What are the items you refuse to own on principle?

[Dave2002]

or?

Tried and tested?

[oddoneout]

or?

Don't fancy the cleaner's job.

[Serial_Apologist]

Don't fancy the cleaner's job.

That would be one of the brasses!

(Is it sexist to say "brasses"?)

[ardcarp]

Has anyone positively identified the (original) instruments? [Sorry...being serious.] Wagner tubas perhaps?

[Richard Tarleton]

I would never buy a car without a full-sized spare wheel. Many manufacturers now supply skinny space saving spare wheels good for a few miles only, or none at all, merely a can of gunk to inject into your tyre to get you to the nearest branch of ATS or KwikFit. The latter works with a neat puncture, but not if your tyre is shredded on a country road by a pothole or discarded bit of ironmongery. If you're far from civilisation with no mobile signal (say, birdwatching in Mid-Wales) you're sunk. The can of gunk also means that your tyre has to be replaced, which for normal punctures would not be necessary and is a shocking waste. This greatly simplifies the process of choosing another car (which I hope won't be for some time). So, sorry, Ford and others.

Car ownership unavoidable where I live - bus services exist, but take circuitous routes and forever. Life will change when I'm no longer able to drive, yes I've thought about this a lot. London friends and relations don't own cars and don't need to.

[Dave2002]

Referring back to the thread title "What are the items you refuse to own on principle? " the principles are unspecified.

Reasons could be:

* economic - can't afford
* economic - don't want to identify as rich/richer
* economic - don't want to identify as poor/class related

* group - don't want to identify or be identified with a particular group
* class - as above but with group being replaced by class
* gender - many men wouldn't want to have a dress, and many women probably wouldn't want a DJ

* environmental - don't want to have objects which damage the environment

* humane - don't want to have objects which harm animals or have harmed them (e.g. animal traps, fur coats)

* human - don't want to have things which harm humans

* utility - objects which are just in themselves "useless" - e.g broken down old cars

also objects which are useless for a particular owner - e.g. an artificial leg for someone who is able bodied.

* aesthetic - things which are viewed as ugly/beautiful

* fashion - things which are trendy - or not
(Keeping up with the Joneses phenomenon - don't really like them but have to have them to "fit in" or "get one better than" ...)

* used/new - some people only like to have new things, not second hand

* obsolete - things which are no longer needed - but may become fashionable or collectible - e.g. old gramophones, vinyl records

We have so far made quite a number of suggestions, but the principles behind the suggestions have mostly been left to be inferred. We might think, for example, that someone not wanting to own a Rolls Royce doesn't want to have one because:

* they don't want to be known to be rich
* they don't want to identify with rich people
* they don't want to demonstrate conspicuous consumption

but the "real" reason(s) might be that

* they can't drive
* they prefer Lamborghinis

or even just

* they wouldn't mind, but they know they can't afford one anyway

etc.

We can't always assume that we can know the reasons for someone else's declared non wishes.

[Richard Tarleton]

Indeed - most of the things I originally thought of turned out on closer inspection to be down to personal preference, or practicality, or whatever (I have no use for a deep freeze, microwave or dishwasher but don't object to them on principle). My objection to cars without full sized spares is partly environmental (perfectly good tyres have to be thrown away instead of repaired), and partly down to personal safety (being stuck in the middle of nowhere). Is personal safety a principle? Probably.

[Richard Barrett]

can't afford

That isn't really a principle though, is it? Unless one chooses to adopt a low income profile that is, which I suppose could be the case if there's something you want to do with your life which you know is very unlikely to enable you to afford expensive stuff. I suppose that could be said of me. On the other hand, as I've already mentioned, it doesn't have to be a matter of ownership as such. Last time I was in the USA I rented myself a Cadillac for a week, which I admit give me some considerable pleasure, although at the end of it I didn't feel I really wanted to own such a thing.

[MrGongGong]

. My objection to cars without full sized spares is partly environmental (perfectly good tyres have to be thrown away instead of repaired), and partly down to personal safety (being stuck in the middle of nowhere). Is personal safety a principle? Probably.

Why not simply get a full sized spare wheel?
I lost two tyres and a wheel in a pothole earlier this year and found that the space saving spare was fine for many miles and found a second hand spare wheel on ebay for £40.
Given the state of the roads where I live (also a way from a big town) I'm tempted to buy the other three and stick them in a shed.

The "can of gunk" is a crap idea (as you say) as the shredded sidewall damage renders it useless.

I refuse to buy a new car anyway (not that I've ever wanted to). Keeping an old one going is far better for the environment and the local mechanic's business.

[Dave2002]

That isn't really a principle though, is it? Unless one chooses to adopt a low income profile that is, which I suppose could be the case if there's something you want to do with your life which you know is very unlikely to enable you to afford expensive stuff. I suppose that could be said of me. On the other hand, as I've already mentioned, it doesn't have to be a matter of ownership as such. Last time I was in the USA I rented myself a Cadillac for a week, which I admit give me some considerable pleasure, although at the end of it I didn't feel I really wanted to own such a thing.

Arguably not being able to afford something could lead to principled behaviour, or not.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/principle

To a large extent I do agree with you (or “in principle” ), but affordability is itself a variable concept. Someone could take out a loan, which arguably may make a RR affordable - for some - but they may have principled objection to borrowing.

Glad you spotted that ownership isn’t the only thing - I hadn’t really picked that up before. So someone who rents a DJ to go to Glyndebourne is behaving differently from someone who buys one, yet unless he admits that, is still identifying with others who go to opera. Note that although this might be assumed to be a class thing, it could just be that some people like music/opera.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Why not simply get a full sized spare wheel?

I think you may find it will not fit in the space allocated.

[burning dog]

Nazi regalia!? That's about it

[french frank]

If I have a vague principle, it would be something which in some way (even imaginary) offended against my conscience, politically. Say from a company that I had read used slave labour. Or as an unwritten principle, anything that I perceived to be 'fashionable'. Though I did once buy a pair of vegan boots from a company called Fashion Conscience …

[ahinton]

Arguably not being able to afford something could lead to principled behaviour, or not.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/principle

To a large extent I do agree with you (or “in principle” ), but affordability is itself a variable concept. Someone could take out a loan, which arguably may make a RR affordable - for some - but they may have principled objection to borrowing.

Glad you spotted that ownership isn’t the only thing - I hadn’t really picked that up before. So someone who rents a DJ to go to Glyndebourne is behaving differently from someone who buys one, yet unless he admits that, is still identifying with others who go to opera. Note that although this might be assumed to be a class thing, it could just be that some people like music/opera.

This "ownership / rental" thing isn't quite all that it's sometimes made out to be; when something is rented, the renter/s usually own exclusive rights to use it throughout the rental period.

[Richard Tarleton]

I think you may find it will not fit in the space allocated.

Indeed - my last "company car" was a Ford Fiesta . I didn't have a choice of manufacturer, it was that or another pair of shoes. It had the can of gunk but no space or recess in the tiny boot for a spare wheel. As I did not have that long to go I decided not to make a fuss.