Who needs ten houses when you can get by just as well with three or four?
31
It is good that Mr. Brooks raises the question of the discovery of identity: Who am I?
It would have been better had he taken this essential spiritual search deeper than the levels of individual tastes, beliefs, and self-seeking of various kinds.
Can ultimate simplicity (and tranquility) lie in discovering the nature of the constructed sense of self that craves simplicity in the first place?
It would have been better had he taken this essential spiritual search deeper than the levels of individual tastes, beliefs, and self-seeking of various kinds.
Can ultimate simplicity (and tranquility) lie in discovering the nature of the constructed sense of self that craves simplicity in the first place?
7
"In a world of rampant materialism and manifold opportunities, many people these days are apparently learning who they are by choosing what they can do without."
Are you SURE you're a Republicant, or is this just a mealy mouthed rationalization cum exhortation to just scrape by while your Republicant paymasters scoop up ALL of the world's riches?
Are you SURE you're a Republicant, or is this just a mealy mouthed rationalization cum exhortation to just scrape by while your Republicant paymasters scoop up ALL of the world's riches?
7
Getting rid of material items will neither make you more intelligent or simplify your life. Decluttering your brain will. Own as much as you want as long as it makes you happy.
9
David is one of the fit in the "survival of the fittest" country.
It's not so easy for many with disabilities such as those with mental and/or physical illness, the elderly, and the otherwise disabled.
It sure can be a grand life if you don't have to worry about basic needs.
Go for all you can !
It's not so easy for many with disabilities such as those with mental and/or physical illness, the elderly, and the otherwise disabled.
It sure can be a grand life if you don't have to worry about basic needs.
Go for all you can !
8
I'm going to reduce my use of exclamation points!!!
10
The moment you adopt such a form of discipline, you cut yourself off from others who don’t share it. What you’re really simplifying is your social life. I know few of us like to be around people with whom we disagree, and it may be worth it in preferring friends—maybe, but it is not in the case of family, regardless of how much you don’t like their way of living or they don’t like yours.
2
David,
I love the line:
"There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism."
(Shhh... you're not supposed to notice that or draw attention to it.)
I love the line:
"There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism."
(Shhh... you're not supposed to notice that or draw attention to it.)
7
"As Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, 'The chief work of civilization is just that it makes the means of living more complex. Because more complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life. That means more life. Life is an end to itself and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enough of it.'”
As long as you're quoting Holmes on civilization: "“Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”
"Today’s simplicity movements are also not as philosophically explicit as older ones." True. Today's simplicity movements are a race to the lowest common denominator.
Or, "I can't afford it, therefore, I don't need it."
As long as you're quoting Holmes on civilization: "“Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”
"Today’s simplicity movements are also not as philosophically explicit as older ones." True. Today's simplicity movements are a race to the lowest common denominator.
Or, "I can't afford it, therefore, I don't need it."
4
Perhaps Mr. Brooks' evolution of simplicity simply comes back to this:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:5
15
"Early in life you choose your identity by getting things."
Perhaps this is why I've mostly led a simple life despite the means to do otherwise: I was too poor as a kid to define my identity by things.
I went from being a poor man to a wealthy man, literally in one day. (My first startup had a successful IPO.) Finally I thought, I can trade in my beat up Toyota pickup for a fast and expensive car. I did so, but quickly found that I worried about getting dents and scratches, parked it in distant place to keep it pristine, and covered it when parked in the sun. What was worse, it impressed all the people I didn't want to impress and turned off people I really liked. After six months of this I sold the car and bought a new Toyota; a brand that I've been driving ever since.
I don't like things except when they allow me to pursue goals that I am passionate about. Passion, that's the key to a happy life and it is the first to get buried under a pile of consumerism. I've been lucky in this respect: my life has never been lacking passion.
Most importantly, I've also been lucky with the people in my life; people who choose to call me a friend because of who I am, not what I own. When I met the woman who was to become my wife I didn't tell her my net worth. I was just a guy who still had two roommates and drove a Toyota. Sometime after we moved in together and were thinking long term, I let her know. But by then it didn't matter; I knew why she loved me.
Perhaps this is why I've mostly led a simple life despite the means to do otherwise: I was too poor as a kid to define my identity by things.
I went from being a poor man to a wealthy man, literally in one day. (My first startup had a successful IPO.) Finally I thought, I can trade in my beat up Toyota pickup for a fast and expensive car. I did so, but quickly found that I worried about getting dents and scratches, parked it in distant place to keep it pristine, and covered it when parked in the sun. What was worse, it impressed all the people I didn't want to impress and turned off people I really liked. After six months of this I sold the car and bought a new Toyota; a brand that I've been driving ever since.
I don't like things except when they allow me to pursue goals that I am passionate about. Passion, that's the key to a happy life and it is the first to get buried under a pile of consumerism. I've been lucky in this respect: my life has never been lacking passion.
Most importantly, I've also been lucky with the people in my life; people who choose to call me a friend because of who I am, not what I own. When I met the woman who was to become my wife I didn't tell her my net worth. I was just a guy who still had two roommates and drove a Toyota. Sometime after we moved in together and were thinking long term, I let her know. But by then it didn't matter; I knew why she loved me.
34
Two things I do without: Facebook and Twitter. Silence is golden.
28
There is nothing more simply satisfying than a pile of opened and unopened mail, unfolded clothes on my unmade bed, and dishes in the sink that should be in the dishwasher. Mañana, it's so simple.
4
In my retirement of over 20 years, working seasonally upon occasion, some of my best years were living and travelling in a 27-foot motorhome with less than 200 square feet of living space for over seven years. We sold our 3000 square foot house and three acres, for boondocking in some of the most beautiful country on earth. Our expenses were cut from $5000 a month to $2000 with more freedom and purpose and simplicity. I'd still be out there if my wife hadn't wanted to reconnect with our past community in Oregon. "Happy Wife, Happy Life." But...I am working on converting a cargo van into a "Freedom Van" to have the best of both worlds. I feel fortunate to have options of "living off the grid" or in a more urban setting. I love the simple life as long as I have my Kindle with its storage of over 2000 books.
7
This simplicity thing is genius. Gotta be a way to monetize it with apps and organizational products.
15
A friend once told me that when one wishes to say something true about a broad expanse, the truth ends up being a little obvious. Subtlety and depth are easier within a narrow compass. The non-political writings of Brooks lean toward a vast expanse, where he strives, impossibly, for subtlety and depth. So what is the obvious truth being missed here? In human life we are frequently too simple and too complicated, even at the same time. A no-tax-pledge is too simple; revenue from trickle down voodooism is too complicated. Evolution is simple and almost obvious; biblical creation is a Rube Goldberg nightmare. Living in the Paleolithic required an amazing cluster of skill sets just to survive. Simplicity meant death. At the trivial level of actual clutter, my garage is too cluttered, yet my work room is too austere. So you see, I am not reaching any depth here.
6
Definitely something I've been working on since I retired and hope to achieve during my life after 50.
2
Is the simple life better? Many of the opinions here seem subjective, as they should be. If you enjoy buying stuff, buy them. If you don't, then don't. A lot of commenters are using personal stories of being forced to live a simple life as if to justify that it is objectively better. In the end, do what makes you happy.
5
I’ve never owned an air conditioner or a microwave oven.
I don’t have a computer at home. I do my emailing/internetting at my office at work.
I’ve never owned a cell phone or any of those hand-held devices. I don't want an electronic lease that anyone in the world can tug on for any reason at any time.
I’ve never owned cable TV. TV is aggressive; it only wants to keep you addicted to watching it. I use free TV and almost never watch that except for an hour or two of late night educational PBS or a good classic movie. I read books.
I used a rotary phone and a black & white TV until the late 1990s.
I have a VCR & I bought a DVD player in 2006.
I have a stereo I bought in 1978 and cassette tape deck I bought in the early 1980s, both of which still work fine.
I have a 1988 gas-efficient car with about 40,000 miles on it which I use once or twice a month on average (I take public transportation & walk almost everywhere for my health & the sheer enjoyment of it).
I don’t own real estate.
But I’m reasonably contented & I have peace & privacy, which many people do not have.
“Live simply that others may simply live.” Mohandas Gandhi
I don’t have a computer at home. I do my emailing/internetting at my office at work.
I’ve never owned a cell phone or any of those hand-held devices. I don't want an electronic lease that anyone in the world can tug on for any reason at any time.
I’ve never owned cable TV. TV is aggressive; it only wants to keep you addicted to watching it. I use free TV and almost never watch that except for an hour or two of late night educational PBS or a good classic movie. I read books.
I used a rotary phone and a black & white TV until the late 1990s.
I have a VCR & I bought a DVD player in 2006.
I have a stereo I bought in 1978 and cassette tape deck I bought in the early 1980s, both of which still work fine.
I have a 1988 gas-efficient car with about 40,000 miles on it which I use once or twice a month on average (I take public transportation & walk almost everywhere for my health & the sheer enjoyment of it).
I don’t own real estate.
But I’m reasonably contented & I have peace & privacy, which many people do not have.
“Live simply that others may simply live.” Mohandas Gandhi
14
Back in the early 1970s, when I was poor, and living on Morris Street in Albany, I lived the simple life. I had two pairs of jeans, some T-shirts and a coat. I had a bed, a couch, and a table. I found the table in the attic when I moved in. I was pretty happy about that find. I always bought the Price Chopper brand of powdered milk. How wonderful to live the simple life - what emotional tranquility I had back then. I had such unity of purpose. Too bad Mr. Brooks will never be so lucky.
3
"Simplicity of life, directness of purpose and self-reliance". The motto of South Kent School. It was instilled in me over 4 years, and has served me well for the subsequent 50.
2
Nine years ago my parents died and the contents of their house was scattered over the next few years, contents that had been accruing for over half a century, and which included contents of previous generations' houses in the attic.
Not content as always to follow the parental paradigm of living with too much stuff for another two decades, we are downsizing now, and not waiting.
Multiply this. The generation that was born in the 1920s and early 1930s has been vacating their premises over the last decade AND their offspring, baby boomers, are downsizing early. My generation no longer needs to consume very much, and since the recession, are likely not to be supporting the economy through retirement. Our inherited pots and pans will outlast us.
Now the talk is of stimulating the economy via consumption when two generations are disgorging their belongings to second hand shops and yard sales, and our children, Millenniels, are trying to get jobs. Ponder this.
Maybe we need some new ideas instead of new things?
Not content as always to follow the parental paradigm of living with too much stuff for another two decades, we are downsizing now, and not waiting.
Multiply this. The generation that was born in the 1920s and early 1930s has been vacating their premises over the last decade AND their offspring, baby boomers, are downsizing early. My generation no longer needs to consume very much, and since the recession, are likely not to be supporting the economy through retirement. Our inherited pots and pans will outlast us.
Now the talk is of stimulating the economy via consumption when two generations are disgorging their belongings to second hand shops and yard sales, and our children, Millenniels, are trying to get jobs. Ponder this.
Maybe we need some new ideas instead of new things?
11
It would be interesting to see a similar analysis of simplicity in the political realm where its impacts are not so benign. The complexity of modern life encourages the use of sound bites, that in turn typically descends into polarized black and white (or red and blue?) political themes that more often than not are highly and intentionally misleading. These tactics work because people are so over engaged in many other things that they don't have time to examine the details and ferret out the truth. In other words people crave simplification that alleviates a little of the pressure of complexity and makes their choices easier... but often, then, grossly misinformed.
5
"You can't be too rich or too thin." Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson.
1
Animator Nina Paley's "The Stork" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-hdLKITZA highlights consumption for the "benefit" of our children and the detriment of the planet. Most people acquire stuff when creating the nest for their nuclear family. Others acquire to feed a sense of self, identity and place. Cyberism proposes that life will be made perfect by acquiring more gadgets and their annual updates. Most people in the world subsist on relatively little, and many don't even have the bare minimum of food and shelter. Probably the happiest person I've ever seen was a yogi in a loincloth sitting in a cave in India, beatifically blessing all comers. Our proudest "possessions" are our minds and hearts. Plenty of people know this. But it is rather against the stream of humanity, a young species still not out of its impulsive youth.
2
Sadly, the most populous countries in the world China and India are also becoming the biggest consumers. Meanwhile plastics and trash land in the bottom of the ocean.
3
Thoughtful article. Thank you Mr. Brooks.
4
Reading all of the comments about dumping things in the landfill, --- maybe our children, after they have removed the things they would like to keep from our homes, could host an "Open House - Take What you Want Party" - before going to the dump.
6
And then Mr. Brooks there are those of us who live simply, because we simply have no choice ...
10
"Early in life you choose your identity by getting things"
Only if you can David, only if you can.
But those who struggle to 'get things' like a meal or a job are hardly working on these worrisome problems.
But, then, those with real struggle are not reading this Vale worthy column.
Only if you can David, only if you can.
But those who struggle to 'get things' like a meal or a job are hardly working on these worrisome problems.
But, then, those with real struggle are not reading this Vale worthy column.
5
There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism:
Latest examples - streetcars vs. busses, "tiny houses" vs. trailers/mobile homes
Latest examples - streetcars vs. busses, "tiny houses" vs. trailers/mobile homes
I'm thinking of an SNL skit featuring Charles Barkley after reading this column David. I think it was called "White People Problems." In the case of the angst you share in this column, I would add "Affluent" White People Problems. I feel your pain.
9
It's not what you have or don't have but whether or not what you have or don't have defines who and what you are - more in your own mind than in others. Hide bound could just as well mean concept and/or possession-bound.
Come on, David Brooks, you keep saying that word Thoreau. I don't think it means what you think it means. Thoreau was not a simple man, but simply a misanthrope taken seriously by people who should know better,
2
Getting by with little is easy when you have the resources to replace that item that you discarded because you hadn't used it in a while. When you are truly limited in your resources (money, time, mobility), simplicity can be darn complicated.
13
David,
A main "weakness" of throwing away all that you do not want today is the denial of tomorrow of that which you do not (today) realize will become valuable (to you) tomorrow.
In other words, in one moment (fit) of "purging for aesthetic sake", you redefine your future by denying tomorrow (of) the good of yesterday and today that you (today) do not realize will be valuable tomorrow.
As to books, my advice is this: Be very careful about throwing away books. Some of my reasons are as follows:
1. Books of yesterday hold treasures that are neither apparent nor treasured today.
2. Books of yesterday contain copies or accounts of many original source documents that help guard against the deceitfulness of revisionism.
3. I do not trust digital media to be my authentic library and source of information (the various [digital] media archives could disappear; and, given today's Godless crop of "intellectuals", what they choose to keep and what they choose to discard could be forever tragic).
In short, be very careful about what you are throwing away:
1. Keep your books.
2. Keep paper copies of ALL contracts and important business documents (you cannot trust computers and computer archives [I am a webmaster, I know]).
3. ALWAYS keep the Holy Bible in BOOK form (Satan wants to destroy the Holy Bible; and, failing to destroy it, he wants to pollute [change] it).
A main "weakness" of throwing away all that you do not want today is the denial of tomorrow of that which you do not (today) realize will become valuable (to you) tomorrow.
In other words, in one moment (fit) of "purging for aesthetic sake", you redefine your future by denying tomorrow (of) the good of yesterday and today that you (today) do not realize will be valuable tomorrow.
As to books, my advice is this: Be very careful about throwing away books. Some of my reasons are as follows:
1. Books of yesterday hold treasures that are neither apparent nor treasured today.
2. Books of yesterday contain copies or accounts of many original source documents that help guard against the deceitfulness of revisionism.
3. I do not trust digital media to be my authentic library and source of information (the various [digital] media archives could disappear; and, given today's Godless crop of "intellectuals", what they choose to keep and what they choose to discard could be forever tragic).
In short, be very careful about what you are throwing away:
1. Keep your books.
2. Keep paper copies of ALL contracts and important business documents (you cannot trust computers and computer archives [I am a webmaster, I know]).
3. ALWAYS keep the Holy Bible in BOOK form (Satan wants to destroy the Holy Bible; and, failing to destroy it, he wants to pollute [change] it).
3
Well you had me until you got to the biblical sky faerie/dirt faerie stuff. I buy into everything before the parentheses.
5
You can have all the "things" you want, as long as you're not attached to them. It's attachment, clinging, and craving that brings misery, unhappiness, and anxiety. Of course, a detached person is probably not going to want a lot of things to begin with; so it's goes back to the age old decluttering maxim - chicken or the egg?.
1
The columnist has no clothes!
Does David really read "Magazines like Real Simple"?
Does David really read "Magazines like Real Simple"?
1
"Early in life you choose your identity by getting things. But later in an affluent life you discover or update your identity by throwing away what is no longer useful, true and beautiful."
Well-said!
Although it might be useful to recycle rather than throw away....:)
Well-said!
Although it might be useful to recycle rather than throw away....:)
"There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism."
You think? LOL!
Personal entropy is the hallmark of our times!
The Hedonic effect drives our culture into more and more materialistic madness as the disenfranchised and incompetent masses just stare at their screens!
You think? LOL!
Personal entropy is the hallmark of our times!
The Hedonic effect drives our culture into more and more materialistic madness as the disenfranchised and incompetent masses just stare at their screens!
Couldn't resist. Keeping it simple:
-Tax returns on a post card.
