It's amazing how complicated it is to live "simply". (electricity, America)

[dreadd]

Newsflash here. A billion people, all over the world, live without electricity, phones, computers, etc. Everyone did so a century or so ago. You are making your own complexity. You can live in a van and get what you need at the local strip mall, library, college, gym and convenience store. I know this is so because I did it, for 10 months, while putting 10k into the bank (without working at any sort of job) and it was not all that long ago, either.

[bigpaul]

Originally Posted by dreadd

Newsflash here. A billion people, all over the world, live without electricity, phones, computers, etc. Everyone did so a century or so ago. You are making your own complexity.

many people here cant or wont live without those things, so fully are they integrated into the technology. living without these things isn't hard, its just a matter of adapting.

[dreadd]

yep, I ate well, stayed warm/cool and healthy, on just a very few hundred bucks per year, while selling plasma, etc.

[Nor'Eastah]

It's also a matter of mind-set. Americans - many of them - are a spoiled, entitled bunch; they worship "livin' large" as a sign of "success", and social acceptance is far more important to these types than saving money. After all, they figure...what are credit cards for, if you don't use them?

Delayed gratification is not something they want to hear about. Voluntarily lowering their standard of living, even for a short while, in order to save money just causes them to yawn.

[dreadd]

yep, I ate well, stayed warm/cool and healthy, on just a very few hundred bucks per month, while selling plasma, etc.

[augiedogie]

I think some of the motivation for the lifestyle is a rejection of the middle class lifestyle that is sold us by corporate America in the media, new house, car, clothes, makeup, spend spend spend, buy buy, buy. So people are opting for tiny houses, living off grid, living in RV's etc. Some more so, by opting to reject regular checkups with the doctor, rejecting medical insurance. And some are eating organic or growing their own or deciding to try to live to the extent they can "off grid."

Part of it is also motivated by people that have found that the tax structure just far too punitive to keep up the big house and big lifestyle. Why work so hard? So there are a lot of motivations behind it. I also think the trend will continue. Its pretty obvious our economy is stuck in a zero growth mode, and the politicians don't seem to care and don't want to change it. They see darker days ahead, and so they are planning accordingly.

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by augiedogie

I think some of the motivation for the lifestyle is a rejection of the middle class lifestyle that is sold us by corporate America in the media, new house, car, clothes, makeup, spend spend spend, buy buy, buy. So people are opting for tiny houses, living off grid, living in RV's etc. Some more so, by opting to reject regular checkups with the doctor, rejecting medical insurance. And some are eating organic or growing their own or deciding to try to live to the extent they can "off grid."

Part of it is also motivated by people that have found that the tax structure just far too punitive to keep up the big house and big lifestyle. Why work so hard? So there are a lot of motivations behind it. I also think the trend will continue. Its pretty obvious our economy is stuck in a zero growth mode, and the politicians don't seem to care and don't want to change it. They see darker days ahead, and so they are planning accordingly.

I think this is pretty much true.

It's been my observation that we entered another depression around 2008, and few want to acknowledge that. The "spend, spend, spend, buy, buy, buy" mentality hasn't gone away - it's more that people's incomes no longer allow for it. I'm beginning to see real hard times out there.

Politicians DO care, and would love to stop this trend. Nobody wants an economic downturn on their watch. But the causes of this downturn are not so easy to stop. It has to play itself out.

[dreadd]

it's going to play out, all right. the boomers are going to collapse the economy, thru medicare and pensions, with the millions of iillegals and stupid wars helping out.