Why a simpler lifestyle?

Another reason we need to be looking for a less consumptive lifestyle is that environmentally and ecologically this planet is in overload and blowing fuses. Also, because of disproportion, there are fuses blowing between the "haves" and the "have nots" in communities and globally. Some quotes again;

"Originally a unit of population was simply a human being whose needs were met by eating 2,500 calories and 60 grams of protein a day. Man's daily need of energy was equivalent to the continuous burning of a single 100 watt bulb. A unit of population today in the developed world consists of a human being wrapped in tons of steel, copper, aluminium, lead, tin, zinc and plastics each day gobbling up 60 lbs of raw steel and many pounds of other minerals. His energy need instead of being the equivalent to a single 100 watt lamp is equivalent to ten 1,000 watt radiators continuously burning". - Prof. Charles Birch

"It is obvious that the world cannot afford the U.S.A. Nor can it afford western Europe or Japan. In fact we might come to the conclusion that the earth cannot afford the "modern world". It requires too much and accomplishes too little. It is too uneconomic. Think of it: one American drawing on resources that would sustain 50 Indians! The earth cannot afford, say, 15% of it's inhabitants.... to indulge in a crude, materialistic way of life which ravages the earth... The problem passengers on Space-ship Earth are the first-class passengers and no one else. - E. F. Schumacher, Implications of the limits to Growth Debate- "Small is Beautiful."

A few decades have passed since these observations were made and the predictions of global distress made back then are coming true at an alarming rate. Poorer nations, trying to become more developed are having to pay the cost of excess lifestyles by the more developed nations. It is in the western nations that we could be making changes and placing limits on our lifestyle so that the global family and our very planet can continue to exist with an adequate standard of living. We have geared our whole culture around the principle of fighting against limits. But it is becoming obvious that the earth has its limits and we need to be learning to live within them. We need to be joyfully looking for ways to live with less consumption to help this planet's systems to keep being able to host us and our fellow beings, flora and fauna of this earth.

I am still a rebellious teenager and a frustrated hippie at heart and I find it fun to challenge the system. To repair things rather than discard them. To grow my own food where I can. To keep using old things, old cars, old sound systems, refusing to be sucked in by advertising which tells me to update and modernise. To not get drawn into the "status" symbol race in terms of houses, cars, clothing etc. but be rebelliously happy with what I have. I could expand but for me it is a secret joy to buck the system. I love being able to say for example, "This jumper? Oh I bought that at the second hand clothing shop!" It is a weird source of pride for me, and not something I am ashamed of.

One further observation. We lived with four children in a 25 ft. caravan for two years, as part of a job we had travelling the length of New Zealand. When we first headed out we had caravan, towing vehicle (an old ambulance) and a following station wagon loaded with extras from home that we thought we would need. When we could return to base we dumped so much stuff, we realised that we simply did not need to carry it, it was surplus to requirements, even though we cluttered our home with it. While we were living very basically (we used to lined up as a whole family on the double bed to watch TV - we wore out the bedspread.) we realised that we were still living in luxury compared to most of the population of the world. We do clutter our lives with a whole lot of extra "stuff" we seldom use.

A final quote:
"I am not against the good things of life, and I covet for all mankind a level of comfort and security that will make possible the fullest realization of our powers and our mutual enrichment. But those ideals are at the very opposite end of the moral spectrum from the excess which marks our western way of life, however similar the two may seem to be on the surface. Excess means disproportion; and disproportion can never be a recipe for survival. Excess is the subject of this book and the enemy which I shall try to invite you to fight..." - J.V. Taylor "Enough is Enough"

Having said all that, I am still hanging out to receive the latest Macbook pro that I have ordered... maybe this week? :-) I will use it well though for good purposes. .. I promise.