A lot of people have the mistaken idea that those of us who choose a less consumer-oriented lifestyle are somehow deprived because we do not spend money as if it were going out of style (and oh, how I wish it would). They have a vision of us, holed up in some run-down cabin in the woods, seperated from “normal” society and cut off from anything that even remotely resembles “culture”, as if choosing to live more deliberately and simnply somehow instantly turns you into Ted Kaczynski.
Well, the funny thing is that we, being those of us who are taking a more leisurely, deliberative view of life, also harbor the idea that the very people who are calling us deprived, are actually the ones who are deprived. As an illustration of this essential disconnect in how the two types of people see things, here is a little chart of things I have seen or heard other people say that the “other” type of people are deprived of:
| “Normal People” | “Simple People” |
|---|---|
| Are deprived of: | |
| Control of their own work | Steady Income |
| Leisure Time | Money for Vacations |
| “Good” things, such as midday naps, sleeping in, etc. | “Nice” things, such as cars, jewelry, etc. |
| The freedom of being debt-free. | Purchasing Power in the form of credit |
I could probably go on all day listing the differences of the two points of view, but I won’t. The point is that there are two points of view, and that they are fundamentally different. How you choose to live is not about what you choose to spend your money, time, energy or attention on, but on the reasons that you do so.
Tags: deprivation, Ted Kaczynski, voluntary peasantry
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