Luxury and the Word Affluence

The word luxury has a very general meaning. Luxury is something that one cannot afford or does not need to buy. The true nature of luxury is that it is something that enhances and improves the lives of those who possess it. It is not a possession that can be taken for granted. To truly understand luxury, one must look to the definition and implications of the word and what it means in the context of modern society. There are two basic parts to “luxury”, these are “excess” and “need”.

One might say that there are two kinds of people, those who have lots of excess and those who lack it. These two groups typically differ in their needs and their desires. The wealthy, who have lots of excess simply have more to spend, while the poor often have needs that are not easily met with money.

The word “luxury” then represents the status symbol which signifies wealth and affluence. This is almost an absolute definition of luxury, the idea being that anything that improves one’s life is also automatically considered to be luxury. Luxury encompasses a lot of different things, from expensive clothing and accessories to luxurious hotels and travel. These are very expensive items and are usually only owned by the very wealthy.