BASIC NEEDS:
When Self-Isolating
By Trevor K. McNeil
Priorities
I am self-isolating. I have to admit I am rethinking some old assumptions. Such as, what is important? What is not important? Since I was a kid, adults have told me to “sort out your priorities.” Something that is usually easier said than done. Not least because the reasons for my priorities tend to be individualized to me. What I want, and what my mother, or my neighbor, for that matter, are not the same. Certainly the individualization of priorities makes the notion of shared or “fundamental” values, as applies to the human race, something of an absurdity.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The closest thing to a ranking of needs or priorities, is Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”. Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist, who wrote about human needs. In 1943 he wrote, “Theory of Human Motivation”. He admitted some of his work and writings were based on observation and some good old-fashioned guess work. Maslow believed people are motivated to fulfill a certain set of basic needs. Maslow used a five tier pyramid to depict those needs.The base of the pyramid is physiological, the most basic of needs: air, food, water, excrement and sex.
Another statement that has made it’s way into the political parlance is “anyone would be better.” A notion that was particularly popular in terms of Richard M. Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Though rarely has this been so literally the case in terms of the American presidency as it is this election cycle. Despite the continued protection of Donald Trump by the Republican party, a level of loyalty that looks like royal fealty, the current president has pushed politics past party lines. It is no longer about Republican or Democrat, not that it ever was, Trump changing parties more times than wives. It is about what is best for the country, which is getting anyone, but Trump into the Oval Office.
