A Simpler, Freer Life

koan · Post by **koan** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:16 am

There was an article I read on the Adbusters site that so affected me I had to look it up again tonight. I'm putting it here to share but also to remind myself that I thought it important and it fits in somewhere in the mire of all the other things I'm starting to make sense of.

The whole article impresses me but this is the bit I'm deciding to quote:

concern, rather, was that the ways by which money is acquired “almost without exception lead downward,” almost always involve “lying, flattering, voting, contracting yourself into a nutshell of civility, or dilating into an atmosphere of thin and vaporous generosity, that you may persuade your neighbor to let you make his shoes, or his hat, or his coat, or his carriage, or import his groceries for him.”

A Simpler, Freer Life | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:26 am

Money could and should be a method which strengthens the community bonds, but what we've done, at least here in America, is use money to cause each other to be responsible for one another's feelings.

Perhaps in a few thousand years when the sapien has matured somewhat and evolution has sorted out this tug of war between emotion and reason currency issues and community bonds will converge on a more equitable basis. There's not much question in my mind in principle that America lags behind most other advanced nations in this regard.

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:35 am

To people of a certain nature, living a life of voluntary simplicity is the only way to go. Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendental Movement are still inspiring people in varying degrees from wholehearted conversion to a smaller & practical incorporation of the philosophies into their every day life. They are timeless!

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:47 am

Please forgive me but I must ask: what do you mean by "of a certain nature"?

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:12 am

Are you asking me to explain the expression itself or are you asking me what I perceive that nature to be in the context of this particular post?

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:25 am

I'd appreciate both since you ask. Thanks in advance.

koan · Post by **koan** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:56 am

I read it to mean there are some who value happiness and there are some who value power. I don't think many powerful people believe power brings happiness and there aren't many rich people who would think money(symbol of power) brings happiness, yet lots of people seem to like a system that allows them the chance to earn money/power/respect without actually being a nice person.

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:19 am

The expression itself refers to people of any particular nature, that particular nature being whatever the context calls for ... a sort of fill in the blank. In the context of this topic & posts, I used it as a general term to refer to the sort of people who would be or are attracted to the concept of living a life of voluntary simplicity with its varying degrees. I perceive those types of people as generally more introspective, idealistic and less inclined to be followers of conventional societal mores as well as less materialistic for the most part. That’s a generalization, of course, and like all generalizations it’s not written in stone or 100% accurate but it’s just how I see it.

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:26 am

Thanks. I just thought the word 'nature' was a piculiar choice, I would have used some variant of 'conditioned'.

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:31 am

koan;1383289 wrote: I read it to mean there are some who value happiness and there are some who value power. I don't think many powerful people believe power brings happiness and there aren't many rich people who would think money(symbol of power) brings happiness, yet lots of people seem to like a system that allows them the chance to earn money/power/respect without actually being a nice person.

I don't think most people like that system as much as that's all they've known and seen so they simply accept it as the status quo. Change takes imagination and a lot of courage.

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:39 am

I think Thoreau was saying that the kind of civility monetary systems create is feigned.

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:54 am

Yes, and for most people, if they didn't at least feign civility at work or to prospective customers, especially to those with given power, they'd be living a life of "involuntary" simplicity pretty quickly!