This confusion isn't just verbal, but can be quite visceral. Recently, a friend complained to me bitterly about not being able to afford to go see a band she loves because the tickets were too expensive. They were $70. That sounds too expensive to me, but I don't like that band. I know that paying those $70 wouldn't exactly force my friend into bankruptcy, so the fact that she didn't do it wasn't really a matter of income constraints; it was a matter of preference.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
What do you mean "Can't afford it?"
Everyday use of the word "afford" conflates possibility with preference. When I say I can't afford to buy a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, I mean I can't buy it: I don't have enough cash to do it, nor will anyone loan it to me. When I say I can't afford a lobster dinner, I mean I can buy it but don't want to: I do have enough cash but I'd rather eat a cheaper dinner and spend the difference on other things I want.
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Okay, clear definition when applied to the above example, sure, but what about something like a cheap car in NYC. It might be my preference to buy such a car, but the total costs of the car mean that I won't be able to pay my rent by July or August. In this case, I prefer to buy the car but can't *really* afford it over some period of time, though I can afford it right now. Stated otherwise, it is possible to buy the car now, though I can say, once learning of my budget for the year that, that I won't be able to afford it once a few months go by (or that I could maintain the car and not afford rent, etc). The difference then only exists with forward knowledge, so another person in my exact position without knowledge wouldn't have the same perspective. That person might simply prefer the car at the moment.
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