-Eliminate EPA, IRS, DOE and NIH
-Build a wall.
-10% tithing
-Climate change is a hoax
-Evolution is false
-Bible is literal
-Guns don't kill people
-Government is the problem
These are all efforts to keep it simple. Sometimes, just maybe, complexity is good.
-Tax returns on a post card.
-Eliminate EPA, IRS, DOE and NIH
-Build a wall.
-10% tithing
-Climate change is a hoax
-Evolution is false
-Bible is literal
-Guns don't kill people
-Government is the problem
These are all efforts to keep it simple. Sometimes, just maybe, complexity is good.
14
ONLY THE ESSENTIALS . . .
We love materialism and greedy habits ... until we realize that all that we have accumulated have become the master that brings clutter and the expenditure of time and money to maintain.
Now I have more than 3,000 books ... and at times I want to use one for s lecture ... but owning so many books ... it often takes hours to attempt to find the particular volume ... ruminating over and over. Then, I realize that the most practical thing to do is to buy a new paperback copy.
I began to revere books and records in middle school. I was just following the ways of my father. My first count of books came to 200 ... but it never stopped.
I was trying to find an old book by Franz Werfel which my father gave to me ... so I obsessively looked for it. But among far too many volumes. So, I called Amazon ... and got a paperback version in two days. I recently came across the original hardcover by accident ... of course while not seeking it.
Having too much deprives us of freedom. George Carlin tells a story where he is invited to the home of a friend ... so he selects "stuff" to bring. Then they decide to make a side trip for a few days ... so he culls from all he had brought ... only "the essentials."
One reason for excessive accumulation is that it makes us perceive that death is not coming. So. we continue to collect as though we are immortal ... as it allows us a denial of the ultimate essential we all have in life ... the fact that we are mortal.
We love materialism and greedy habits ... until we realize that all that we have accumulated have become the master that brings clutter and the expenditure of time and money to maintain.
Now I have more than 3,000 books ... and at times I want to use one for s lecture ... but owning so many books ... it often takes hours to attempt to find the particular volume ... ruminating over and over. Then, I realize that the most practical thing to do is to buy a new paperback copy.
I began to revere books and records in middle school. I was just following the ways of my father. My first count of books came to 200 ... but it never stopped.
I was trying to find an old book by Franz Werfel which my father gave to me ... so I obsessively looked for it. But among far too many volumes. So, I called Amazon ... and got a paperback version in two days. I recently came across the original hardcover by accident ... of course while not seeking it.
Having too much deprives us of freedom. George Carlin tells a story where he is invited to the home of a friend ... so he selects "stuff" to bring. Then they decide to make a side trip for a few days ... so he culls from all he had brought ... only "the essentials."
One reason for excessive accumulation is that it makes us perceive that death is not coming. So. we continue to collect as though we are immortal ... as it allows us a denial of the ultimate essential we all have in life ... the fact that we are mortal.
3
Today, in a Times’ column by Gina Kolata titled “Surprising Jump in Death Rates Seen for Middle-Aged Whites,” we were offered a well written example of enforced simplicity as defined by having our ability to live a decent life removed as an option because of rising costs, no jobs, deterioration of savings, a myriad of reasons.
Simplicity will seldom be anything more than an opportunity afforded the wealthy. It certainly isn’t for the middle incomers or the poor.
Go for it Brooks.
Simplicity will seldom be anything more than an opportunity afforded the wealthy. It certainly isn’t for the middle incomers or the poor.
Go for it Brooks.
36
One of my favorite quotes: What you earn is how you make a living, What you give is how you make a life.
1
Ah yes, let's all buyer simple food from Whole Foods, all cotton sheets, and bespoke shirts. This simplicity movement is materialism raised to the nth degree. NO MORE PLEASE!
2
Mr. Brooks states: “Early in life you choose your identity by getting things.”
I was startled..Really? Acquiring things or objects is an extremely juvenile way of looking at one’s life. The adage “He who dies with the most toys wins” was a bumper sticker philosophy from the 1970s! The era of disco glitter balls and a “Look at me” culture. This is how Republicans look at life? How very sad!
My early life and the lives of my colleagues have been “How can I learn to be the best medical doctor possible to care for my patients?” In Hawai’i I also looked after the ‘aina (the land) and the ‘kai” (the sea.) Whether that was starting recycling, legislating to set aside marine reserves, or walking or biking to decrease the need for fossil fuels.
In college in Utah (No I’m not a Mormon..rather an agnostic) we backpacked in our incredible five national parks. We took away an appreciation for something greater than us...and we worked to keep these places pristine for the next generation. Now GOP lawmakers are looking to privatize these lands and cut them into parcels to sell to the wealthy for their own use.
As an agnostic I see our time here as a way to achieve “heaven” for all. Heaven being adequate food, the best education for all citizens, good medical care to help us lead lives NOT of quiet desperation, but of fulfillment...and certainly NOT of acquiring the latest iGadget!
Mr. Brooks certainly revealed just what a Republican is. A seeker of things..not truth.
I was startled..Really? Acquiring things or objects is an extremely juvenile way of looking at one’s life. The adage “He who dies with the most toys wins” was a bumper sticker philosophy from the 1970s! The era of disco glitter balls and a “Look at me” culture. This is how Republicans look at life? How very sad!
My early life and the lives of my colleagues have been “How can I learn to be the best medical doctor possible to care for my patients?” In Hawai’i I also looked after the ‘aina (the land) and the ‘kai” (the sea.) Whether that was starting recycling, legislating to set aside marine reserves, or walking or biking to decrease the need for fossil fuels.
In college in Utah (No I’m not a Mormon..rather an agnostic) we backpacked in our incredible five national parks. We took away an appreciation for something greater than us...and we worked to keep these places pristine for the next generation. Now GOP lawmakers are looking to privatize these lands and cut them into parcels to sell to the wealthy for their own use.
As an agnostic I see our time here as a way to achieve “heaven” for all. Heaven being adequate food, the best education for all citizens, good medical care to help us lead lives NOT of quiet desperation, but of fulfillment...and certainly NOT of acquiring the latest iGadget!
Mr. Brooks certainly revealed just what a Republican is. A seeker of things..not truth.
6
As a hedonist Quaker and a visual artist I am sure as h*** not going to let those snotty "less stuff" killjoys ruin my fun. Stuff and noise BRING IT ON!
I suppose everyone needs to neaten up once and awhile. But, I guess like cleaning out every columnist even Mr. Brooks has to do a frivolous column now and again. He should email it to Paul Ryan because even though Boehner claimed he cleaned out the barn, he didn’t get rid of the livestock that was making the mess. Ryan needs this clean up article ASAP as I am sure it is piling up again. We don’t want to see the intellectual and numbers cruncher of the party brought to his knees. He needs all the help David can give. Right now his main task is fumigating Boehner’s office of tobacco residue. They said one of the reasons he likes to sleep in his office! I thought he wanted to be home all the time? Let’s face it David Elephants can make some mess. Good article though, I just got rid of “Great Thoughts of Ronald Reagan” and some old readers Digests and you were right some things you can just let go…
1
Only the truly wealthy can afford to make their lives simpler.
2
So many of the replies here are intellectually elitist, especially those who say that only the rich can afford simplicity. I am not a 1%er and yet I have lived for a long time with the notion that everything in my little house should be "beautiful, useful, or meaningful." I keep some things for awhile -- how many funny coffee mugs does anyone need, even if they are gifts? -- and then let them go to a thrift shop. As a result, my simple house if full of things I love and I'm not distracted by things I don't. Even on a grad student's budget, I can make this happen.
9
It's hard, if not impossible, to improve on Thoreau. So here's what Thoreau REALLY said:
"The nation itself, with all its so-called internal improvements, which, by the way are all external and superficial, is just such an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by luxury and heedless expense, by want of calculation and a worthy aim, as the million households in the land; and the only cure for it, as for them, is in a rigid economy, a stern and more than Spartan simplicity of life and elevation of purpose."
The key term here is "elevation of purpose."
"The nation itself, with all its so-called internal improvements, which, by the way are all external and superficial, is just such an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by luxury and heedless expense, by want of calculation and a worthy aim, as the million households in the land; and the only cure for it, as for them, is in a rigid economy, a stern and more than Spartan simplicity of life and elevation of purpose."
The key term here is "elevation of purpose."
2
Mr. Brooks should stay away from politics and write more lifestyle columns like this. If he digs a little more, he will find out that there is indeed meaning and purpose behind today's new simplicity movement. Becoming Minimalist, a blog by Joshua Becker, is a good place to start.
A lot of comments in the NY Times tend to consist of "I hate Republicans" which tend to become "I hate Brooks".
But the majority of comments today seem to be more thoughtful and made by people who have actually read what you say and have their own contributions to make.
Perhaps thinking will return to the NY Times?
I agree with most of what you say and although surrounded by clutter, I am always planning to get rid of it. David, if you want to come to my apartment and help me de-clutter, I will even pay you (smile).
But the majority of comments today seem to be more thoughtful and made by people who have actually read what you say and have their own contributions to make.
Perhaps thinking will return to the NY Times?
I agree with most of what you say and although surrounded by clutter, I am always planning to get rid of it. David, if you want to come to my apartment and help me de-clutter, I will even pay you (smile).
2
The tiny house craze is the epitome of bourgeois attempts at simplifying. You're paying $80K to live in a 200 s.f. garden shed with cute shutters, but without a closet?
2
For a writer whose convoluted logic in support of a favorable status-quo has so often adorned these pages, this is refreshing if a little anti-capitalist. Perhaps he is smoking something?
1
I just called up and rented a dumpster.
2
Why is it that in America, the richer you are, the bigger house you must have? Who needs 30 rooms or even 15? The answer is obvious: status. You've got to show people, especially that always doubtful mother-in-law, that you've made it. A big house now is what a big, fancy car used to be a few decades ago, a sign that you've arrived.
What so wrong with a really great smaller house? As soon as you get rich, you move away from, eck!, those people, the bothersome souls called "neighbors". You get a big lot with a long driveway that dares people to come and see you. Rich people and prisoners are isolated, the rich more so.
One movement against this is the tiny house effort. 1,000 sq. ft. or less, some as small as 200 or 300 sq. ft. With such a house, you can't have all that junk because you've got nowhere to put it. Without all that junk around, you come to realize you didn't need more than half of the stuff.
Just yesterday, I was thinking about how we spend 1/3 to 1/2 of our time at home putting things away. Then, we spend a huge amount of time trying to remember where we put them and getting them out again. What's left? Going out to buy more. Who is working for whom here? It seems our pots and pans and computers and smartphones have a lot of things they want us to do and we better stick with it, or else.
Money doesn't buy happiness, but it gives you a lot of responsibilities while you slowly come to that realization and go looking for happiness elsewhere.
What so wrong with a really great smaller house? As soon as you get rich, you move away from, eck!, those people, the bothersome souls called "neighbors". You get a big lot with a long driveway that dares people to come and see you. Rich people and prisoners are isolated, the rich more so.
One movement against this is the tiny house effort. 1,000 sq. ft. or less, some as small as 200 or 300 sq. ft. With such a house, you can't have all that junk because you've got nowhere to put it. Without all that junk around, you come to realize you didn't need more than half of the stuff.
Just yesterday, I was thinking about how we spend 1/3 to 1/2 of our time at home putting things away. Then, we spend a huge amount of time trying to remember where we put them and getting them out again. What's left? Going out to buy more. Who is working for whom here? It seems our pots and pans and computers and smartphones have a lot of things they want us to do and we better stick with it, or else.
Money doesn't buy happiness, but it gives you a lot of responsibilities while you slowly come to that realization and go looking for happiness elsewhere.
2
I would offer two concepts: Unplug & the Common Good.
Every so often leave all of your devices at home and do something just for your self.
Every so often do something for others. Help make the world a better place because you were here.
Every so often leave all of your devices at home and do something just for your self.
Every so often do something for others. Help make the world a better place because you were here.
2
Again, a wonderful column. Just a note.. the Orthodox, Catholic tradition of monasticism has always called devout Christians to simplicity, an influence sometimes profound, sometimes ignored.
1
It's good to live a simpler life.
I'm only sorry it took me so long to recognize that less is more -- the notion not wholly clicking with me until I dealt with my father's belongings after his death in 2012.
Things can serve many purposes, some of them real (or so I believed; sometimes the "real" proves to be the exquisitely contrived), but in the end it's all just a giant ball and chain tethering us in place and in time.
I've sold and tossed and donated and given away for more than two years now and I still don't feel quite done.
But I am far less burdened and, no longer struggling under the yoke, better equipped to see things I hadn't seen clearly for some time.
It's a journey (as they say), there are distinct legs to the trip and it's possible to overdo so a certain caution is wise. (Don't let divestiture run over your feelings; there are few mulligans on this road.)
One thing Mr. Brooks doesn't mention is "emotional hygiene" -- letting go of people who jumped or have simply fallen from your life. Much harder to do, but I think even more vital to one's happiness.
I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.
I'm only sorry it took me so long to recognize that less is more -- the notion not wholly clicking with me until I dealt with my father's belongings after his death in 2012.
Things can serve many purposes, some of them real (or so I believed; sometimes the "real" proves to be the exquisitely contrived), but in the end it's all just a giant ball and chain tethering us in place and in time.
I've sold and tossed and donated and given away for more than two years now and I still don't feel quite done.
But I am far less burdened and, no longer struggling under the yoke, better equipped to see things I hadn't seen clearly for some time.
It's a journey (as they say), there are distinct legs to the trip and it's possible to overdo so a certain caution is wise. (Don't let divestiture run over your feelings; there are few mulligans on this road.)
One thing Mr. Brooks doesn't mention is "emotional hygiene" -- letting go of people who jumped or have simply fallen from your life. Much harder to do, but I think even more vital to one's happiness.
I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.
4
Everything seems to be coming down to neurology. Many people seeking a meaningful life are finding the meditation fits in nicely with their spirituality. The Dali Lama has encouraged research into the brain function of meditators and those brains look different in the functional MRI.
The simplicity advocates of earlier times found practices that are consistent with our evolution and neural realities. They were right then and those who pay attention today will be happier for it. If lots of people pay attention, society will be better, too.
Chuck
The simplicity advocates of earlier times found practices that are consistent with our evolution and neural realities. They were right then and those who pay attention today will be happier for it. If lots of people pay attention, society will be better, too.
Chuck
1
This constant stream of media delivered content stops conversations and breaks connections. People will sit in a chair, with their Chromebook on their lap playing mahjong , using their phone to play Words with friends, while the TV is turned to a Sex and the City marathon. When you talk to them, they insist they heard you and often can even repeat the words you've said. But they are not listening. They are not engaged. There is too much "noise" in this world.
Not owning a cell phone/iphone is an extremely liberating way to live.
1
I think it depends on the person. For me, having an iPhone has been very liberating. It has replaced by landline phone, camera, portable movie player, Discman, most of my books, and - in many cases - my main computer. I also have stored on it every single important photo, digital or film (that has been scanned), that I have ever taken in my entire life, which has allowed me to discard the dozens of pounds of photo prints I previously carried from apartment to apartment.
Having said that, I can easily go 4 days on a single charge. Why? Because I only use my phone when I need it. Just because you own the technology does not mean the technology has to own you.
Having said that, I can easily go 4 days on a single charge. Why? Because I only use my phone when I need it. Just because you own the technology does not mean the technology has to own you.
2
Ah, let's not forget to throw money out and the heck with our bills.
Always thoughtful Mr. Brooks, but simplicity can be too simple for most everyone.
Always thoughtful Mr. Brooks, but simplicity can be too simple for most everyone.
1
Dissatisfaction is a pervasive, but necessary, condition of modernity. Everyone knows that!
1
Shut down the gambling casinos we call the stock market. That's pretty simple.
2
Here's a paraphrase of a New Yorker cartoon picturing a man praying bedside: "Lord, I don't ask for much, but what I do get should be of very high quality."
5
If I didn't know your politics, Mr Brooks, I would think you're an interesting person. You're well-read in social scientific journalistic works, philosophy, many other topics - I do find columns like this stimulating. But it is impossible for me to square someone being a thinking person -- leading an examined life -- with reactionary political views. An enigma.
2
And I think of a comment to the recent story about a certain public radio host who over the course of 13,000+ interviews of the celebrity class in Amerika has honed her ability to get people to "open up." The comment said something like this: "It would be great if so-and-so would interview regular people so that the celebrity class would learn what the ret of us were doing. Did not you write about this very thing in Bobo's in Paradise?
Good column. It's kind of funny how many comments lament what was left out or how some thoughts were not elaborated. Uh, it's a newspaper column, not an open ended exegesis of the simplicity canon. I do like the comments, however. They demonstrate how a provocative newspaper column can unlock suppressed emotions which demand a hearing in the public forum.
1
Living simply in a consumer-dtiven economy can be done by some. I tripped up while trying. When "Ms." became an optional title for married and single women, I opted for "Cs." following a comma after my name. My country seemed less interested in my marital status than in my purchasing power; I felt invited to participate as a consumer, hence Cs. I was a freshly divorced mother rearing three children under five. Ads were providing instructions on housekeeping ("I can see myself in my dish after washing it with [product]"), food prep, and appliances, all in kitchens to envy. I worked, and shy of debts, provided just enough for my children to pass for middle class (safe zone). Now, many years later, I'm paring down, surprised that I have so much despite wanting the minimum.
