It's goofy the way the argument goes from taking what one wants to be happy to packing 60 extra pounds of gear. Thanks Squeezebox for the logical transition...

Another way to think about UL is to ask the question: Would you be able to tour in relative comfort packing 20-30 lb's of gear on a tour? I'll call this lightweight but not UL.
If the answer is yes then going UL is a want, not a need.

If the answer is no, is it because of the difficulty of the route or poor conditioning?
If the answer is the former it is a need. If it is the latter it may also be a need but could be addressed in a different way perhaps.

If you are riding a high performance, light bike with an advanced gear set and yet find it uncomfortable to carry 20-30 lb's on a normal road tour I might have some questions. If you say you like being completely unencumbered I can understand that, or if you are trying to make big distances fast, but I find it hard to fathom the push for simple A-B la la la touring. The opposite, but equal extreme would be someone who buys a Hummer to drive in commuter traffic because they like to feel safe. People do it, but I don't get it.