I was in a fork in the road. I was in about $5,000 of debt between credit cards and my small truck loan. Being that I just graduated college and moved to a completely new city, I could have traveled two paths. Continue the personal debt free fall by consuming more than I needed, wanted and expected or I could simplify my life, reduce that which was not necessary to my happiness and find peace in less.
I don’t think I need to tell you which path I took.
Mankind
From thousands of years ago until the last half century, mankind (womankind) lived the minimalist life without attempting to live the minimalist life. Minimalism was necessary to their existence. Mankind strived to eliminate that which held them back.
What does mankind need to survive? The basic necessities are food, shelter, basic clothing and the desire to survive and thrive. What we don’t need to survive is usually what we spend most of our finances and time on.
Somewhere between World War 2 and the early 90’s, mankind flipped this practical lifestyle of living by needs to living by availability.
This is the point of the article where I could blame credit card companies, Wal-Mart, and every other person trying to make a buck. This is where we turn down the wrong path. We blame others for mankind becoming greedier by the moment rather than observing how the person in the mirror has placed mankind in this quandary.
Mankind is responsible for its own predicament. We have choices. We have always had choices. Yet, mankind has decided to live like kings rather than live like the rich man from Babylon.
Community
What community do you live with? I ask this because the community you live with molds the lifestyle mankind tends to follow.
Try not to think of community as a physical place. It may include a physical place, but think of community as the type of people you associate your day-to-day life with. The values of those that you communicate and connect with daily tend to be the ones you mimic when it comes to lifestyle. I presume that Joshua Becker, Mike Denghia, Everett Bogue, and the other amazing minimalists out there live their life based more on thoughts they have developed from their interaction with like-minded individuals, like bloggers, commenter’s, and writers, and not so much their physical neighbors.
In my physical life, I live in an upper middle class physical community, but I practice a lifestyle that is worlds apart from the physical location I reside. My mental life resides in an extremely different place. I have grown by extraordinary measures by mentally connecting through the words and practices of those in the electronic world. The community I want helps me establish the lifestyle I want. If I allowed the community to make these decisions, I would be following a path that is not my own.
Ponder what community influences you. Is the community you mimic today the one that you truly want to mimic? Why don’t you create a community, location or internet based, that you feel would benefit mankind? Would being the starter of a community that promotes your ideals be that difficult? These are all questions that we each do not contemplate enough. That is coming from someone who has built and left a community he designed to create a different community.
The power of community is the strongest, most influential of any force on this planet.
Life
Mankind provides the general needs for survival. Community provides the support to discover meaning and purpose. Life provides the opportunity of choice. What choices do you make in your life that effect mankind and community?
The choices and decision we make influence far greater landscapes than ever before. Whether you believe in global warming or not, there is no denying the health and lifestyle impact our choices have on others as well as ourselves. People in much of China, not just the metropolis’, have had to significantly change the way they live and survive by the choices (i.e. buying knick knacks made in china) we make everywhere else. This is important because general western thought is that more is better. More is better. Just not more crap.
What you and I choose to do with our life revolves around the notion of that which is supposed to make us happy. Most things people buy and do does the exact opposite. Our time is the most valuable item we own, yet we trash it. Our lives have significance we tend to neglect which is why applying minimalism is absolutely necessary.
Why This Matters
Minimalism doesn’t matter. That’s what you could say. I, obviously, disagree with you. However, rejecting the thought of minimalism changing mankind, community and life is of dire need as our necessities have continued to grow at alarm rates. It’s not that having 50 things is important. It’s that we have things and do things that are simply important.
I have mentioned in the past that television plays an extremely minor role in my life. This is not because I am too busy. This is by design. I could watch a lot of television. At least three hours per day. But the impact television has on my life is not necessary to the growth and development of mankind, my community and my life. Television is merely a waste of my potential. More than likely, it is a draining you of your potential as well.
All of this matters because the world, the communities, the people, and the environment are at a turning point. We continue on our consuming attitude and our wasteful ways we will lose any and all opportunity to do whatever we want. Why? It becomes more difficult changing poor habits if you let them become a way of life. Let’s be honest, the worse our credit card debt increases, the bigger our waste lines get , and the more cluttered our homes become, the less likely we are to stay motivated to most drastic change when absolutely necessary.
You could reject and not apply this post to your life. I think most my say, “You’re right…but that would take sacrifice and effort.” Definitely true. In my experience, the sacrifice and effort of turning to minimalism has led to me following the right path in finding a lot of freedom and enjoyment that helps me improve the quality of mankind, community, and life.
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I live in a mall. That’s my physical community. Almost literally. A suburb of Austin that consists almost entirely of a beautiful, outdoor shopping center. It’s really a lovely place to live, surrounded by hills and the world’s best sunsets. But… it’s a freakin’ MALL. It made it way too easy all summer to blow money I should have been putting aside for my escape. Oh, look, that v-neck would look great on me! I think I’ll buy 7! They’re on sale!
This is why I am grateful for the internet community of minimalists. Now I feel like I have a dozen people on my shoulders when I walk past the shops saying “Stop! Think about having to pack that when you move! Think about what you could really do with that $20!” Having a community definitely help with the sacrifice and effort it takes to live this lifestyle.
Glad you’re part of this community!
Hi David,
You say “mankind” but I think you are talking primarily about American values (Canada and the UK are close behind). The rest of the world doesn’t consume or waste to the extent the US does.
Most of the developed world lives in much smaller houses, uses public transportation more, families live with elderly parents, shop locally buying fresh ingredients, travel more, save more money, have lower levels of poverty, are more highly educated, abuse drugs less, etc. etc. It is only in the US (and Canada- my home country) that we have gotten so far out of control.
In the US, there is such a focus on entrepreneurship and corporations to solve the world’s problems. Most people don’t connect the fact that the reason we over-consume is because entrepreneurs have convinced us to buy stuff we don’t need.
Over-consumption is not a global problem. Two-thirds of the planet still lives on less then $2 per day. The real problem is that American values are being marketed around the world through Hollywood and MTV.
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David,
I’m sure you’ve read John Perkins’ “Hoodwinked,” but for all those interested in learning more about that period between WWII and the 80′s/90′s/now uber-consumer culture, this is a totally fascinating read.
As a 2008 grad attempting entrepreneurship, it’s hard to decide which path to take for your life, your business, and the world. We base so many businesses around selling… stuff. Physical stuff, destined for the landfill.
I’m struggling with this as I create a “minimal” clothing line. Thanks for the thoughtful read… My first time here, love love love!