2
When I agree this much with an article, I fear that the author is preparing to retire. Please hang on David Brooks. Sincerely Jack Farrell
1
Meanwhile, back in reality, Lord Brooks, your own newspaper reported last night "Death Rates Rising for Middle-Aged White Americans, Study Finds".
It looks like many Americans are discovering their identity through an early death via suicides, drugs and alcohol as the economic violence of modern America regresses to its Robber Baron mean.
The study suggested that Americans were suffering - both physically and psychically - from a lack of economic opportunity, a lack of employment, a lack of education, a lack of physical and mental healthcare...and a complete lack of hope.
So they simplified their American lives, David, by immediate or slow-motion suicide.
Ronald Lee, professor of economics, professor of demography at the UC Berkeley, was among those taken aback by the study.
“Seldom have I felt as affected by a paper,” he said. “It seems so sad.”
Yes, it does seem sad that America - the richest country in the world - has little regard for its large underbelly of abandoned former middle class and poor.
America has 'evolved' - or been hijacked for those watching closely - into a Shangri La of feudalism, where Americans have been taught and conditioned to worship the rich and the televised while completely ignoring the common good and the basic building blocks of a decent society - education, healthcare, infrastructure, fair wages and a functioning democracy.
Many people these days are choosing simplistic death over America's never-ending right-wing war on the non-rich.
It looks like many Americans are discovering their identity through an early death via suicides, drugs and alcohol as the economic violence of modern America regresses to its Robber Baron mean.
The study suggested that Americans were suffering - both physically and psychically - from a lack of economic opportunity, a lack of employment, a lack of education, a lack of physical and mental healthcare...and a complete lack of hope.
So they simplified their American lives, David, by immediate or slow-motion suicide.
Ronald Lee, professor of economics, professor of demography at the UC Berkeley, was among those taken aback by the study.
“Seldom have I felt as affected by a paper,” he said. “It seems so sad.”
Yes, it does seem sad that America - the richest country in the world - has little regard for its large underbelly of abandoned former middle class and poor.
America has 'evolved' - or been hijacked for those watching closely - into a Shangri La of feudalism, where Americans have been taught and conditioned to worship the rich and the televised while completely ignoring the common good and the basic building blocks of a decent society - education, healthcare, infrastructure, fair wages and a functioning democracy.
Many people these days are choosing simplistic death over America's never-ending right-wing war on the non-rich.
92
As a Progressive/Liberal, I rarely agree with you David, but this is an excellent column. I am not wealthy by any means you want to apply, but at age 70 I am paring done and getting rid of all that I do not find useful, nor desired anymore. I am giving away the books, clothing and other items that I no longer want nor need. I am recycling whatever can be recycled, and even selling at auction those things that no longer have a place in my life.
Even those of us of modest means have been guilty of over consumption, and the idea that items should be kept because you might need them someday, and if "someday" hasn't come in 10 years, it never will!
Even those of us of modest means have been guilty of over consumption, and the idea that items should be kept because you might need them someday, and if "someday" hasn't come in 10 years, it never will!
4
"This striving for fullness and variety has always sparked a counter-impulse toward simplicity and naturalness"
There are many who would argue that there is as much or more fullness and variety in simplicity and naturalness. The key words here are "striving for" - striving for simplicity just changes the object of our striving. It becomes another way of practicing our neuroses.
With regard to "movements", Terence McKenna once said, "culture is not your friend". Simplicity as a movement is an embodiment of culture, and packaged and sold as self-improvement.
There are many who would argue that there is as much or more fullness and variety in simplicity and naturalness. The key words here are "striving for" - striving for simplicity just changes the object of our striving. It becomes another way of practicing our neuroses.
With regard to "movements", Terence McKenna once said, "culture is not your friend". Simplicity as a movement is an embodiment of culture, and packaged and sold as self-improvement.
I'm with Albert Einstein on this one. The most common variation cited for what he said was, "Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler."
2
I'm forgetting David's politics for this one.
Despite being debt-adverse and buying with care over the years, I have too much stuff -- way more than I want to leave behind for my children to plow through.
A young Japanese women is teaching me how to tidy (mega purge) my small cottage, thanks to her No. 2 best-selling book. She doesn't criticize or induce shame. She does recommend reusing boxes rather than purchasing a bunch of container-organizers. Her instructions to clear the whole house are to be followed once in a lifetime, with the subsequent ease of order (a place for everything) proving so enjoyable that clutter never again collects. One area of disagreement: she doesn't get it about books gathered and lived among with unceasing appreciation.
Despite being debt-adverse and buying with care over the years, I have too much stuff -- way more than I want to leave behind for my children to plow through.
A young Japanese women is teaching me how to tidy (mega purge) my small cottage, thanks to her No. 2 best-selling book. She doesn't criticize or induce shame. She does recommend reusing boxes rather than purchasing a bunch of container-organizers. Her instructions to clear the whole house are to be followed once in a lifetime, with the subsequent ease of order (a place for everything) proving so enjoyable that clutter never again collects. One area of disagreement: she doesn't get it about books gathered and lived among with unceasing appreciation.
2
It's true that stuff is fluff,
There is more Joy in Service,
And I say 'enough is enough'
Only when there's Social Justice.
There is more Joy in Service,
And I say 'enough is enough'
Only when there's Social Justice.
2
We live in a world of scarce resources. There is only so much stuff to go around, and with the global population expected to exceed nine billion around the middle of this century, competition over resources may force us to keep things simple and take only what we need. That might not easy in a cultures like ours that celebrate extravagance . Life satisfaction is not a flawed measure of our expreienced well being. It could be something else entirely diferent.
1
"One simplicity expert advised people to take all their books off their shelves and throw them on the floor. Only put back the books that you truly value."
One visiting prof said he could teach us what Hume said, so why read Hume? Well he got Hume--himself a book burning advocate--wrong.
Theroux points out that Walden Pond was an easy walk from Thoreau's mother's house. Thus another American myth of simplicity-along with rugged individualism and Libertarianism--"government is best that governs least."
Tell it to NYC and all the great cities. Civilization is (true to its etyma) citification--high density cooperative living--affording great variety of personalities and lifestyles and thus opportunity--but dependent of tremendous civic and civil engineering--from bridges, subways and tunnels parks and "commons" to libraries, schools and hospitals.
The human challenge is to create the great global city. A far cry from Wild West cowboys poaching on public parkland.
One visiting prof said he could teach us what Hume said, so why read Hume? Well he got Hume--himself a book burning advocate--wrong.
Theroux points out that Walden Pond was an easy walk from Thoreau's mother's house. Thus another American myth of simplicity-along with rugged individualism and Libertarianism--"government is best that governs least."
Tell it to NYC and all the great cities. Civilization is (true to its etyma) citification--high density cooperative living--affording great variety of personalities and lifestyles and thus opportunity--but dependent of tremendous civic and civil engineering--from bridges, subways and tunnels parks and "commons" to libraries, schools and hospitals.
The human challenge is to create the great global city. A far cry from Wild West cowboys poaching on public parkland.
1
"In a world of rampant materialism and manifold opportunities, many people these days are apparently learning who they are by choosing what they can do without." Well, apparently this doesn't apply to Joan Weill, who took back her $20 million gift to a small university when it wouldn't rename the school after her. I guess we know what she can't do without.
Maybe Brooks should practice what he preaches. Here's a challenge: David, Let's swap houses for a month. You can tussle with my 40-year-old single wall oven (that's been fixed three times in the past 2 years) on Thanksgiving to feed 10 guests, while I luxuriate in your kitchen, which I'm sure must have at least a six-burner stove and a double oven. David, the "laundry room" off of the garage shares space with the boiler, but the 12-year-old washing machine has been rather dependable, and the 20-year-old dryer has only been repaired once. You can drive my 16-year-old car, Old Reliable, too (warning she needs a front-end alignment), while I enjoy a chauffeur-driven commute to my low-paying job in the city. Is all that "simple" enough for you?
Maybe Brooks should practice what he preaches. Here's a challenge: David, Let's swap houses for a month. You can tussle with my 40-year-old single wall oven (that's been fixed three times in the past 2 years) on Thanksgiving to feed 10 guests, while I luxuriate in your kitchen, which I'm sure must have at least a six-burner stove and a double oven. David, the "laundry room" off of the garage shares space with the boiler, but the 12-year-old washing machine has been rather dependable, and the 20-year-old dryer has only been repaired once. You can drive my 16-year-old car, Old Reliable, too (warning she needs a front-end alignment), while I enjoy a chauffeur-driven commute to my low-paying job in the city. Is all that "simple" enough for you?
4
And if your house is anything like mine, he'll also have the simple, blissful pleasure of washing all the Thanksgiving-dinner dishes by hand in the sink.
1
More nonsense from the high priest of upper middle class rectitude. More than half of the working families in this country bring in 30K or less per year. Tell them to simplify Brooks! You six and seven figure acolytes of the haute bourgeoise are despicable.
5
I'm in suburban New Jersey (after living in three other countries). Now in my 60s, I have a big, complicated family. My life is often a frenzy of opposing tasks, activities and opinions.
And I love it!
The "simple life" seems drippy, without purpose and un-stimulating to me.
But to each, his own.......
And I love it!
The "simple life" seems drippy, without purpose and un-stimulating to me.
But to each, his own.......
As we head into the holiday season, we once again are reminded of the glut and greed it brings. Mr. Brooks' words ring loud and clear for us all.
1
I am also a huge fan of Marie Kondo's lovely book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I gave away seven bags of clothing (also old towels, sheets, etc.) and five boxes of books in the first week. I shredded 40 POUNDS of paper and then had the problem of what to do with bags and bags of trash. Even after taking a lot of stuff to ReSource, the problem was what to do with what was left. There needs to be a conversation about what goes into the landfill. But, then again, you only need to throw out once. If you're really tidying, the point is not to collect it all again!
1
Even if Brooks is preaching simplicity from his elitist sitting I can appreciate any column that doesn't touch on present politics from an elitist GOP perspective.
1
Very much written from the perspective of someone who is well off. "Oh the stress and drama of all these items I possess...if only I could be peasant simple". Also, how do we square this virtuous aspiration for material-less enlightenment with the rampant consumerism trumpeted in large part by Mr. Brooks's chosen political affiliation. Neo-cons and right wingers are all about "buy! buy! buy! = success! value! America!".
3
Not to worry Mr. Brooks, as your Republican Friends in the house, (the Freedom Caucus), will see to it that the Middle Class and Working Poor will certainly find solitude, (except when the working poor go to the Soup Kitchens, and the middle class seeks a new home in a hovel), if they are lucky.
Speaker Boehner cleaned the Barn for Paul Ryan, (a man who could not succeed as a Salesman in his fathers Construction Company), but was salesman enough to win an election in Wisconsin. It won't be ;ong when he finds that the Barn has been refilled with garbage by the Fear and Hate Mongering 40 Tea Party Members in the House.
As 3rd in line for the Presidency let's hope that nothing fatal happens to any Vice President, - now or in the future.
And this is one who opens his mail over the shredder, - often empties his bookshelves, ( did save your book "The Road To Character", as well as tomes from Socrates, Plato and Machiavellie)! By the way, I never see you mentioning the term Pragmatism!
Speaker Boehner cleaned the Barn for Paul Ryan, (a man who could not succeed as a Salesman in his fathers Construction Company), but was salesman enough to win an election in Wisconsin. It won't be ;ong when he finds that the Barn has been refilled with garbage by the Fear and Hate Mongering 40 Tea Party Members in the House.
As 3rd in line for the Presidency let's hope that nothing fatal happens to any Vice President, - now or in the future.
And this is one who opens his mail over the shredder, - often empties his bookshelves, ( did save your book "The Road To Character", as well as tomes from Socrates, Plato and Machiavellie)! By the way, I never see you mentioning the term Pragmatism!
2
As a Professional Organizer (NAPO member), I work with people who want to "get organized" for all kinds of reasons. My thinking on this subject is continually evolving but the core is this - when you take control of (i.e., organize) your stuff (for whatever reason), you begin a process of discernment about what is truly important to you. Depending on where you are in your life, the subject of your discernment may be as narrow as the stuff itself, or as wide as your soul.
22
"Rampant materialism" is actually a myth conjured up by a bored upper class. Sure, most folks in the real world want "things," but if you really talk to them you'll find that those things revolve around lifelong aspirations and earnest interests. Most of us realize, given the reality of the class formerly known as "middle" in America, that we must be choosy in our consumption and that we won't find happiness in things. Granted, Americans come in a great many varieties, but if you hang around the average American living room, you will actually find that our wants and needs are a lot simpler than you expect.
18
"Life is an end to itself and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enough of it.”
Quoted like a true 1%er. This single glib, nonsensical premise sums up for me David's complete and utter lack of comprehension what it's like to be a working stiff in today's America.
For us, the question of life's worth sometimes comes down to "Do we have enough food?"
Quoted like a true 1%er. This single glib, nonsensical premise sums up for me David's complete and utter lack of comprehension what it's like to be a working stiff in today's America.
For us, the question of life's worth sometimes comes down to "Do we have enough food?"
44
The inner dynamic of American culture is the conflict between its anti-material/Puritan character and its identity as creator of extreme capitalism.
It is a conflict rich in hypocrisy.
It is a conflict rich in hypocrisy.
20
Ah, but how can we keep the economic engine running on the fuel of simplicity? Capitalism depends on more stuff to fill our aching empty hearts.
I wonder if our Mr Brooks read the Times story yesterday about the middle age white people dying prematurely from substance abuse related illnesses? Those people at the bottom of life's food chain with next to nothing but failure and despair in their lives would love to have the luxury of deciding which books or clothes to pitch. This column is silly, self-indulgent flattery for the winners in life's lottery.
3
Ain't capitalism great - we've now managed to monetize the art of having less - except for those who actually have less.
3
You see the grass is always greener on the other side.
1
And the dogs of these harried people are left outside to bark, while they are away at noisy restaurants. They like it this way.
"as you simplify your life the laws of the universe will be simpler"
Thanks Dave. A perfect description of the tea party and the Republican right. It is hard to see how they could get any simpler. They have practically gotten rid of all of the complexity of science and rationality.
Thanks Dave. A perfect description of the tea party and the Republican right. It is hard to see how they could get any simpler. They have practically gotten rid of all of the complexity of science and rationality.
I like the dictum attributed to Albert Einstein's: "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
1
Might regressive groups such as the Taliban and Tea Party be attempts to escape from the complexity of modern life and evidence?
It is simple, I agree with Thoreau. We have become slaves to our possession.
1
Simplicity's fine for those who can afford it.
The life of the working poor today -- and they can include office workers, like some my colleagues -- is extremely complex. If you can't afford to live where you work, you must arrange transport, which either involves maintaining an expensive car or making ever-shifting public-transit or ride-pool arrangements that can vary by day, personal appointments, or even whether someone gets sick. Then there is day care, bureaucracies to deal with for health care, and so on.
Materialism is the least of it. It's about survival, and I doubt that the complex life of the poor has much room for a several dollar copy of Real Simple. But Mr. Brooks apparently only knows life as his wealthy patrons have shown it to him over the past 30 years, and can be excused. I suppose that we should be happy for the lack of a "twist" ending that evokes the need to cut social services in the name of spirituality.
The life of the working poor today -- and they can include office workers, like some my colleagues -- is extremely complex. If you can't afford to live where you work, you must arrange transport, which either involves maintaining an expensive car or making ever-shifting public-transit or ride-pool arrangements that can vary by day, personal appointments, or even whether someone gets sick. Then there is day care, bureaucracies to deal with for health care, and so on.
Materialism is the least of it. It's about survival, and I doubt that the complex life of the poor has much room for a several dollar copy of Real Simple. But Mr. Brooks apparently only knows life as his wealthy patrons have shown it to him over the past 30 years, and can be excused. I suppose that we should be happy for the lack of a "twist" ending that evokes the need to cut social services in the name of spirituality.
1
Another way we seek simplicity: by escaping. Rather than simplify the places where we live and work we leave them behind. We take vacations and (some of us) turn the phones off. In the evenings we go out for a walk or a visit to a park. We watch movies about other people escaping. Many of us are craving simplicity. But we are not willing to change how we live or work. Instead, we find these temporary respites by going to other places.
5
Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for this beautifully written article. It is a perspective gained with experience, so not a surprise that some comments aren't appreciative. Still, your reflections capture what many of us are feeling and doing. Our family began shedding material possessions well before the economic crisis, and then during a year of unemployment and under employment, we were stressed about out finances. But we discovered that our daily laughter and sense of gratitude, and our abiding love for each other is the reason we have a joyful life. It was hard to be so extremely frugal; but we discovered that we were still happy. The experience was a gift. Now we are selective about the people, places and things we invite into our life. Money is great and good health is better. And it's true that the best things in life (love) are free.
4
That materialism drives the economy, which drives employment. What is more important, simplicity or a thriving economy? Can you have both?
1
The best example of simple thinking=The Congress. No facts, no discussion, simple quick answers that never change. Lower taxes, stop regs, remove immigrants, bomb terrorists. They are the poster children of simple minds.
1
1. It should be remembered that this is definitely a first world problem. There are literally billions of people in the world living lives of spare simplicity not by any choice of their own.
