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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 08 2017, @02:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the minimalism dept.

Phys.org reports:

The idea of a life lived modestly is gaining traction. Ten years ago, Samantha Weinberg, a mother of two young children, spent a year not shopping. Her aim was to reduce her environmental impact. The next year, Mark Boyle, founder of the online Freeconomy community, embarked on a life without money in order to sever his connection with it. Since then, others have joined this "Not Spending" movement.

Frugality has its limitations. Not everyone is able-bodied enough to cycle, and if we all started foraging for wild food it would deprive non-human species of nutrients and disrupt local ecosystems. While minimalism has found new converts, especially in Japan, this extreme approach is unlikely to go mainstream.

Perhaps a more realistic hope is for a steady rise in the number of people who discover that pursuing non-material riches brings greater happiness than the getting and spending of money. In fact, significant numbers of "voluntary simplifiers" have been choosing and enjoying lives of material simplicity for decades.

Have Soylentils found greater happiness through simplification?


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Lagg on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:14AM (11 children)

    by Lagg (105) on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:14AM (#490690) Homepage Journal

    For most of my life I actually thought I was weird because of this and am glad to see others sharing the same philosophy. Basically though I have this thing about practicality. I want to be able to pick up and move on a moments notice and not have what I refer to generically as "overhead". Beyond that due to gastrointestinal issues I don't eat much frozen food and supplement heavily with soylent. I'd say I'm happier as a result of the simplification. I know what matters to me in my life and having all your sentimentality in a shoebox - despite what pop culture will tell you - has its advantages.

    It's also not because of money. It certainly helps me a lot saving what I do by sticking to "practical" items. But to be honest much of the reason is because I'm a socially inept loser and there is a fundamental disconnect between spending and luxury in my mind that results from growing up in poverty. I don't know what to spend money on when I have it to spend so I get what I need. I guess that means I've achieved some level of contentment. But I often find myself wishing I wasn't like that. You have to remember that you get money in the first place to live. Never let this shitty world make you think that "living" extends only to sustenance and survival.

    Also I really like video games in my spare time. There is not much required in terms of spending for that. Especially with Steam sales.

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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:21AM (3 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:21AM (#490692) Journal

    More Henry, with thoughts on games:

    [9] The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @01:51PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @01:51PM (#490837)

      Aristarchus - desparate to be relevant.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:39PM (1 child)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:39PM (#490929) Journal

        At least it is a quiet desperation. And not at all deplorable. Thoreau's "Walden" is in fact the source of the "simplicity" movement, Thoreau wrote "Simplify, simplify." in "Walden". So maybe not relevant at your level of familiarity with American Literature, my dear curmudgeonly AC.

        • (Score: 2, Informative) by anubi on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:50AM

          by anubi (2828) on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:50AM (#491116) Journal

          "Walden" was one of the books my high school teachers pointed out to me.

          I believe my teachers knew full good and well where things were heading, and wanted us to be aware of it, and that alternatives existed.

          Another teacher pointed Stanley Milgram's "Obedience to Authority" book out to us, when she saw how frustrated we students were at the "system" during the 60's.

          We had some nice classroom discussions over that.

          Sorry for the late post, but I am still visiting this forum trying to undo the damage one moderator did.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 2) by jasassin on Saturday April 08 2017, @07:12AM (2 children)

    by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Saturday April 08 2017, @07:12AM (#490741) Homepage Journal

    Also I really like video games in my spare time. There is not much required in terms of spending for that. Especially with Steam sales.

    Just an FYI you can get steam codes cheap off ebay. I got left4dead and lef4dead2 codes for 9.99 and the maf website wanted 49.99 for left4dead2. Just wanted to let you know you can get some good deals on steam codes from ebay. I was thinking about getting that Dirt Rally racing game for like 12 bucks.

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    jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @10:01AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @10:01AM (#490786)

      Yeah from people who buy games then immediately ask for refunds and put the codes up for sale. The game developer is the one who ends up eating the lost sale because Steam does not lose money. Way to fuck the people who make the games you want to play.

    • (Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:28AM

      by cubancigar11 (330) on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:28AM (#491112) Homepage Journal

      How legit are those? Are they like that website where scammers buy games via stolen cc and then sell it cheaper? Have you ever had one of the game access revoked? Sorry, just asking. I hear too many bad things about indirect sales in my local gaming community.

  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Saturday April 08 2017, @01:15PM (2 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Saturday April 08 2017, @01:15PM (#490826)

    Also I really like video games in my spare time. There is not much required in terms of spending for that. Especially with Steam sales.

    I have an even cheaper version of this: retro-gaming. Many of the really old games are now free, either because the company decided to give them away, or because the company no longer exists to enforce their copyright.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday April 08 2017, @02:00PM (1 child)

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday April 08 2017, @02:00PM (#490840) Journal

      Humble Bundle is pretty good for inexpensive games. Only $1 gets half a dozen games, and I figure if I enjoy only one or two of them, it's still a good deal.

      • (Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:32AM

        by cubancigar11 (330) on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:32AM (#491113) Homepage Journal

        I found a good way to buy games. Okay here it goes. During steam sale events, there are some very cheap game bundles. Like, 1$ will get you 5 or 10 games. I buy these bundles and then play those games that have card drop. Because not many people play these cheapass games, the cards are normally expensive - so much that they cover the cost of the whole bundle and then some.

        Believe me I am not that cheap :) I am just trying to cut down on my steam spending spree.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @03:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @03:16PM (#490852)

    I don't know what to spend money on

    Improve your practical items (e.g. get the best quality bed/shoes/car parts/cookware/clothes) or buy things that save time/pay people to buy time (e.g. housekeeper, mechanic, personal cook, yardkeeper) so you can have more time to do the things you enjoy. Also, saving money for early retirement can give you plenty of time also.