SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Phys.org reports [phys.org]:

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 [theguardian.com]. Her aim was to reduce her environmental impact. The next year, Mark Boyle, founder of the online Freeconomy community, embarked on a life [moneylessmanifesto.org] without money in order to sever his connection with it. Since then, others have joined this "Not Spending" movement [theguardian.com].

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 [facebook.com], 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" [duaneelgin.com] have been choosing and enjoying lives of material simplicity for decades.

Have Soylentils found greater happiness through simplification?

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