[nicharesuk]

You've repeated fundamental as if that makes it any more correct. There are also other, much cheaper and potentially more rewarding things such as reading, drawing, cooking (which helps save money too) that can take up your time and save your wallet.

I'm merely responding to the idea that somehow we have gotten it in our heads that we "need" to have some level of comfort which for most of human existence would be considered insane luxury. (I'm aware you called out people pointing out fridges are a luxury but it is indeed true and it's great that technology has made them so ubiquitous that our lives are that much better)

What I'm getting at is, having grown up very poor, put myself through college, coming out with no debt and creating an extremely sizeable nest egg for myself, all while forgoing basic "creature comforts" such as a TV, smart phone, even a nice bed (I found free mattresses on craigslist, which I still sleep on to this day), living in co-ops and other alternative forms of housing, I can't shake the feeling that we are in a sense enabling poor choices.

This is not to say my experience proves my point, but that I'm less sympathetic to claims of inequality when they are also followed up with notions that we should redistribute wealth in some way. The problems that exist are systemic in the legal-systems, tax-systems, and educations systems of the US, redistributing wealth seems like making some people bleed because others are also bleeding.