http://www.businessinsider.com/what-you-can-buy-for-the-price-of-an-iphone-in-india-2017-6
This is a good start... but let's add some depth and focus on India specifically, given that's the locus of the Business Insider article focuses - especially for the "this price point is totally okay" crowd.
From the BI article, we are talking about spending enough money on a pocket communication device
to do the following in India for just the price of an iPhone 6S
(some of these numbers can actually translate cleanly into USD cost of living figures for some of us in the community, too):
-Pay for one year of groceries.
-Pay for four years of water and electric bills.
-Pay for four years of internet access.
-Pay for six months of car loans.
-Pay for one year of petrol.
-Pay for one month of rent.
But, let's add in an uncomfortable topic, such as
debt bondage. Of the
14 million plus slaves in India alone despite the illegality of it,
many of them have gone into indefinite debt bondage for loans as small as $14-214 USD. So, by including these numbers, the price of an iPhone 6s in India can also:
-Literally buy the freedom of anywhere between three to 46 people who would otherwise be trapped in debt bondage.
And that's for a sub-$700 handset these days. Just let those numbers percolate a bit in your head before you go and shell out $1000+ for a tiny new slab of electronics. You're staggeringly privileged just to have the technology available in the first place, so do you really need to spend that much money on something that basically does the same things as a model potentially 1/10th the price or less?
This is hedonic adaptation at its worst. Next time someone gets an itch around here to defend paying for or actually paying $1000+ for a pocket computer phone, consider gearing down to something cheaper and smaller and give the difference to a non-profit striving to deal with some of the various forms of human slavery throughout the world instead, such as:
Children of the NightCoalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)Free the SlavesInternational Justice MissionZOE InternationalOur host has always made a point to mention that one's financial freedom is done so for the sake of the betterment of the world. What better way to make the world a better place than to not spend money on a luxury good and give that money to help others escape slavery instead?
After all, it's just a thousand dollars...