nitty­gritty of things that we think are free, they truly are not. Say for instance, going out for a picnic could be considered as something that is free and fun to do with friends or a significant other. While in reality, to get to the destination requires some sort of transportation, such as a car and the car requires gas to run, which has to be paid for. Even if you’re going on a hike, the clothing and hiking shoes that are worn had

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to be purchased at some point. Even just staying in for the night and watching TV or Netflix has a cost to it, cable has to be paid every month, and the Netflix is a monthly subscription as well, even though its not paid at that moment, it still costs. So even the tasks and adventures that could be considered free all have some sort of money invested into them at some point or another. To round it all out, most people spend each and every day at work, making money to have a comfortable living, and even the commute to work costs money to be able to make money. Spending all of our days at a desk, day in and day out, just to have some money to pay for other things that are considered ‘fun’. When all the time is spent at the office making the money, it’s quite easy to think that the cheap and exciting things in life are free but only because it’s something more exciting than the daily life that’s spent behind the computer screen. All in all, the best things in our life are most certainly not free. The exceptions of friends and family is an obvious omission. Without the money to have a stable life, then having those things is quite pointless because time with them can’t be enjoyed. The world today is run by money, whether people want to believe it or not, it’s the lifeline to our society.

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Works Cited
Wahba, Marcelle. “Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory.

Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 15.2 (1976): 212­240

Cited: Wahba, Marcelle. “Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory.    Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 15.2 (1976): 212­240