2. The problem with throwing all my books on the floor in order to decide which one to put back on the shelves is that I would end up picking one up, starting to read it to decide if I want to keep it, spend the rest of the day doing that, and end up with all my books on the floor.
2. The problem with throwing all my books on the floor in order to decide which one to put back on the shelves is that I would end up picking one up, starting to read it to decide if I want to keep it, spend the rest of the day doing that, and end up with all my books on the floor.
6
And because it's a first world problem it's not valid? Thank you for telling us that. If we were complaining about this in a poor or developing country that was full of people living simple lives (which never happens) it would be inappropriate. However, this is America and the problems we have range from first world to third world.
1
I think the discussion of materialism is a distracting analogy in this instance - I enjoyed this piece by Mr. Brooks since it spoke to an evolution of maturity through a shedding of distracting aspects of the self - parse your books, winnow your furniture and de-clutter your inbox, but be "disciplined about your time, selective about your friendships, moving generally from fragmentation toward unity of purpose," is frankly, the point of living happy through simplicity. Intentions to put into action. Great read.
14
I am up-to-my-ears in books, magazines, newspapers, email, snail mail and every day that passes brings another carload of it. There is no way of keeping up with it, and before long this good dog and I may be candidates for an appearance on one of those reality shows devoted to hoarders. But you are never gonna see us simplifying, because it cheers us and makes us feel rich to be able to reach down under the bed at night and find some old copy of Partisan Review or Commentary or a paperback copy of James Baldwin's essays that gives us some fresh insight into what happened in the world yesterday. Simplicity is for simpletons. This beautiful world is a complicated place. Cleaning out the attic is a responsibility I'm leaving to my heirs and assigns.
37
Here's what needs to be simplified in this country: health care and health insurance, paying for higher education, building decent affordable housing, paying taxes, our justice system, the enormous number of choices businesses pretend to give to us which really amount to one thing: draining us of our money for products we don't need or that don't work as advertised. There's more but it would be a nice start if we knew that we could get access to the medical care we need instead of what we can afford. It would be nice to be able to go to college if we are qualified without having to worry about coming out in debt and unable to find a job to pay that debt. It would be even nicer to have a straightforward tax system and a justice system that doesn't look like a for profit gotcha game. But I'm dreaming because the American way of business is to blame and drain consumers.
3
I agree that the consumer version of simplicity is one that offers, naturally, other types of consumption. But that doesn't make it an inherently self-defeating venture. I write about this here and there at http://www.middlepathlife.com/. The idea is something like 'sustainable materialism.' Given that we live in a consumer-driven society, we necessarily purchase products and services to get by (food, for example, since almost none of us grow enough of our own to survive). But if we replace what is otherwise rampant consumerism with a sustainability-minded version, we can curtail our expenditures and overall consumption by significant amounts. Doing so can have massive benefits for health, financial security, happiness, and environmental impact. So, while we still end up buying some stuff, the stuff we do buy can reduce or eliminate future purchases (think of the average two-car household replacing one car with a bike, thus cutting by half future purchases of gas). We can easily live fulfilling lives, ones that probably can even be more happy-making, if we think about how to consume in a simpler, sustainable manner.
7
Good points. I'm amazed that the magazine 'Real Simple' is so packed with ads and more stuff to make your life 'simple'. Books that I value, however, I give to others to read. And I'll keep many more books that I haven't read yet, or just like having around. Getting rid of stuff, just to get rid of it, makes no sense to me. Also, the tiny house thing seems a symptom of the 'go simple' lifestyle and is also pretentious. I lived in a tent for 2 summers in Alaska and it was great, but would not choose it for long term and had no choice about it. Spiritual materialism is rampant..
1
"...In a world of rampant materialism and manifold opportunities..."
Yet, the hamster wheel says clearly that too many people are running just to say one step ahead of collapse, economic and personal. The manifold opportunities are limited to a few.
In 1948, in her novel The Wicked Pavilion, Dawn Powell summed up the 20th Century...and it has only gotten worse. She then notes:
"There must be some place along the route, a halfway house in time where the runners may pause and ask themselves why they run, what is the prize and is it the prize they really want. What became of beaut, where went love? There must be havens where they may be at least remembered."
Then, she concludes:
"The shadow that lay over the land was growing mightily and no one escaped it. As in countries ruled by the Gestapo or the guillotine one must only whisper truths, bribe or be bribed, ask no questions, give no answers, police or be policed, run in fear and silence ahead of the shadow."
Spot on, huh?
Yet, the hamster wheel says clearly that too many people are running just to say one step ahead of collapse, economic and personal. The manifold opportunities are limited to a few.
In 1948, in her novel The Wicked Pavilion, Dawn Powell summed up the 20th Century...and it has only gotten worse. She then notes:
"There must be some place along the route, a halfway house in time where the runners may pause and ask themselves why they run, what is the prize and is it the prize they really want. What became of beaut, where went love? There must be havens where they may be at least remembered."
Then, she concludes:
"The shadow that lay over the land was growing mightily and no one escaped it. As in countries ruled by the Gestapo or the guillotine one must only whisper truths, bribe or be bribed, ask no questions, give no answers, police or be policed, run in fear and silence ahead of the shadow."
Spot on, huh?
1
Mr. Brooks:
I had no idea that cleaning out a closet could be the first step on the road to tranquillity. This explains that odd sense of virtue that I feel whenever it's trash night. Is there a particular, superior, brand of trash bag I should be using to help facilitate this process? Can nirvana be reached by being homeless?
I had no idea that cleaning out a closet could be the first step on the road to tranquillity. This explains that odd sense of virtue that I feel whenever it's trash night. Is there a particular, superior, brand of trash bag I should be using to help facilitate this process? Can nirvana be reached by being homeless?
David, you are on to something, perhaps something profound. What's that? Learning what we can do without. A very long time ago I realized that I could do without all and every politician. My life, especially my mind became so uncluttered, joy entered my universe. With that, I never voted again. I know, this is and was a desperate act, abandoning all my civic responsibility and duties, but it had to be done. When people ask me why I don't vote, I gladly tell them it was to simplify and unclutter my life. Many have joined me in such new found happiness.
As a former magazine editor, I have to contribute that magazines have pages to fill and advertisers to attract. So advice should not be taken like tablets from the mount. Many of us are in what I have come to call "the sorting out years." We come to a stage in life when we have to deal with the possessions we have zealously collected over time. Who wants our china--our silver? Perhaps this is some reason for the emphasis on simplicity. Perhaps the hunger is for not having to deal with things--that come to own
one. Organized people are born that way--I am convinced. But if they inspire the rest of us to breathe a little freeer of our stuff...bless them.
On the other hand, there is a comfort of what we have coveted --we do not all have the Asian love of simplicity, for example, as much as we admire it.
A very wise and observant column.
one. Organized people are born that way--I am convinced. But if they inspire the rest of us to breathe a little freeer of our stuff...bless them.
On the other hand, there is a comfort of what we have coveted --we do not all have the Asian love of simplicity, for example, as much as we admire it.
A very wise and observant column.
1
But you know what?
In December 1999 I loaded my classic 2002 BMW with boxes I had in storage, calling what was in them "my resentments".
I drove them to a friend's house while unable to see out my rear window.
I laughingly showed her 'my load of resentment's'.
I asked for and got her wiser permission that it was a good idea to go to the Waste-Management Recycling Center and shred them.
Once there I was granted special permission to stand there and watch that happen.
Then they gave me a dated certificate that this had been done.
Ha ha, what a great story.
However, to this day I regret it.
That was a part of me and better to have left it in storage, never taking another peek, letting it die when I do.
In December 1999 I loaded my classic 2002 BMW with boxes I had in storage, calling what was in them "my resentments".
I drove them to a friend's house while unable to see out my rear window.
I laughingly showed her 'my load of resentment's'.
I asked for and got her wiser permission that it was a good idea to go to the Waste-Management Recycling Center and shred them.
Once there I was granted special permission to stand there and watch that happen.
Then they gave me a dated certificate that this had been done.
Ha ha, what a great story.
However, to this day I regret it.
That was a part of me and better to have left it in storage, never taking another peek, letting it die when I do.
2
Most people I know are going "simple" to reduce consumption, particularly of artificial things. We do it to limit production, leading to reduced consumption of resources, less pollution, less suffering of animals & the environment, etc. We do it so we can escape the fake, plastic world & connect with the natural, real world & to remind us that long after we are gone our footprint will remain (good & bad).
Others have done it for religious reasons. We do it because we care about more than ourselves.
Others have done it for religious reasons. We do it because we care about more than ourselves.
1
Brooks is restating what Cyril Northcote Parkinson so humorously and accurately codified in his 1958 book, "Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress". Among Parkinson's laws is the law of bureaucratic expansion which states that bureaucracies will rise by 5–7% per year "irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done". And also, "that work expands to fill the time available for its completion." Substitute clothes, furniture, data, books, face book friends, for any of the categories above and you have Brooks' simplicity made simple column.
2
It's as fascinating as it is predictable that each one of Mr. Brooks's commentaries becomes a Rorschach exercise propelling many readers to their respective political, philosophical and religious (to include"secular religious") soapboxes to pontificate themselves.
1
Well said. Sadly, the economy largely runs on people buying stuff, and the cheaper the better so that when it inevitably breaks, shrinks or malfunction we have to go out and buy new stuff. Paring down is essential when we get older so that our kids don't have to wade through the garbage. But throwing books on the floor? No way.
2
A great column that should be re-published in time for "Black Friday". Other than some commenters here believe, over-consumption and hoarding is not limited to the well-off. And, honestly, on a global scale 90% of US citizens are well-off.
I cringe every year to see a family day, that should bring some serenity is sacrificed to the gods of money, with special offers of throw-away goods, fresh in from exploited workers in Cambodia.
Gift suggestion for the holidays: "vouchers for time together" - can be as simple as a day in Central Park.
I cringe every year to see a family day, that should bring some serenity is sacrificed to the gods of money, with special offers of throw-away goods, fresh in from exploited workers in Cambodia.
Gift suggestion for the holidays: "vouchers for time together" - can be as simple as a day in Central Park.
3
Allow me to make-up rationalisms for retaining "clutter."
Throwing stuff away involves discarding memories.
Those forgetting their experiences are disadvantaging themselves.
What is "junque" for donating to charity (or tossing into the rolling garbage bin) and what isn't is merely transitory subjectivity.
As Marcel Proust writes, remembering one's past is necessary to the deep appreciation of one's present.
Throwing stuff away involves discarding memories.
Those forgetting their experiences are disadvantaging themselves.
What is "junque" for donating to charity (or tossing into the rolling garbage bin) and what isn't is merely transitory subjectivity.
As Marcel Proust writes, remembering one's past is necessary to the deep appreciation of one's present.
1
Voluntary simplicity can be uplifting, purposeful, etc., but it's a privilege and a often a luxury. Involuntary simplicity is another thing entirely. There's a big difference between living on rice and beans because you choose to or because you have to. Another example is jeans with holes in the knees. At least Ben Franklin's fur hat kept his head warm.
2
Acts of simplification that can help us from getting swept away by the "multi-trillion dollar marketing river" (described in daddy mom's post) include getting rid of our cable/satellite TV service and social media accounts. On-demand viewing of a few choice TV shows via Internet streaming and greatly limiting or eliminating our social media presence (and communicating the old-fashioned way by phone and email) opens up what may turn out to be a surprising amount of time- that spectacularly precious modern-day/first world commodity and the essential pre-requisite to any attempt to simply one's life.
1
I wish I could "simplify" away most of the Republican presidential field.
2
I'll never forget this bumper sticker I saw the parking lot outside of all places, a Walmart: "The More You Know, the Less You Need."
Think about it. It doesn't mean we submerge needs and wants. For most of us, if we had to assemble all things accumulated in our proverbial attics and basements and decide which were truly important and worth moving into a small apartment, not much would escape the dumpster.
What we value are abstracts: family, friends, memories, sentimental intrinsic artifacts. The rest is mostly detritus. Let it go. It will not sustain you in your elder years. It will only tie you down, albatross around your neck, and mire you in a world made up of objects which lack any meaning and significance in a life worth living.
DD
Manhattan
Think about it. It doesn't mean we submerge needs and wants. For most of us, if we had to assemble all things accumulated in our proverbial attics and basements and decide which were truly important and worth moving into a small apartment, not much would escape the dumpster.
What we value are abstracts: family, friends, memories, sentimental intrinsic artifacts. The rest is mostly detritus. Let it go. It will not sustain you in your elder years. It will only tie you down, albatross around your neck, and mire you in a world made up of objects which lack any meaning and significance in a life worth living.
DD
Manhattan
1
Last month it was "humbleness." Now it is "simplicity." Who exactly are you talking to?
I want a country where my kid's hard work will be compensated properly; where he can afford decent health insurance that does not diminish his take home pay by 30%; and makes enough to get married and start a family. I want a country where justice is not apportioned by skin color or wallet size and I want leadership that believes in science and believes that they should keep their religion to themselves--except to treat others as you would be treated.
For the opposite of simplicity , look at the NY Times article from yesterday, where the capitalist insurance companies have made their Affordable Care Act insurance offerings so complicated that people are mislead into picking the most expensive, least helpful choices. Brooks help me here-- is this the humble simplicity of your political party--the one that brought us Romney Care via the Heritage Institute--- is this what you are talking about?
I want a country where my kid's hard work will be compensated properly; where he can afford decent health insurance that does not diminish his take home pay by 30%; and makes enough to get married and start a family. I want a country where justice is not apportioned by skin color or wallet size and I want leadership that believes in science and believes that they should keep their religion to themselves--except to treat others as you would be treated.
For the opposite of simplicity , look at the NY Times article from yesterday, where the capitalist insurance companies have made their Affordable Care Act insurance offerings so complicated that people are mislead into picking the most expensive, least helpful choices. Brooks help me here-- is this the humble simplicity of your political party--the one that brought us Romney Care via the Heritage Institute--- is this what you are talking about?
4
David,
What you say is true, but Un-American. We live in a culture that loves things. And, we need things. Where would America be today if we all moved toward simplicity? Our ads and their marketeers would be without a job. The manufacturers would cease to manufacture due to lack of sales, more without jobs. The government would lose many of its Departments and their workers, as no need for 1/2 of the EPA as we all would make our own electricity, and manufacturing would cease to exist. The Stock Market would fail with no stocks to trade.... You get the picture. It takes many jobs making enough money to have enough to buy all those latest gadgets, new clothing styles, latest automobile. When the workers make enough to meet their own needs and to buy and save, you have a robust economy. In Your throw out world, that only fills up the landfills, the only jobs you keep in business are the garbage collectors.
What you say is true, but Un-American. We live in a culture that loves things. And, we need things. Where would America be today if we all moved toward simplicity? Our ads and their marketeers would be without a job. The manufacturers would cease to manufacture due to lack of sales, more without jobs. The government would lose many of its Departments and their workers, as no need for 1/2 of the EPA as we all would make our own electricity, and manufacturing would cease to exist. The Stock Market would fail with no stocks to trade.... You get the picture. It takes many jobs making enough money to have enough to buy all those latest gadgets, new clothing styles, latest automobile. When the workers make enough to meet their own needs and to buy and save, you have a robust economy. In Your throw out world, that only fills up the landfills, the only jobs you keep in business are the garbage collectors.
9
There was nothing unAmerican about the transcendantalists of concord's Emerson era.
1
But it is really human nature. When we were a new born, we were capable to adopt a set of sounds - the joke about Chinese rolling the tongue is real - before 5 or so unless we get exposure. The sight & sound are just too bewildering so we narrow our range. Whether it is good or bad in the value space is another debate.
Readers do have to believe me, great philosophers and scientists said as much from Plato's drink from the river of forgetfulness to Kant's to C.I. Lewis and Wollfian Language of relativity.
But the implications are tremendous. Life stacks against the poor begins at birth. You were exposed to contaminants as well as chaotic programming. Again, whether programming is good or bad is another debate. But suffice to say you depends more on luck and other advantages like genes and good parents, while the rich can afford to be more proactive
Readers do have to believe me, great philosophers and scientists said as much from Plato's drink from the river of forgetfulness to Kant's to C.I. Lewis and Wollfian Language of relativity.
But the implications are tremendous. Life stacks against the poor begins at birth. You were exposed to contaminants as well as chaotic programming. Again, whether programming is good or bad is another debate. But suffice to say you depends more on luck and other advantages like genes and good parents, while the rich can afford to be more proactive
Very healthy trend here, to resist the siren song that tells us to buy stuff we do not need. Consumerism is wrecking our Earth and running us ragged.
4
How can we simplify our lives, David, when our country is all about consuming? Its the engine that keeps the USA alive, while exploiting its population to exhaustion keeping it rich. Woe to this country if everyone suddenly became Thoreaus, where would the GOP and its owners be?
David, since you are preaching simplicity, start uncluttering by throwing away your rose-colored glasses.
David, since you are preaching simplicity, start uncluttering by throwing away your rose-colored glasses.
1
Today's simplicity movements are different from those in the past. Today you don't go into the woods or the top of a mountain; you stay in place. I think it is a better way, more democratic. We all can't retreat to a farm in upper Vermont but we can all clean out our closets. We can all stop and discover what do we want to do, what is important to us, what does make us happy. There is a Waldon Pond in every apartment and house.
