Hacker News Reader

Time and again, the luxury of one era becomes a basic need of the next. Legal protection, education, electricity, health care...

View on HN

And time and time again they don't: Having your own tiger petting zoo, milk baths, private chef... So now we know that luxuries may or may not turn out to be considered basic needs.

Not disagreeing with the overall point of your comment, but:

> private chef

I can purchase a pre-prepared meal and heat it up in my microwave by pressing two buttons. That's pretty close!

Agreed, and a similar point can be made regarding private zoos (first world citizens have access to zoos) and milk baths (most of us could afford it but we have even better hygiene products).

Some past luxuries were just fads and go out of fashion, others address a lasting need but fail to scale up and remain extravagant luxuries only available to the ultra rich, others still also address a lasting need and are transformed into something that works on a societal level.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com