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It's not going to happen unless you get in a Greece type situation where everyone is afraid to spend. But I think that if you had a large number not spend except for necessities, then many businesses would be hurting and jobs killed. I would rather see the Government adopt minimalism.
This country's policies and greedy corporations have done so much harm to its law abiding citizens, being a minimalist is the only and last defense we have.
By all means, be minimal!
In many respects, I agree with this. Problem is, people will complain, but don't really want to give anything up and/or be inconvenienced to take their power back from government & corporations alike....and the corps. & government know it.
Sometimes I think of what a cheap person I am, then I read the posts here and amazed how some people do not enjoy life at all by being extreme tightwads!
The bolded is a value judgement on your part based on your values & what's important to you. Others may be perfectly happy living the way they do because it's a reflection of their values and what's important to them.
Psychologists have also discovered that people are really bad at predicting what will make them happy, so you might not actually be made unhappy living as the "extreme tightwads" do (after a period of adjustment, perhaps).
If the movement becomes at least minimally widespread, I think the focus would be more on quality.
I'm thinking it's not that minimalists don't want to spend money. It's more that they don't want junk. In this case, junk being defined by poor quality.
If the movement becomes at least minimally widespread, I think the focus would be more on quality.
I'm thinking it's not that minimalists don't want to spend money. It's more that they don't want junk. In this case, junk being defined by poor quality.
And what have you accomplished with all the free time that you don't spend "shackled" to "consumerism"?
More than I would've had my mind simply been focused on the next shiny new car, the lastest fashion trends, having the latest electronics or the house that leaves people in awe.
Why do you see cutting out the excesses in life as being less interested in making life better and easier? For example, would a minimalist be less interested in science...finding a cure for cancer or exploring space? Would a minimalist be less interested in ending poverty/hunger? Would they be less interested in helping the environment? Not necessarily - the difference is that the motivation to do those things must come from within...a higher level of human existence so to speak. Is it possible for human innovation to be more than a byproduct of chasing a carrot on a stick?
I used to have a fantasy that prehistoric life might have been largely idyllic, due to plentiful food and a low population density. A long article in National Geographic recently indicated otherwise. They looked at the archeological evidence for settlement in the Americas and found that even in the earliest skeletons, the males suffered a lot of bone fractures from apparent clubbing by other males. The women did not have these. The women were also much smaller than is typical now, while the men much larger (stronger). Survival favored aggression and battle prowess in men, and timidity in women (submit to the victor). I'm very glad that our "instincts" have been toned down somewhat.
I read that same article. As people gained "civilization", ie developed spirituality, domesticated animals and plants, built dwellings, lived in more stable communities, they changed so they looked and acted much more like modern people. Still, the genetic material that produced those early people is still present to some extent in all of us today.
I read that same article. As people gained "civilization", ie developed spirituality, domesticated animals and plants, built dwellings, lived in more stable communities, they changed so they looked and acted much more like modern people. Still, the genetic material that produced those early people is still present to some extent in all of us today.
But it also shows we can override our genetic programming, at least to some degree. I think that applies to our ability to not want to acquire more, more, more as well.
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widespread, I think the focus would be more on quality.