4
Be content, be compassionate.
It is not enough to do without, we need to feel for others. This will lead to a 'right life'.
It is not enough to do without, we need to feel for others. This will lead to a 'right life'.
1
Mr. Brooks assertion that organization equates to simplicity is laughable. My garage organization is a engineering feat of unimaginable complexity.
No need to overthink this. I wanted, for example, to create an airy and open feel to my apartment, reduce frustration by not losing things!! (keys, theatre tickets, etc ), keep my work area (which is in my living room) clear except when working there. I actually thought about getting a larger apartment, but after the de-clutter and organizing process, I am quite happy here. I used the book 'Unstuff your Life' as a guide; good writing and a good sense of humor.
2
I wonder if the "haute bourgeoisie", of which David is a lifelong member, will register surprise when the angry hoi polloi storm the battlements of their effete, affluent world.
3
Brooks! it's not popular to encourage people to view what they have become. The mirror of reality can be very hurtful to ones ego. I surmise a few of your readers, after taking stock in what they have striven to obtain weather it be social, financial status or just pure ownership of things, are not happy. Hens the term "shoot the messenger"
And some people's lives are simple because they are impoverished, maybe we should talk about how they came to that poverty (certainly not a rational choice!) instead of methods that affluent people with too many books can use to clear out their shelves.
I'm reminded of a couple of aphorisms:
Happiness is not necessarily getting what you want, but wanting what you have. (I'm not sure who gets the attribution.)
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. (Albert Einstein)
I also came up with one by myself and tried to practice it throughout my career in machine design: Any parts that aren't there won't fail.
All of this could be summed up as "Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!" (Who said that?)
Happiness is not necessarily getting what you want, but wanting what you have. (I'm not sure who gets the attribution.)
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. (Albert Einstein)
I also came up with one by myself and tried to practice it throughout my career in machine design: Any parts that aren't there won't fail.
All of this could be summed up as "Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!" (Who said that?)
3
I used to have an old beagle, Clyde. Every morning I'd take Clyde to the local park where he would chase squirrels and rabbits. He was old, had arthritis, was overweight, and couldn't run far or fast. Still, to hear him bay as he 'chased' after those critters never failed to bring to a smile to me or those walking nearby. His baying, quite simply, was the sound of joy. And so I learned a lesson from that old dog. Joy ... real joy ... is found often in the simple things. To declutter is not to simplify -- it's just decluttering. Simplifying life is to find joy. Be it as a child playing at games with the imagination of the innocent. Or as an old dog chasing squirrels in the park.
5
I wonder if people are so consumed by the hyper-real world on their tablets and smart phones that they just don't have any time left to enjoy the material world. I like REI's decision to be closed on Black Friday in the hope that people will get outside and enjoy the day.
3
The right to make as much money as one wants drives my desire to simplify
"One of the troublesome things about today’s simplicity movements is that they are often just alternate forms of consumption."
Sorry, but that sounds so much like the Republican Party circus next door with its lack of vision, framing of issues, one liners and refusal to provide fact-based reasonable alternatives. You extoll the virtues elsewhere of a Ryan and a Rubio neither of whom advance serious proposals for the complex problems that face us. I hope this is not the simplicity you are extolling here because if it is it has been weighed, measured and rejected by your readers...
Sorry, but that sounds so much like the Republican Party circus next door with its lack of vision, framing of issues, one liners and refusal to provide fact-based reasonable alternatives. You extoll the virtues elsewhere of a Ryan and a Rubio neither of whom advance serious proposals for the complex problems that face us. I hope this is not the simplicity you are extolling here because if it is it has been weighed, measured and rejected by your readers...
3
On "The Evolution of Simplicity," Op-Ed column, by David Brooks.
In this article, too, David Brooks is intent on making his readers think on their own about his topic. The reason people surround themselves with things they
have only temporary fascination with or need for is that they grow up
paying disproportionate attention to what appeals to the senses. If we
develop an educational system that teaches the young that acquisitions of the mind have preeminence over those that thrill the senses (the body), their homes would be rid of clutter, their air and environment cleaner, and their streets less noisy. What's more, there will be an abundance of the basic necessities of life: food, water, homes, schools, colleges, and jobs, for all, for all. The horrible and shameful spectacle of plenitude on one side and penury on he other will vanish. Fewer people will be sick. Still fewer will commit suicide.
When Benjamin Franklin was roaming the streets of Paris wearing his old hat, his mind was on fire, thinking thoughts that would change the world for the better.
In this article, too, David Brooks is intent on making his readers think on their own about his topic. The reason people surround themselves with things they
have only temporary fascination with or need for is that they grow up
paying disproportionate attention to what appeals to the senses. If we
develop an educational system that teaches the young that acquisitions of the mind have preeminence over those that thrill the senses (the body), their homes would be rid of clutter, their air and environment cleaner, and their streets less noisy. What's more, there will be an abundance of the basic necessities of life: food, water, homes, schools, colleges, and jobs, for all, for all. The horrible and shameful spectacle of plenitude on one side and penury on he other will vanish. Fewer people will be sick. Still fewer will commit suicide.
When Benjamin Franklin was roaming the streets of Paris wearing his old hat, his mind was on fire, thinking thoughts that would change the world for the better.
2
The other day my 88 year old mom needed to mail a package and didn't have packing tape. She came to my house to borrow mine. I was irritated that Mom didn't just go to the store to buy some. "Let me go to my tape box," I said in a crabby tone. And then it occurred to me: I have a tape BOX? As I riffled through the some 15 varieties of adhesive products, I adjusted my attitude. After all, mom was presenting another example of a streamlined life. I realized her thought process was: Why would I buy packing tape that I won't use again for another five years, if ever?
Mom is extremely disciplined about living a simple life and I am convinced that her amazing mental state is due to this incredibly streamlined life. The woman hates clutter and avoids buying "things" that lead to it. This does not come from a state of stinginess. Mom's clothes are of high quality as are the restaurants she meets her friends at (driving herself, quite safely). But she would never buy a book, and instead visits the library. She replaces a jacket when the current one is looking shabby and needs to be replaced, not just to add to the collection.
And Mom certainly doesn't buy something like tape if she will only use it once when she can borrow a bit from my stockpile. I need to start being like my mom.
Mom is extremely disciplined about living a simple life and I am convinced that her amazing mental state is due to this incredibly streamlined life. The woman hates clutter and avoids buying "things" that lead to it. This does not come from a state of stinginess. Mom's clothes are of high quality as are the restaurants she meets her friends at (driving herself, quite safely). But she would never buy a book, and instead visits the library. She replaces a jacket when the current one is looking shabby and needs to be replaced, not just to add to the collection.
And Mom certainly doesn't buy something like tape if she will only use it once when she can borrow a bit from my stockpile. I need to start being like my mom.
174
Ditto, my 88 year old mother.
2
Funny how the people who preach "live simply" and "be grateful for what you have" and "life is not always fair" are usually the ones who have "made it" and want something others have. Ben Carson has "simplified" his life and has it down to plain old lying , stuffing his aggressive behavior to seem simply passive-aggressive and holding on to the "simple" truths he learned in church. The other "conservatives" Mr. Brooks praises simply want it all for themselves and their money masters. I'll take the complicated Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton any day, Mr. Brooks.
5
Mr. Brooks uses the example of the Puritan ethic to exemplify his idea of simplicity.
Puritans lived in their own ideological world surrounded by those pesky native Americans who seemed to think they lived here first and would not accept the words of wisdom handed out by them. Puritans needed to own the land and carve it up into little pieces so that they could apply their ideas of power and wealth while spouting their false ethic of simplicity.
Simplicity is fine, but when it is based on a vision that excludes everyone else and their ideas it becomes a manipulative trap.
In Puritan times we were the aggressors and in many ways we still are as we project our capitalistic system. Simplicity can not be based in the I have mine and everyone else just go away ethic. It requires an openness of heart and mind that considers the world and the suffering of people as that of yourself. The Buddha and Christ taught this, but it is far from how we think or live our lives.
Puritans lived in their own ideological world surrounded by those pesky native Americans who seemed to think they lived here first and would not accept the words of wisdom handed out by them. Puritans needed to own the land and carve it up into little pieces so that they could apply their ideas of power and wealth while spouting their false ethic of simplicity.
Simplicity is fine, but when it is based on a vision that excludes everyone else and their ideas it becomes a manipulative trap.
In Puritan times we were the aggressors and in many ways we still are as we project our capitalistic system. Simplicity can not be based in the I have mine and everyone else just go away ethic. It requires an openness of heart and mind that considers the world and the suffering of people as that of yourself. The Buddha and Christ taught this, but it is far from how we think or live our lives.
46
I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa. One block from a trolley line and four blocks from a stretch of the Pennsylvania Rail Road "main line." The sounds of a city, the street noises, the traffic are a lullaby to me. A night in the quiet of a rural setting guarantees insomnia. Give me the "tummel (sp?)" of the agora, the souk, the high street, the marketplace and I find a life worth living.
Civilization and all of it's discontents is what brought us science, art, medicine, architecture, and a greater understanding of who we are and where we are in a universe of unimaginable complexity drawing us to seek the best in ourselves. Wonderment and awe at the very idea of the great city is simplicity enough for me. I can find solitude within myself wherever I am. Give me a street corner, a few vendors, some kids talking too loud on their cell phones, some poor unfortunate off his meds over a cabin by a pond in the woods anyday, or better still, every day.
Civilization and all of it's discontents is what brought us science, art, medicine, architecture, and a greater understanding of who we are and where we are in a universe of unimaginable complexity drawing us to seek the best in ourselves. Wonderment and awe at the very idea of the great city is simplicity enough for me. I can find solitude within myself wherever I am. Give me a street corner, a few vendors, some kids talking too loud on their cell phones, some poor unfortunate off his meds over a cabin by a pond in the woods anyday, or better still, every day.
22
Give me my grandfather's farm in northern Missouri. Peace. Simple work. Nature. Silence. Self-sufficiency except for sugar. He had his own little strip mine for coal. One wagon load a winter. I like the city and live near Chicago in a very urban suburb, but until you have tried the simplicity of farm life, don't put it down.
We moved to the country, got rid of tons of "stuff" including books we no longer need to read, planted fruit trees, and named our home "nowhere". I have lived a life climbing the ladder of ambition and have helped people reach for grand dreams but now when people ask my 5-year plan I can say realistically that I am going nowhere. Living as awake as I can be in the now in touch with nature seems a fitting way to live out my seventies and beyond.
12
"One simplicity expert advised people to take all their books off their shelves and throw them on the floor. Only put back the books that you truly value".
If those that share his political ideology were to follow that advice, the only book left of their shelves would be their bible.
If those that share his political ideology were to follow that advice, the only book left of their shelves would be their bible.
6
This one time I'll side with and attempt to parrot the dimwits in Mr. Brooks' party: I don't believe in this here theory of evolution. 'Course, I'm not a scientist neither.
What a vulgar as in excessive load of rubbish this column is when so many of our fellow citizens do not have the choice of whether or not to give in to their natural, human craving for beauty or their need to feed, clothe and house themselves in some probably not so beautiful way. Or maybe the poor and victimized folk don't have those desires. Ya, those affluent folk, being so superior and having too much, have such problems. Almost makes you want to weep.
What a vulgar as in excessive load of rubbish this column is when so many of our fellow citizens do not have the choice of whether or not to give in to their natural, human craving for beauty or their need to feed, clothe and house themselves in some probably not so beautiful way. Or maybe the poor and victimized folk don't have those desires. Ya, those affluent folk, being so superior and having too much, have such problems. Almost makes you want to weep.
8
I am a regular reader of David Brooks. I find him thoughtful with only occasional digressions into the conservative dogma plaguing our country. I agree with the spirit of his article, some poor examples not withstanding. Simplicity is a good thing. Living consciously is also a good thing, and treating others as you would like to be treated yourself is a good thing.
I grew up in a small idyllic New England town. To be sure there were rich and poor, some religious discrimination, and the one gay man and the one Jewish family kept to themselves. What I remember most about this town was that people were unaffected by mass media and in a ‘mindful’ way (although no one used that word) were simply the people they thought they ought to be unaffected by any external role models or anger spewing demigods.
I’ve turned off broadcast media in favor of reading, writing my own novel, listening to music, and longer walks with my dogs. I’ve also tried to rid myself of unneeded possessions, and more importantly, avoiding the trap of thinking I need more than what I have. I will admit that I have a comfortable life, more so than many, but beyond a level of comfort, having more will not make me happy. Experience is my goal and time is my greatest luxury.
I grew up in a small idyllic New England town. To be sure there were rich and poor, some religious discrimination, and the one gay man and the one Jewish family kept to themselves. What I remember most about this town was that people were unaffected by mass media and in a ‘mindful’ way (although no one used that word) were simply the people they thought they ought to be unaffected by any external role models or anger spewing demigods.
I’ve turned off broadcast media in favor of reading, writing my own novel, listening to music, and longer walks with my dogs. I’ve also tried to rid myself of unneeded possessions, and more importantly, avoiding the trap of thinking I need more than what I have. I will admit that I have a comfortable life, more so than many, but beyond a level of comfort, having more will not make me happy. Experience is my goal and time is my greatest luxury.
8
David's pompous pontification and discourse is an implicitly perfect metaphor for the widening chasm between the affluent and privileged, and the struggling and marginally coping middle class.
9
Simplicity,Indeed.I have observed that the major practitioners of simplicity occupy those vast tower like residencies that start at $10m. Their furniture is stripped down in order to enjoy the magnificent view of other neighboring tower units
3
Your thoughts resonate, Mr. B. My tidying up is determined by a limited amount of closets and book shelves. So I ask myself "Can someone else use it?". Usually, the answer involves another trip to Good Will where I see many customers shopping for bargains. If my style includes "ascetic living", then it includes an effort to share.
3
If people were to contemplate how a turtle carries its shell everywhere with her, they'd realize that material possessions are simply a mortal coil. Our body along with our creature comforts, is only temporary. Those who begin to develop a rich interior life full of spiritual knowledge & a passion for prayer & meditation slowly begin to turn away from the obsession with possessions, materialism & consumerism driven behavior. Instead, they become a sensei of simplicity, where enjoyment is derived from their spiritual endeavors including Thoreau like solitary meanderings around a silent lake with only the sounds of nature, smells of Fall like dew & autumn leaves & the beauty of the changing Autumnal light with it's unique orange & yellow hues dappling the leaves on the trees & the shadow dances in reflections of the water's quiet lapping on the shore.
While young people dream of one day possessing a Manor house replete with children & pets, those who're left with an empty nest after their children grow-up, long for the simple sounds of their grandchildren playing more than anything that mere money can purchase. For those who are unable to conceive a child, they'd gladly forego riches for the blessings of parenthood.
When people graduate to old age, friendships, cherished memories & travel, are of immediate concern. As the great Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it just like it's déjà vu all over again".
While young people dream of one day possessing a Manor house replete with children & pets, those who're left with an empty nest after their children grow-up, long for the simple sounds of their grandchildren playing more than anything that mere money can purchase. For those who are unable to conceive a child, they'd gladly forego riches for the blessings of parenthood.
When people graduate to old age, friendships, cherished memories & travel, are of immediate concern. As the great Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it just like it's déjà vu all over again".
3
Justice Holmes ought to have known about complexity. His wife Fanny was the one who said, "Washington is filled with famous men and the women they married when they were young." Today that is not so much true as we have evolved into the trophy stage of life. We do simplify by getting rid of the old and sporting the leaner, cleaner new ala Trump! As for Thoreau, he was a master at describing the environment of Walden Pond. Beyond his observational gifts as a naturalist he was a fraud. His family home was in easy walking distance from the Pond and he went there to eat often during his supposed isolation at the Pond. Like many who preach, he was a hypocrite of the first magnitude. E.B. White admonition they we may all be heading towards a Walden because we are at odds with the world. Transcendentalism had that vague quality of spiritualism that held appeal like art holds a preoccupation of having beauty. Art without beauty may not be art. Life without inner thought is still life( and that is play on words). Hucksters abound. Simplicity managers are employed by those who can afford them. They have that wholesome American snob appeal. You know. Mine is better than yours! My adage was always "less is more!" I dutifully followed in a life cluttered by more and more. Of course, no one but myself knew it for like great undertakings it must be in silence. Sort of like Kant saying that if you give to charity for the recognition of giving , it is not charity. Recognition spoils things!
1
I have also always wished for a "table in a vast land." I can see it, too. A table away from it all -- in the middle of nowhere. With a fence around it. And a gorgeous tile floor. Open to all of the elements. It must be a hurried mother's supper table.
1
But our economic and political system is geared towards conspicuous consumption, growth, and abundance. Advertising is meant to encourage more -- clothing, medications, housing, cars.
And these advertisers hire psychologists and sociologists to persuade and entice (including the ads that pay the bills for NYTimes reporters). It's more than a personal choice -- just look at the habits and tastes of our young -- herded like sheep, and the attraction of a Trump. It will take some major changes to the rules and the advantages of the wealthy to perpetuate their life-style.
And these advertisers hire psychologists and sociologists to persuade and entice (including the ads that pay the bills for NYTimes reporters). It's more than a personal choice -- just look at the habits and tastes of our young -- herded like sheep, and the attraction of a Trump. It will take some major changes to the rules and the advantages of the wealthy to perpetuate their life-style.
