Defining Human Needs

Narrative

The Barter’s Scale

It’s an abstract to define an entity whose existence dwells beyond his own flesh. But Man could be
understood by tracing his roots through Nature’s journal who crowned this experiment over other
creations. She says,

Man may be the nucleus but he isn’t the absolute. His being was an extension to safeguard my lands and
waters, animals and orchards. Hence, his needs can be understood as a cohesive response to his
surroundings.

He connects through the instinct, inherent to all; he communes through the belief, that together we are
unharmed; he contemplates through the faith, that gods reside in One.

Consequently, his identity, psychology and nurture form the basis for determining his needs. Sure, they
lay subjective and diverse in their own accord. But even within an array of complexions and postures, a
human being is intrinsically latched to the barter’s scale.

The Barter’s scale plays as an allegory to the communal exchange man has within his/her societal
construct. From primary demands of thirst and hunger to a collective response for resilience and
resistance, even this superior being calls out to others when tides start to flow above the docks.
Therefore, man’s dependency emerges from pragmatic concerns and aligns further to social and political
realms.

Historical portals observed that communities have aggregated as a reaction to natural or political
outbreaks and our scenario today is no different that of the Black Death centuries ago. Immediate
scenarios of the pandemic lockdown has resulted in an evident communal ethos for joint action.

Because of this viable indicator, an ethically diverse group of 75 households has streamlined to form a
collaborative living unit as part of the Government’s new housing policy. But, their concerns regarding
low- income settlements pose questions of feasibility and sustainability. As a result, they have
formulated a political resistance against the Government whereby the proposed housing model is to be
executed through participatory means from the community, encompassing economic and administrative
cabinets to project as an autonomously governed entity.