> So in our culture, where needs are very easily met for even the poorest among us, what are we meant to do?

I'd disagree with this. If by "our" culture, you mean only middle class suburbia, ok, you win. But if you mean "our" culture, you include the United States as a whole, you've got a *lot* of people who are not able to meet their needs very easily if at all. Look at the homeless, look at people who are working two, three full-time jobs, look at people who have big medical bills insurance doesn't cover, etc, etc.
And you don't have to go very far outside our borders to find poverty that's even worse; there's over a billion people in the world living on less than a dollar a day.
I don't mean to write this to try to guilt trip you or anything like that, just to question if it's ok to throw out your 23 inch tv to make room for a 25 inch when there's people dying for lack of very basic necessities.