1
Simplicity, mindfulness, and gratitude
Are nothing more than platitudes
When money's tight
Life's a fight
It's hard to adopt that attitude
Are nothing more than platitudes
When money's tight
Life's a fight
It's hard to adopt that attitude
111
Sorry I know plenty people who have nothing, own nothing, yet are full of gratitude and mindfulness. Heck they are even grateful for misery, suffering, ill health when it arrives. They see it as a form of an opportunity to lessen their karmic load or burden of some not so right doing sometime somewhere.
2
Two people, both poor.
One thought in spite of the challenges, life was basically good and looked forward to the opportunities life would bring.
One thought life was a constant struggle and only through a hard fight could they even hope to break even.
Both were right.
One thought in spite of the challenges, life was basically good and looked forward to the opportunities life would bring.
One thought life was a constant struggle and only through a hard fight could they even hope to break even.
Both were right.
Simplicity, mindfulness, & gratitude are virtues to be cherished. It doesn't matter your economic status. If we all had a little more of these qualities, the world would be a better place - with a lot less suffering.
1
Surely others can see the irony in buying and adding to one's collection a book about decluttering. I began this process about 5 years ago and currently own a fraction of the stuff I had earlier in life. It's been wonderful. For the first time ever, moving to new housing does not seem like a chore, since I know every single thing that I own is useful and needed.
The key to all of this is to not go out and buy more stuff to replace all the stuff you just got rid of. The root problem is not the clutter; it is the addiction to shopping that afflicts most people in this country.
The key to all of this is to not go out and buy more stuff to replace all the stuff you just got rid of. The root problem is not the clutter; it is the addiction to shopping that afflicts most people in this country.
72
If you enjoy shopping and buying stuff, what's wrong with that? I wouldn't say shopping is an affliction. If you can afford to buy the small stuff that you want, you don't have to be rich. All the preachers of slimming down on our belongings sound mighty elitist to me.
A couple of dots didn't quite get connected in this piece.
Many people work long hours at jobs they don't love of in order to earn the money to get that stuff. They have little time for the things they do enjoy, like being with family and friends.
The production, transportation, use, storage (think bigger houses that take more materials to build/heat/cool) and disposal of that stuff is doing a real number on the planet.
As we know, more stuff (beyond what we need) doesn't really make us happy.
Less is more.
See Annie Leonard's The Story of Stuff or go to www.newdream.org
for additional food for thought, inspiration and resources.
Many people work long hours at jobs they don't love of in order to earn the money to get that stuff. They have little time for the things they do enjoy, like being with family and friends.
The production, transportation, use, storage (think bigger houses that take more materials to build/heat/cool) and disposal of that stuff is doing a real number on the planet.
As we know, more stuff (beyond what we need) doesn't really make us happy.
Less is more.
See Annie Leonard's The Story of Stuff or go to www.newdream.org
for additional food for thought, inspiration and resources.
3
A part of the American impulse is to improve oneself by reducing one's possessions or habits. Quitting smoking, losing weight, becoming a better person through deprivation run through the American psyche like a dose of salts through the GI tract. That we remain imperfect after these efforts is sorely disappointing.
1
Ah, what a high class problem. Mr. Brooks sees divine virtue in simplification. It is no wonder then that he and his conservative colleagues work so tirelessly to distribute wealth to the top. These conservative policies have allowed tens of millions to achieve virtue the efficient way: By never having enough money to accumulate anything in the first place.
7
My grandmother had a saying: modern conveniences are no convenience at all. My teacher in shop pointed out that by the time you hook up an electric convenience, you could drill a hole or saw a piece of wood without it in half the time. Locals in the town you rent or visit scratch their heads when city folk demand all the junk for their vacation they left behind in the city to get away from.
Cable was supposed to be a way one could pay for television without all the commercials, and look how that went. Banks celebrated for you the convenience of banking at home. Ever get your identity and/or stolen online?
Autos in the driveway with neighbors akimbo washing off spark plugs and changing the oil and filters.
The price of doing business now includes so much junk, well put it this way, the alarm system my insurance company had me install in my house went off for no reason and woke me up 2 nights ago at 3AM. I could not get back to sleep.
Cable was supposed to be a way one could pay for television without all the commercials, and look how that went. Banks celebrated for you the convenience of banking at home. Ever get your identity and/or stolen online?
Autos in the driveway with neighbors akimbo washing off spark plugs and changing the oil and filters.
The price of doing business now includes so much junk, well put it this way, the alarm system my insurance company had me install in my house went off for no reason and woke me up 2 nights ago at 3AM. I could not get back to sleep.
1
For most people, simplicity will come with age and not be determined by choice really, but by what we can afford to pay the corporations that own or control everything we need (e.g., roof, food, medicine, care). The stuff we live with will lessen to what we can keep in a room if we are blessed, or near to our bed if we are lucky, or in the shopping cart we push along the street if we trusted one too many employer or financial advisor.
8
Frugality may be a more significant virtue than simplicity in these times of disastrous ecological impact on the Earth’s life-support systems.
While frugality is generally conceived in the efficient use of resources that abhors waste, it can also be conceived in the area of energy where the frugal use would involve the lowest amount of emissions in the chosen actions or processes.
Given the looming climate catastrophe, a 21st century frugality measure could be the amount of CO2e emissions a person in the global North and South would produce. It is even possible to conceive of a global monetary standard to consist of a specific tonnage of CO2e per person. The conceptual, institutional, ethical and strategic dimensions of an international monetary system that would be based on such carbon standard are presented in Verhagen 2012 “The Tierra Solution: Resolving the climate crisis through monetary transformation” and updated at www.timun.net.
While frugality is generally conceived in the efficient use of resources that abhors waste, it can also be conceived in the area of energy where the frugal use would involve the lowest amount of emissions in the chosen actions or processes.
Given the looming climate catastrophe, a 21st century frugality measure could be the amount of CO2e emissions a person in the global North and South would produce. It is even possible to conceive of a global monetary standard to consist of a specific tonnage of CO2e per person. The conceptual, institutional, ethical and strategic dimensions of an international monetary system that would be based on such carbon standard are presented in Verhagen 2012 “The Tierra Solution: Resolving the climate crisis through monetary transformation” and updated at www.timun.net.
1
Some synonyms for simplification: Renunciation, quietude, stillness, solitude, concentration, contemplation, meditation, prayer, mantra.
Simplificaiton manifests as care for others, compassion, generosity, goodness.
The inner spirit of simplification is kindness to self and other without exception.
Simplificaiton manifests as care for others, compassion, generosity, goodness.
The inner spirit of simplification is kindness to self and other without exception.
1
The Boomer generation perhaps was the first to amass more and more "stuff" as life went on. At 61 I'm simply tired of all the clutter and so have been weeding out and tossing lately. For me it's a simple matter of space and the realization that holding on to a particular book, or 3rd set of safety goggles, or the Ian and Sylvia sheet music - or whatever - no longer serves the purpose of defining who I am. By now, I know.
5
If there is one descriptor of our more recent generations that divides us from our forebears it's this: the lost luxury of reflection.
We are all like Mad Hatters, running from place to place and text to text, not only not knowing who we are, but never knowing who others are. There is no time to pause, consider, reflect and parse.
We longer use our tools. Our tools now use us.
We are all like Mad Hatters, running from place to place and text to text, not only not knowing who we are, but never knowing who others are. There is no time to pause, consider, reflect and parse.
We longer use our tools. Our tools now use us.
3
Material downsizing can lead to spiritual awakening. But so many of us are preoccupied with what we do not have which fuels the engine for getting more. We are bombarded daily with ads that seduce us into accumulating more and more. We often discover, too late, that our final inventory of what we thought important is not important at all.
1
Taking a moment for yourself doesn't require one to be anywhere fancy, stripped off material belongings. Even amidst tasks such as doing the piles of laundry, or washing sinful of dishes or changing baby's diaper for the umpteenth time, there is a presence, a mindful awareness that takes us away from mundanity and into a sense of I belong in my skin, right here right now.
2
Having less clutter makes it easier to clean the house, but has nothing to do with someone's inner spirituality and/or sincerity; a member of the Catholic faith who prefers rich vestments and beautiful artwork can be showing worship through the use of imagination, craft and creativity to honor the Creator's most precious gifts to us.
The Puritan's were all about the almighty buck and killed "witches" for a land grab. Orthodox Jews kick out gay members of their group and think they are dead to the family. Ben Franklin was playing a role to enchant the rich, bored members of Versailles so they would sponsor the American war effort. while at the same time he showed his incredibly talented scientific brain to the leading French thinkers. I posit therefore that in the cases of all but the Quakers, there was an act and a mask in place to cover for what was really going on and those who are true to what they value in the arts and crafts and accumulate it to support and encourage its continuance tend to be less hypocritical about their intent.
Otherwise, I totally agree!
The Puritan's were all about the almighty buck and killed "witches" for a land grab. Orthodox Jews kick out gay members of their group and think they are dead to the family. Ben Franklin was playing a role to enchant the rich, bored members of Versailles so they would sponsor the American war effort. while at the same time he showed his incredibly talented scientific brain to the leading French thinkers. I posit therefore that in the cases of all but the Quakers, there was an act and a mask in place to cover for what was really going on and those who are true to what they value in the arts and crafts and accumulate it to support and encourage its continuance tend to be less hypocritical about their intent.
Otherwise, I totally agree!
5
Here are two profound quotes on this topic that I wish I had said:
"If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days" - Dorothy Canfield Fisher
"My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it" - Charles Lamb
"If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days" - Dorothy Canfield Fisher
"My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it" - Charles Lamb
2
Clutter creates a rich environment in which you are encouraged to make new connections. It fosters creativity, which David probably has described as a good think in other columns. My guess is that the desks of our least intellectual presidents such as G. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan were much neater looking that that of a true creative genius such as Albert Einstein.
9
As a late 30s adult I've been on a simplicity binge myself for a few years. The books were the easiest. Almost everything can be read on my fat screen smartphone (I've even purged my Kindle, as much as I loved it). I have 6 feet of bookshelves left, filled with hardcovers only, and only of books that I intend on re-reading. Books that I never intend to re-read make their way to the thriftstore for some other pack rat to keep.
3
At first glance this article struck me as a warm up to any one who was on the verge of becoming a hoarder with some constructive dos and don'ts to prevent the gradual build up of stuff and junk. But as I finished the article, I felt terribly sadden by the large number of people who don't have warm clothes for the winter, never attended a dinner party or museum event, or have a computer or books in their home because they don't have enough money for the basics or even food, much less anything extra.
My husband and I are coat hogs and each year end up with more coats than we can count. We decided a few years back to donate on a yearly basis all of our excess coats, clothes, boots, books and anything else we thought people needed or would like to have to a local organization that has a list of area residents with their "wish list" of the basics and possible extras. The organization's director called this "hand-me-downs with a local flavor".
The fact that this simple act of "simplicity" helps out more people than we can ever imagine makes it all the more worthwhile. Sometimes the smallest of acts can make the biggest impact on someone else's existence.
7
Mathematicians and some other scientists have always referred to the simplest solution to be an"elegant" solution - think E=MCsquared. Refinement and simplicity are implied, not ostentation or fussiness.
Maybe they're on to something
Maybe they're on to something
1
We exist in perpetual media-manic world.
We're connected to a multi-trillion dollar marketing river mixing opinions with ads and culture with products while fueling a constantly evolving social media tornado of technology based on status maintainence at all costs.
This landscape is relentless, and complex. It perpetuates anxiety on a societal level and crowds out the ability to 'simply' be.
The simplicity trend is, of course, another 'brand' element for products, services and opinion people...why? Because research showed people are exhausted with keeping up and 'simplicity' could be marketed as a way of stepping away from it.
Less is more is not new, it's just resonates now because we're tired of more.
We're connected to a multi-trillion dollar marketing river mixing opinions with ads and culture with products while fueling a constantly evolving social media tornado of technology based on status maintainence at all costs.
This landscape is relentless, and complex. It perpetuates anxiety on a societal level and crowds out the ability to 'simply' be.
The simplicity trend is, of course, another 'brand' element for products, services and opinion people...why? Because research showed people are exhausted with keeping up and 'simplicity' could be marketed as a way of stepping away from it.
Less is more is not new, it's just resonates now because we're tired of more.
1
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful essay. There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that loosely translated reads "God made man simple or straight and they sought after many complications". So many of us are afraid of the void of nothingness that seems to lay below the hum of existence that we are determined to fill our lives with drama and "stuff" so that we never have to face that emptiness. Ironically however it is only through embracing that simple quietude of life that one can ever find the actual beauty and fullness that is gifted to each one of us. Thank you for reminding us that ultimately we are created with the incredible rich and textured simplicity that can fill our hearts even if it can't solve all of our problems. All we need to do is have the courage and trust to let our hearts and minds go there.
1
The column starts off with a wise quote from O. H. Holmes, who also said that he liked paying taxes because with taxes he bought civilization.
I hope Mr. Brooks ponders that quotation sometime soon, and explains why Rubio, Cruz, etc think it is wrong.
In the meantime, an enjoyable column, and I've been meaning to winnow out my book collection. Perhaps I can sell some books on Ebay or Amazon, and donate the proceeds to the Sanders campaign.
I hope Mr. Brooks ponders that quotation sometime soon, and explains why Rubio, Cruz, etc think it is wrong.
In the meantime, an enjoyable column, and I've been meaning to winnow out my book collection. Perhaps I can sell some books on Ebay or Amazon, and donate the proceeds to the Sanders campaign.
26
For a mind of intellect, of sense and sensibility, one should give credit to David Brooks for his brave essay on the evolution of Simplicity, which caught my eye this early morning, a welcome relief from a philosophical article on the existence of God.
There is a nagging and growing feeling on my part of the insignificance of my existence. The Simple Life continues to be in reach, only to find out that stepping off 'The Great Hamster Wheel of Life' is proving to be one of the hardest endeavors to achieve.
Accomplished generous friends off to Africa, Australia and beyond keep me on my toes with their humanitarian efforts, and I made a young technician laugh when I suggested they have yet to find a chair they liked.
The radio has long been turned off, the TV is collecting dust and should I ever get to visit Mr. Stubbs at the Metropolitan Museum, I shall be a happy camper. When I mentioned on a rare outing that I would like to try my hand at writing true stories for the ones I like, the Life in the Country, a little quiet and a view to some bird sightings, this was met as a big jest.
The paring, the pruning of possessions have begun, and there was hope in sight, until a friend insisted that I could not live without a laptop. But in the midst of all this noise, and Saturday last when a friend wanted to shop, and we took a ferry ride on the East River, we navigated closer to The Statue of Liberty, and I was filled with awe, and a feeling of joy and sorrow.
There is a nagging and growing feeling on my part of the insignificance of my existence. The Simple Life continues to be in reach, only to find out that stepping off 'The Great Hamster Wheel of Life' is proving to be one of the hardest endeavors to achieve.
Accomplished generous friends off to Africa, Australia and beyond keep me on my toes with their humanitarian efforts, and I made a young technician laugh when I suggested they have yet to find a chair they liked.
The radio has long been turned off, the TV is collecting dust and should I ever get to visit Mr. Stubbs at the Metropolitan Museum, I shall be a happy camper. When I mentioned on a rare outing that I would like to try my hand at writing true stories for the ones I like, the Life in the Country, a little quiet and a view to some bird sightings, this was met as a big jest.
The paring, the pruning of possessions have begun, and there was hope in sight, until a friend insisted that I could not live without a laptop. But in the midst of all this noise, and Saturday last when a friend wanted to shop, and we took a ferry ride on the East River, we navigated closer to The Statue of Liberty, and I was filled with awe, and a feeling of joy and sorrow.
Current trends claiming simplicity are really lurches for elegance and class. The simplicity becomes a form of one-upmanship, competitive in its calm, braggadocius in flavor. While the poor and destitute are "hoarding", the rich live in spartan, modern, sleek, perfect, streamlined dwellings full of a few token art pieces and appliances that cost more than cars. Instead of Nike bags full of bric-a-brac, they have one perfect Coach bag for the efficient weekend get away. Instead of a gross of Top Raman stacked in the pantry, "blue apron" delivers the most eclectic and healthy meals. Out of fashion clothes are sent to Goodwill--with a pat on the back--while a fortune is spent on yoga gear and select designer goods.
It's not simplicity that is the the trend; it's high quality in the guise of humble simplicity. The bank account is fat. The look is alpha-hippie, designer, contrived.
The real trend toward Thoreau's simplicity comes from the risk takers living off the grid, growing their own food together, in some mobile tiny house, composting, recycling, meticulously re-using, pay check to pay check--simple out of survival, not choice. Or the struggling urban family cutting coupons, sharing clothes, visiting the food bank, always on public transit or walking. Or the broke student barely renting a room, working while trying to pay for school, no prospects, scrounging for meals.
Simplicity from the rich is not simplicity, but a style choice.
It's not simplicity that is the the trend; it's high quality in the guise of humble simplicity. The bank account is fat. The look is alpha-hippie, designer, contrived.
