voluntary simplicity

Not free to be poor

Posted 1 day 8 hours ago by Philip Brewer

Nobody wants to be poor. It's a dangerous and constrained position to be in. But there are people out there (me, for instance) who are relatively happy to live at a fairly low standard of living. Choosing to live at a low standard of living means you don't need to earn as much money--which opens up a huge range of possibilities that ordinary people don't have. The way society is organized now, though, that's not a safe option.

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Voluntary simplicity as hedonism

Posted 50 weeks ago by Philip Brewer

Filed Under: Frugal Living

Bench in herb garden

When people talk about voluntary simplicity (or living a frugal lifestyle under any of its many names), they often do so in terms of deprivation. The descriptions are all about doing without stuff. To me, that's completely wrong. Voluntary simplicity is fundamentally a hedonistic lifestyle.

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Voluntary simplicity versus poverty

Posted 50 weeks ago by Philip Brewer

Filed Under: Frugal Living

Sunset at Kaufman Lake Park

The first person I met who practiced voluntary simplicity didn't call it that, and I didn't understand what she was doing until many years later. It left a lasting impression, though, because it was a source of stress between her and her friends.

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