The aphorism "waste not, want not" is a rather destructive concept in America today. Because it implies that poverty is a moral failing. If you're poor, the aphorism says, it's because you're wasteful, and lazy.
Our present government is one of the most wasteful in recent history, and look where it has gotten us today. Many, many people in the USA without enough food, medical care, education for their children - and that was *before* Katrina hit. Or maybe it's not just waste that does it. Perhaps the aphorism is "greed creates need" - some very greedy people take what is meant for others, leaving them without enough. When will we learn?
"Waste not, want not" doesn't imply that the person who doesn't waste will not be poor, it suggests (optimistically, I grant) that they won't lack the basics they need. I personally think this saying could stand getting a lot more mileage than it does today. Wasted resources--even little things like bread heels--are resources you don't have when you've got a real use for them.
I think that there are plenty of people who are wasteful, and some of them are poor. But I've known too many people who wasted nothing and were still in want to believe the aphorism.
As I said, it's optimistic, and I didn't say that I believed it to be completely true--just a guideline that could use more air time these days. But the saying says nothing at all about one's level of poverty--not the same thing as "want". Frankly, I don't think that waste is widely viewed as a moral failing. If it were, then we wouldn't need HOV lanes, for instance.
I agree with your basic premise that "Waste not, want not" implies that, if you're poor, you must have been wasteful.
I would point out, however, that it's just an aphorism. Read too much into just about any aphorism, and you'll find negative connotations, or blatant falsehoods, or both.
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but sometimes it's true
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It's not a great aphorism to apply to individuals, but I think it works really well when applied to cultures.
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I would point out, however, that it's just an aphorism. Read too much into just about any aphorism, and you'll find negative connotations, or blatant falsehoods, or both.
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