The real trend toward Thoreau's simplicity comes from the risk takers living off the grid, growing their own food together, in some mobile tiny house, composting, recycling, meticulously re-using, pay check to pay check--simple out of survival, not choice. Or the struggling urban family cutting coupons, sharing clothes, visiting the food bank, always on public transit or walking. Or the broke student barely renting a room, working while trying to pay for school, no prospects, scrounging for meals.
Simplicity from the rich is not simplicity, but a style choice.
10
The virtue of asceticism has a long history in the United States going back to the wearing of homespun and the non-importation of British goods during the revolutionary years. But that seems to have been the only time in which it actually had the intended outcome. Instead consumer movements have advocated protest through consumption from the "Buy for the slave" movement of the 1840s and 1850s to purchase non-slave made products, sugar and cotton; to buying coca cola as an alternative to alcohol during temperance, to purchasing the union label to support American workers, to purchasing Nylon stockings to avoid Japanese silk during the war, up to purchasing dolphin-free tuna. We love to consumer because its fun, and it serves a purpose, enriching our lives, with goods serving as a lingua franca in a society of diverse peoples, and giving us a way to express individual identity. There are downsides to over consumption certainly, but consumption has defined the United States since its founding. There is an elitist quality to the notion of "rampant materialism." Only those with sufficient means suffer from this malady - having "suffered" through the acquisition of more than we deserve, we should consider whether we have the right to say to the rest of the world, don't want more.
30
Seems a lack of understanding or misunderstanding of the subject.
The concept of living a simple life, a life without clutter, living with the essentials only, the general rather vague idea of a simple and pure existence which often is associated with living apart from other human beings?
There appears to be this type of progression: The less intelligent and/or talented a person is the more the person seems to have both poverty of thought and possession. The person is forced to live simply because of being unable to grasp complexity whether this means acquiring or mastering complexities of an estate or work of literature. Hard for such a person to find complexity.
A person more in the middle range of intelligence and/or talent or somewhat above average (feel free to calculate this progression, make a sociological study of it) tends to enter all we generally mean by complexity, whether this means triviality, possession upon possession, emotional entanglement with other humans, calculation of self and others by money (mastery of arithmetic of society, the social climb) or the like. Hard for such a person to find simplicity.
Then we have the higher intellects/talents. Such people are complex in interior life, find satisfaction in higher forms of organization, which means enormous amounts of time mastering a subject or art or implementing a complex plan. Such people often are just plain simple in living, eating, partnerships because always reading something or listening to a lecture, or learning an instrument or pouring over a blueprint.
There appears to be this type of progression: The less intelligent and/or talented a person is the more the person seems to have both poverty of thought and possession. The person is forced to live simply because of being unable to grasp complexity whether this means acquiring or mastering complexities of an estate or work of literature. Hard for such a person to find complexity.
A person more in the middle range of intelligence and/or talent or somewhat above average (feel free to calculate this progression, make a sociological study of it) tends to enter all we generally mean by complexity, whether this means triviality, possession upon possession, emotional entanglement with other humans, calculation of self and others by money (mastery of arithmetic of society, the social climb) or the like. Hard for such a person to find simplicity.
Then we have the higher intellects/talents. Such people are complex in interior life, find satisfaction in higher forms of organization, which means enormous amounts of time mastering a subject or art or implementing a complex plan. Such people often are just plain simple in living, eating, partnerships because always reading something or listening to a lecture, or learning an instrument or pouring over a blueprint.
Ironically, GDP and wage growth cannot return to historical norms without massive consumer demand (a.k.a. cluttering). Given that our entire economy is based on mass market consumption what would happen if everyone of us only purchased what we needed and stopped buying both what we needed as well as what we wanted? The problem is that as we continue to be more efficient at producing goods and services at an alarming rate, we place an ever endless need to push even greater consumption. We require very few workers to produce the goods and services to provide not only for our needs, but also our wants. Our biggest economic problem right now is that there is not enough broad based consumer demand.
65
To shend in NJ: good point (that in today's mechanized economy, the demand for goods and services is not sufficient for full employment of all people who want and need to work). The solution, methinks, is a four-day workweek.
1
Remember the time George Bush jr urged his countrymen and women to go shop, shop, shop. China responded by flooding our markets with unnecessary and cheap goods.
As well as a lack of distributive justice.
Sounds like a sustainable no-growth economy that could provide full employment and a stable path to contentment. Of course, only hustle capitalism would try to commodify a noble, nonmaterial impulse. It would put trinkets that make us envy, lonely, distracted and tired over any attempt to transcend this profane injury to the human spirit. That we do not lose is the thrilling truth of sustainability and the exposure of predatory capitalism as a soulless counterrevolutionary force much the same as its old adversary: godless communism.
3
Much of life is a struggle in which we, as individuals, struggle to impose our sense of order on our environment...work, friends, children, autonomy, food (savings, financial independence) etc. There is an existential validation that comes from having your environment respond to you, rather than being at the constant mercy of your environment (the latter of which is helplessness..recall the work of Martin Seligman). Wisdom and maturity help us make decisions about where to devote resources, which are limited, and where to back off. Two forces that complicate our lives today that underly much of the conflict in politics and economics are mass media and expectations. Mass media has shifted the center of our lives from the local to the remote. For example, people know more about celebrities than they know about their neighbors. They don't really "know" celebrities, yet they "follow" them on mass media. So many of our commercial transactions are now remote...buying online rather than personal. And our ability to exert control over our economic lives are no longer about just hard work or diligence but the prices of goods and services (oil, copper or whatever) on the other side of the world. This is the "fault" of no one, but we beat each other up for it, like blaming your spouse for a child's sickness.
The other is expectations. There would be no disappointment without an antecedent expectation. And our expectations are outrageous.
The other is expectations. There would be no disappointment without an antecedent expectation. And our expectations are outrageous.
I suppose it is inevitable that the value of paring away inessentials will get turned into something that "is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism." That's what this culture is all about, driven by the mindless faith in the value of free markets and unregulated capitalism. That's the ticket! — buy those spiffy and elegant plastic bins to store all your new and simpler "stuff" (a la George Carlin).
But it seems to be a more fundamental human flaw: the tendency to lose sight of the heart of the matter in favor of the trappings. So, for instance, we have organized religions that preach love and tolerance while vilifying people who are not like them. Or political movements that wave American flags while trying to deny people the right to vote.
We have to keep reminding ourselves of what we really believe, and how our actions reflect or contradict that in practice. Simplicity is a complicated thing that involves balancing off intangibles, and there is no simple recipe for it. We must beware that we don't get sucked into buying into the latest easy fix.
But it seems to be a more fundamental human flaw: the tendency to lose sight of the heart of the matter in favor of the trappings. So, for instance, we have organized religions that preach love and tolerance while vilifying people who are not like them. Or political movements that wave American flags while trying to deny people the right to vote.
We have to keep reminding ourselves of what we really believe, and how our actions reflect or contradict that in practice. Simplicity is a complicated thing that involves balancing off intangibles, and there is no simple recipe for it. We must beware that we don't get sucked into buying into the latest easy fix.
2
The deepest loss from a lack of simplicity is that a life where one endlessly swims against a gushing firehose of useless information (more than useless things) crowds out diverse thinking - the kind that allows humans to make informed connections between seemingly disparate forces and issues in their lives. And thus to be the thoughtful citizens a vibrant democracy demands.
I know young people, including in my family, who seem to get this far better than most adults. They spend relatively little time glued to computer screens. Pursuits like playing music, cooking and reading on deep subjects fill many of their non-working hours. The result - and I strongly believe there is a correlation - is a supple mind that readily makes connections between seemingly unconnected issues and ideas. Oh yeah, and this lifestyle leaves a smaller footprint on the planet.
It helps if you've studied subjects like philosophy. A "siloed" mind - educated or not - is the perfect tool of the demagogue.
This style of living is not hard to do. The harder part for many of us is identifying the value of shoving all the noise aside in the first place.
And this, by the way, is where an enlightened society with a safety net comes in. Wasn't it President Eisenhower who said something like: We become soldiers so our children can be teachers. They become teachers so that their children can be artists and musicians.
I know young people, including in my family, who seem to get this far better than most adults. They spend relatively little time glued to computer screens. Pursuits like playing music, cooking and reading on deep subjects fill many of their non-working hours. The result - and I strongly believe there is a correlation - is a supple mind that readily makes connections between seemingly unconnected issues and ideas. Oh yeah, and this lifestyle leaves a smaller footprint on the planet.
It helps if you've studied subjects like philosophy. A "siloed" mind - educated or not - is the perfect tool of the demagogue.
This style of living is not hard to do. The harder part for many of us is identifying the value of shoving all the noise aside in the first place.
And this, by the way, is where an enlightened society with a safety net comes in. Wasn't it President Eisenhower who said something like: We become soldiers so our children can be teachers. They become teachers so that their children can be artists and musicians.
104
The upward path of civilization is based on the division of labor. Those who have the time to think are fed by those who produce the food and other necessities of life. About 2000 or more years ago this division was not possible since the production of necessities involved a great deal more time and effort. Even with slaves, as in Greece or Rome, only a few were able to enjoy leisure. Thanks to machines, many more can enjoy this, or even read this column.
3
I went homeless, despite being employed, because of overwhelming medical bills. It changed my life. I left the shelter with an elderly woman, who was ignored by her family, for reasons I have yet to understand. Both of us were poor. She was on Social Security and my job in Social Services paid very little. I became ill from a brain tumor, she developed diabetes. We took care of each other until it was no longer possible because of the severity of our health problems. When we had to move into assisted living programs, we left with very little. It made me aware of what was important and what was not. After several surgeries, books, animals and plants became my focus. Once I was forced to buy clothes at the Salvation Army and budget out the basics, I didn't have any extra spending money for extras. After awhile, I really didn't want them. No cable. I didn't have a computer until my family kind of forced one on me, the same with a cell phone. They didn't change anything really. I use the computer for research, the NYT for news and e-mail to stay in touch with a lot of relatives that are based overseas. The cell phone is an emergency tool. Disabled and living with my sister, it's used as a call for help, along the lines of "I've fallen and I can't get up." Starting out my new life with less helped me to realize that it also made my life simpler. It's stayed that way. I know that's impossible for too many people. But, in some ways, I'm grateful for the cancer.
111
Beautiful!
I was also homeless for two years, by choice. I was in college at the time and wanted every spare minute I could find to devote to my studies. No, I wasn't concerned with professional advancement and future earnings, I just loved what I was studying and anything that took me away from that was to be avoided. Working more hours to afford rent would mean studying fewer hours.
I wouldn't want to be homeless again; it's not fun. But I am grateful for those two years, where my world was filled by luxuriating in ideas and the passion that comes with studying something really beautiful. Everything else in life was just a chore.
I was also homeless for two years, by choice. I was in college at the time and wanted every spare minute I could find to devote to my studies. No, I wasn't concerned with professional advancement and future earnings, I just loved what I was studying and anything that took me away from that was to be avoided. Working more hours to afford rent would mean studying fewer hours.
I wouldn't want to be homeless again; it's not fun. But I am grateful for those two years, where my world was filled by luxuriating in ideas and the passion that comes with studying something really beautiful. Everything else in life was just a chore.
2
Not only do I want to simplify my living space, but I want to simplify my life. My iPhone is the biggest aide in helping me to do that. When I consider all the things my phone can do, flashlight, calculator, stereo, radio, encyclopedia, camera with multiple lenses and filters, photo albums, maps, atlas, GPS device, games, clock,alarm, and the list goes on.. I recognize, I do not need these things in my home any longer. The space they previously occupied is vacant. Therefore the need for less space is obvious.
1
In the last 12 months, two aunts and an uncle have moved to nursing homes for dementia & Alzheimer's related care. Otherwise, physically healthy, they may live a very long time with none of the stuff acquired and accumulated over several decades. Their homes in multiple states, the furnishings, artwork and antiques, the clothes, the tchotchkes, the heirlooms, the books. It's all a bunch of landfill, beautiful and once highly prized, but still landfill.
My dog needs food, water, companionship & shelter; just as my loved ones need, and just as I'm learning is all I need, too. The rest is all landfill.
My dog needs food, water, companionship & shelter; just as my loved ones need, and just as I'm learning is all I need, too. The rest is all landfill.
10
Try to sell it before it goes to landfill. Your loved ones will need every penny to sustain themselves in the future. One man's landfill load is another's treasure.
2
What David seems to be saying is that there is a valid simple life, as exemplified by Thoreau, and an artificial version, which is less rooted in substance and more interested in effect. For my part I enjoy the elegance of less 'stuff' within my home, but this, upon reflection, is seasonal. In the summer I want to be free to move and am less patient with that which gets in the way. In the winter I tend to settle 'in' and want a comfortable clutter about me, to make me feel cosseted [perhaps this tendency would be different in a warmer climate]. In all seasons, I harbor an excess of books, many more than I need but welcomed in my abode for their inherent company, like old friends. Thoreau cherished an ascetic life-style that worked for him: he was free of things but mentally busy busy busy. Our environment expresses our thinking and there is nothing remotely simple about any of us.
50
Thoreau's simple life was extremely artificial. His mother brought him home cooked meals.
I think it was Evelyn Hutchinson that said "you call tell how good a library is by the number of books it contains that have yet to be read."
David Brooks writes, "In a world of rampant materialism and manifold opportunities, many people these days are apparently learning who they are by choosing what they can do without."
Once again, David Brooks reveals just how out of touch he is with the lives of the vast majority of Americans. Rampant materialism? Young people are graduating from college with debilitating debt loads. Outsourcing has resulted in the hollowing out of the middle class, with average salaries lower today than they were a decade ago. Health insurance costs, even after Obamacare, remain heavy burdens for many American families. And the lack of home building during the Great Recession has resulted in demand for rental properties that has pushed up rent as a percentage of income to unprecedented levels. And half of all Americans depend on Social Security for two-thirds or more of their retirement income.
Yet David Brooks urges us to choose what we can do without. Not "let them eat cake," but you can do without bread- and cake.
Once again, David Brooks reveals just how out of touch he is with the lives of the vast majority of Americans. Rampant materialism? Young people are graduating from college with debilitating debt loads. Outsourcing has resulted in the hollowing out of the middle class, with average salaries lower today than they were a decade ago. Health insurance costs, even after Obamacare, remain heavy burdens for many American families. And the lack of home building during the Great Recession has resulted in demand for rental properties that has pushed up rent as a percentage of income to unprecedented levels. And half of all Americans depend on Social Security for two-thirds or more of their retirement income.
Yet David Brooks urges us to choose what we can do without. Not "let them eat cake," but you can do without bread- and cake.
108
Don't be so quick to condemn Brooks. I guarantee that, given the chance, the majority of those young people (and the middle class) would be all too happy to fill their lives (and their homes) with massive piles of stuff. The meme of the "enlightened young person" is less accurate that many think. (And that's without mentioning the rampant narcissism of the selfie- and GoPro generation.)
And yet the stores are full, the shelves are bulging with new things as quickly as they can be shoved into baskets. The potato chip wrappers and shopping bags are taking over the planet and everyone feels entitled to bottled water. Even though we have no unfettered money, our incomes are stagnant, our rents are skyrocketing, it seems we still find the "need" for the latest video game, cheesy-bread product, or big screen TV. Want to see how much Americans are learning to "do without?" Black Friday is coming.
1
After I quit working and closed my own corporation, did I eventually discover what a treadmill I was on, without realizing it. Colleagues who are still working often consult with me as my last 12 years of the 45 I worked, were operating a consulting corporation. What is so apparent to me now is, what a treadmill most are on trying to manage a 24/7 career type mode, while rushing from Doctor to doctor, planning a workable retirement, and what to do about the clutter if they downsize. With that said, most just can't face it, and stay put surrounded by material things, and more space than ever would be needed. Point is, it is individual choice if in our own mind, if we get ahead of the curve, and are in a postion to be able to make choices.
8
"Franklin wore an old fur cap in Paris to exemplify a natural unaffected virtue."
Yes, Franklin's particular style of virtue was definitely in the "naturalistic" direction, in a way calling to mind a Princeton philosopher's (momentarily forgot his name) twist on a familiar dictum: "nature is red in tooth and claw... as well as other places." A fur cap as a symbol of that "virtue" (definitely not that traditionally counseled by the other religions invoked) is kind of coarsely a propos.
I used to have an acquaintance who quoted his friar-teacher's remarks on the unexpectedly posh monastery lodging: "if this poverty, I'd hate to see chastity!"
That was decades ago, incidentally, before he only needed the newspaper for the latter.
Yes, Franklin's particular style of virtue was definitely in the "naturalistic" direction, in a way calling to mind a Princeton philosopher's (momentarily forgot his name) twist on a familiar dictum: "nature is red in tooth and claw... as well as other places." A fur cap as a symbol of that "virtue" (definitely not that traditionally counseled by the other religions invoked) is kind of coarsely a propos.
I used to have an acquaintance who quoted his friar-teacher's remarks on the unexpectedly posh monastery lodging: "if this poverty, I'd hate to see chastity!"
That was decades ago, incidentally, before he only needed the newspaper for the latter.
2
Franklin was a reverse snob.
I used to be one, too, until I realized that a reverse snob is still a snob.
I used to be one, too, until I realized that a reverse snob is still a snob.
"But later in an affluent life you discover or update your identity by throwing away what is no longer useful, true and beautiful."
