Recently, a reader told me via email that “simplicity has gone mainstream,” so there is no need to discuss the topic. I don’t agree with that assertion. Sure, the topic of downsizing and stuff is addressed in the media. But that message is usually viewed as “extreme” and typically flanked by commercials prompting you to buy more stuff.
The majority of people, corporations, and the government aren’t proponents of “simple living.” All you have to do is look at our economic model to see that isn’t the case. At the policy level, we’re more obsessed with growth, rather than well-being. Put another way, our culture is so focused on “more” we never ask: “what is enough?”
And that’s why it’s important to keep talking about stuff. For the sake of our health and the future of our planet, we’ve got to rethink our model of “more is better.”
Let’s examine two problem areas, advertising and waste:
Advertising is part of our cultural identity. In Branded Nation, James Twitchell says, “Much of our shared knowledge about ourselves and our culture comes to us through a commercial process of storytelling called branding.” [click to continue…]