What? I can't even parse this statement.
How marvelous to be so well-off and privileged to toss things casually into the trash. How perfectly...elitist.
How about we stop obsessing about material goods or the lack of same and start recognizing the many blessings we already possess? How about a column or feature about people who earn more money than the entire population of a small town but eschew material possessions in favor of sharing their good fortune with others - beyond the window-dressing, charitable gifts that amount to a tiny percentage of their annual income? Maybe someone who earns a million dollars each year but gives away 80% of all of it?
I've read quotes from these high-earners who claim that it's not the money or the accumulated wealth or possessions that motivate them, it's just the personal enjoyment they derive from the work itself. Yet they all seem to end up with multiple homes, private jets, trendy vacations at exclusive resorts and front row seats to sporting events and the arts.
Until I read about one of these one-percenters actually living as if there are more important things in life than 'stuff' these 'simplicity' movements sound like so much noise, feeble attempts to over-compensate for not being able to afford the lifestyle of the rich and infamous.
What? I can't even parse this statement.
How marvelous to be so well-off and privileged to toss things casually into the trash. How perfectly...elitist.
How about we stop obsessing about material goods or the lack of same and start recognizing the many blessings we already possess? How about a column or feature about people who earn more money than the entire population of a small town but eschew material possessions in favor of sharing their good fortune with others - beyond the window-dressing, charitable gifts that amount to a tiny percentage of their annual income? Maybe someone who earns a million dollars each year but gives away 80% of all of it?
I've read quotes from these high-earners who claim that it's not the money or the accumulated wealth or possessions that motivate them, it's just the personal enjoyment they derive from the work itself. Yet they all seem to end up with multiple homes, private jets, trendy vacations at exclusive resorts and front row seats to sporting events and the arts.
Until I read about one of these one-percenters actually living as if there are more important things in life than 'stuff' these 'simplicity' movements sound like so much noise, feeble attempts to over-compensate for not being able to afford the lifestyle of the rich and infamous.
24
I am not affluent and many people I know aren't affluent and we, as a group of 40-somethings, are mostly paring down and simplifying. It's not elitist to step off the consumer wheel. It's wisdom born of age.
88
Someone builds those homes, and jets and takes care of business in trendy vacations and sporting events. Your own prejudices are getting in the way of your thinking. Giving your all wealth away to support others is a nonsense, short term act of foolishness.
Wonderful thoughts.I 've tried to find a book I heard reviewed that examines just such concepts vis a vis the book of revelations. ,the book came out about a decade ago .Wish I could find the book, one book I think I'd care not to casually. cast away.
1
I would like to eliminate the excessive Noise from my life . . . be it the "noise" of a chaotic environment or the actual noise of so many motors and alarms.
Recently, my husband and I began to reimagine our lives away from the big city- what would be our priorities? Delicious air, quiet, Enough drinking water, and a starry, night sky. Just the thought of such simple pleasures in balance helps me relax today, right here. We know we are privileged to have choices at all. That is an element missing from Brook's column- those of us who have more than our share also have the privilege of contemplating how we prefer to feel even better.
Recently, my husband and I began to reimagine our lives away from the big city- what would be our priorities? Delicious air, quiet, Enough drinking water, and a starry, night sky. Just the thought of such simple pleasures in balance helps me relax today, right here. We know we are privileged to have choices at all. That is an element missing from Brook's column- those of us who have more than our share also have the privilege of contemplating how we prefer to feel even better.
10
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Every household device has lights and beeps on it. Why? Because, with microchips, it can. The manufacturers can't resist. Everything must beep and light up and remind me what time it is.
Hotel rooms at night now look like some starship headed to Mars. I spend half an hour putting towels over lights and little flashing lights that tell me, Hey!, I'm still working for you!" I don't want lights in a room where I am paying to...sleep. That's the purpose of the room, mostly.
Time was we human were surrounded, engulfed by nature. Now, we think of it as something we must buy, the grand opportunity to be outside, away from all that man has built. Nature is something extra and if we could only get it...
The fact is that being in the natural world is soothing to the soul in ways we can't explain. Our inner most being unites with the land, water and sky. Problem is, when we get there, we have trouble slowing down to let it happen. Must get back, you know?
Advice: get yourself to a wild place. One favorite one of mine, though I haven't been for a long time, is the Big Bend of Texas. It is a National Park, but the natural, desert environment continues inside and outside of the park. I have never seen so many stars in the night sky as in Big Bend, one of the darkest places away from city lights in America. It is a wonder to behold. In places like that, man is small, the natural world is large. Just the reminder that we need of the truth of our existence.
Every household device has lights and beeps on it. Why? Because, with microchips, it can. The manufacturers can't resist. Everything must beep and light up and remind me what time it is.
Hotel rooms at night now look like some starship headed to Mars. I spend half an hour putting towels over lights and little flashing lights that tell me, Hey!, I'm still working for you!" I don't want lights in a room where I am paying to...sleep. That's the purpose of the room, mostly.
Time was we human were surrounded, engulfed by nature. Now, we think of it as something we must buy, the grand opportunity to be outside, away from all that man has built. Nature is something extra and if we could only get it...
The fact is that being in the natural world is soothing to the soul in ways we can't explain. Our inner most being unites with the land, water and sky. Problem is, when we get there, we have trouble slowing down to let it happen. Must get back, you know?
Advice: get yourself to a wild place. One favorite one of mine, though I haven't been for a long time, is the Big Bend of Texas. It is a National Park, but the natural, desert environment continues inside and outside of the park. I have never seen so many stars in the night sky as in Big Bend, one of the darkest places away from city lights in America. It is a wonder to behold. In places like that, man is small, the natural world is large. Just the reminder that we need of the truth of our existence.
3
Funny, but I do not find the concepts of joy and contentment in this essay. I see higher-plane philosophical or theological goals, but how about simple contentment, i.e., a sense of having 'enough,' of being comfortable in one's skin and peacefully at home in one's own life?
Some will never experience this state for their busyness and possession of 'stuff' are interwoven with their self-esteem and sense of their place in the world. If that mode of existence is truly uncomfortable, change is possible, but it will take more than an efficiency expert or a professional organizer for the work is internal.
Others come to a life of simplicity either congenitally or by up-bringing so that stuff and acclaim are simply not that important to them. Still others, though the ups and downs, joys and sufferings of life come to the realization that what really matters cannot be bough or possessed. When the realization comes, simplifying one's life is pure joy.
Some will never experience this state for their busyness and possession of 'stuff' are interwoven with their self-esteem and sense of their place in the world. If that mode of existence is truly uncomfortable, change is possible, but it will take more than an efficiency expert or a professional organizer for the work is internal.
Others come to a life of simplicity either congenitally or by up-bringing so that stuff and acclaim are simply not that important to them. Still others, though the ups and downs, joys and sufferings of life come to the realization that what really matters cannot be bough or possessed. When the realization comes, simplifying one's life is pure joy.
13
If the process of de-accessioning stuff leads to more and deeper inner consultation about what one feels moved to do -- what one feels moved to wear, to eat, to spend time on or with, etc. -- so much the better, from my point of view. I think it's all about learning to listen, not because getting rid of those books will have this specific impact but because listening better itself leads to a life that is more fulfilling. Some kinds of "clutter" impede listening, but there is also the idea of arrangement of objects in one's living space to facilitate listening. And, of course, "current tastes" will change, sometimes going back again to something one thought one had moved beyond or no longer liked.
As I read this column I was reminded in a happy way of the kind of observations David Brooks made in Bobos in Paradise. But just when I think the writing will take off and deliver to me an insight I wouldn't have thought of on my own, it seems, at least to me, to make the facts observed into a thing, something to be observed like an artifact in a museum, rather than an attempt to inhabit them as a dynamic process and to see and understand some feature of that process -- a feature hitherto hidden from view -- from within the doing of the activity. I don't know what that's about, that difference between what I expect and what the writer is doing, whether it is a case of me trying to get milk from the hardware store or a case of the corner deli refusing to sell me its inventory.
As I read this column I was reminded in a happy way of the kind of observations David Brooks made in Bobos in Paradise. But just when I think the writing will take off and deliver to me an insight I wouldn't have thought of on my own, it seems, at least to me, to make the facts observed into a thing, something to be observed like an artifact in a museum, rather than an attempt to inhabit them as a dynamic process and to see and understand some feature of that process -- a feature hitherto hidden from view -- from within the doing of the activity. I don't know what that's about, that difference between what I expect and what the writer is doing, whether it is a case of me trying to get milk from the hardware store or a case of the corner deli refusing to sell me its inventory.
11
What a hoot. This sounds for all the world like one of those pious exhortations to simplicity that one used to read in the sixties. Can it be long before Brooks grows a beard, dons beads and takes up weed.
65
John, I hope you become less accusatory. This column is a step in the right direction. I would add that beads, beards and weed are all steps in the right direction. It would be nice to add "give peace a chance."
Sadly, the comments become simpler and simpler, until all that remains is ...well, nothing. Content free is not a thought.
Ideally, to maximize complexity you have make all else simple as possible. In practice, that would lead to many kinds of disconnection.
Leading a good life these days seems to require active managing and being constantly aware of your priorities and of who you are and want to be.
Leading a good life these days seems to require active managing and being constantly aware of your priorities and of who you are and want to be.
11
David, in ancient India, life was divided into ashrama or stages: "An Ashrama (āśrama) in Hinduism is one of four age-based life stages discussed in ancient and medieval era Indian texts. The four asramas are: Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciation)."
The Buddha was born into this system. Of course, at any stage in life, one could become a renunciate, as he did, he chose to leave royalty and embrace mendicancy. This system was build on basic idea of living to the fullest and then dissolving ego by giving up everything. It worked for thousands of years.
Just FYI....you don't seem very informed about anything outside the Judeo-Christian and American world views.
The Buddha was born into this system. Of course, at any stage in life, one could become a renunciate, as he did, he chose to leave royalty and embrace mendicancy. This system was build on basic idea of living to the fullest and then dissolving ego by giving up everything. It worked for thousands of years.
Just FYI....you don't seem very informed about anything outside the Judeo-Christian and American world views.
61
Excellent comment. Years ago I visited the eminent, aging Jagat Singh Mehta, a distinguished Foreign Secretary of India and humanitarian, at his home in Udaipur. He had reached life's final, enlightened stage of sannyasa. He lived in one room with little more furniture than an armoire, a bed, a table, a chair and a writing lamp. The only evidence of his former exalted status were two battered, long-traveled suitcases, stored on top of the armoire. At the end of my visit, he said, "Let me give you something." He handed me a mango. "This will be one of the best things you'll ever taste," he said. He was right. The complex sweetness of that single mango contained multitudes.
4
David, to this day theravadin societies in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia Laos send their young kids to become monks and nuns, for a period of time. Once they receive and complete their religious studies, they proceed on to the next stage in life, that of householder established in the worldly, material world. Go visit Bangkok, at every street corner, you will find a shrine, people walking around in their busy lives, take a moment to say a prayer, offer incense and flowers. A BBC report shows a million children sitting together in meditation at the Phra Dhammakaya temple outside Bangkok, taking a break from iphone, youtube, instagram, snapchat, email and the epidemic of ADD. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21016612.
1
Mr. Brooks writes thought provoking material, and it's all ego based, eg, having things or not having them is all about identity. For people on the path to lose ego, identity is less important, and "things" must go, because in a myriad of ways they demand attention that detracts from this path and its goal.
1
Standing rule in our family's homes: every year or two, if you have some kitchen gadget or other item that you haven't used, get rid of it. We retain only what we really treasure. As to books, we have essentially a home lending library. At any one time, a couple of dozen are being read by someone else.
16
A bit more mindfulness for each of us.
9
Both Gemli and sdavidc9 have posted astute comments on Brooks' column. What strikes me about the current so-called simplicity movement is its similarity to other efforts to tell people how to lead their lives. An earlier generation of gurus instructed us on how to organize our time more efficiently, in order to accomplish the maximum amount each day.
The self-help genre of writing seems a permanent feature of American culture, with only the specific advice changing. Its continuing popularity attests to its usefulness, but it also exposes a certain lack of self-confidence on the part of Americans. The purchase of books on how to fix a leaky faucet or build a deck actually reflects a characteristically American confidence that we can perform tasks normally reserved for professionals. But the kind of advice offered by lifestyle gurus assumes the reader can't organize his own life or set priorities.
While everyone needs help, it is unsettling that many Americans feel that other people are better judges than they are of how they should lead their lives. Simplifying one's life may make sense, for example, but it could also result in the elimination of possessions, activities or even relationships that might enrich that life.
For a person with a strong set of values and a firm sense of identity, lifestyle advice can prove very useful. For someone who lacks confidence in their own judgment, however, dependence on such advice will simply reinforce their insecurity.
The self-help genre of writing seems a permanent feature of American culture, with only the specific advice changing. Its continuing popularity attests to its usefulness, but it also exposes a certain lack of self-confidence on the part of Americans. The purchase of books on how to fix a leaky faucet or build a deck actually reflects a characteristically American confidence that we can perform tasks normally reserved for professionals. But the kind of advice offered by lifestyle gurus assumes the reader can't organize his own life or set priorities.
While everyone needs help, it is unsettling that many Americans feel that other people are better judges than they are of how they should lead their lives. Simplifying one's life may make sense, for example, but it could also result in the elimination of possessions, activities or even relationships that might enrich that life.
For a person with a strong set of values and a firm sense of identity, lifestyle advice can prove very useful. For someone who lacks confidence in their own judgment, however, dependence on such advice will simply reinforce their insecurity.
14
Your comment makes sense to me. As I consider down-sizing in order to relocate to a retirement facility I think about disposing of so many possessions that I have spent years and dollars accumulating. I do believe in decluttering and disposing of items no longer useful or meaningful. However, most of my possessions are important to me. I will never throw my books on the floor to cull them. They can all be donated after I am gone.
3
You can always use a good piece of advice; no reason to discover everything yourself. Don't reinvent the wheel. I have been reading self-help books my entire life and, yes, my life does keep getting better and better. So this weekend I will be leaving my soon-to-be-paid off (thanks money books) nicely decorated (thanks decorating books) condo (thanks how to buy real estate books) and going to Newport (thanks guide books) and take long walks (thanks how to get healthy books) up and down those old streets
When David refers to the "high mindedness" of the Puritans was he referring to the Native American genocide, the Banishment of Ann Hutchinson,the Salem witch trials, or their dominance of the slave trade?. Maybe it was their belief in the Elect or Predestination.?What smug presumption.What flawed pontification. "Manifold opportunities,affluent life,haute bourgeoisie, intense intellectual effort, throw all your books on the floor,pare down your wardrobe, smorgasbord of possibilities " The implicit assumptions in this column reveal how completely removed and out of touch David must be from the lives and angsts of most Americans. It's David's "Bush 41,"Bar Code moment".
39
Oh, good Lord. Do you seriously think that was all there was to the Puritans? I'm betting that the only thing you have to say about Thomas Jefferson is that he owned slaves.
Thoreau would have loved my grandparents farm home. What we didn't need and use almost daily wasn't in the house. Growing up with simplicity kept me from garnering lots of things even when marriage and kids appeared. Now that I'm old, I find that several things have made my life even more simple again. I now use public transportation, and so think twice about whether what I want to do is really worth the walk to the bus stop.
Aging often brings the need to simplify one's life just to manage it with some dignity. Books and music and, yes, the internet and TV are very nice and I would hate to be without any of them, especially books.
Aging often brings the need to simplify one's life just to manage it with some dignity. Books and music and, yes, the internet and TV are very nice and I would hate to be without any of them, especially books.
16
Brooks and many of the commenters inveigh against electronic devices. For me the problem is instead the accompanying proliferation of wires, chargers, cables and connectors, so costly, unnecessary, entangling, balky and confusing. Even worse is the sonic jangle of unregulated noise (leafblowers, AC, muzak etc) that increasingly envelops us. Capitalism is shortsighted, with no ability to see the larger picture where simplicity and careful planning bring enormous albeit profitless rewards.
13
the only true reality is Nature upon which mankind (originally a part of nature) has layered with it's own realities, the industrial revolution began the dehumanization of people leading to the machine peripheral consumers were are becoming today. Saying that to 'clean out the email folder' has anything to do with a simple life shows how deluded we have become.
7
Brooks forgot the simplicity of today's Tea Party Reaganomics which falsely proclaims that cutting taxes and expenditures during a recession results in greater prosperity for all.
Simplicity is complicated by facts.
Simplicity is complicated by facts.
38
"Stripping away" material possession is a fad as is the marketing of books and methods to accomplish 'decluttering.
We saw this same fad to 'declutter' your life mentally and materially in the 60s.
Everything gets recycled in the world of marketing. Next year, books advising how to declutter your life will have been replaced by whatever the next fad is.
We saw this same fad to 'declutter' your life mentally and materially in the 60s.
Everything gets recycled in the world of marketing. Next year, books advising how to declutter your life will have been replaced by whatever the next fad is.
7
Actually, decluttering, if it is a fad, has been going on for a number of years now. My guess is at least a decade.
2
That "fad" has changed many, many people's lives for the better
I'm convinced that it is our jobs that drive shallowness and consumerism. On today's front page is an article on how employers are now installing apps to monitor our productivity at work. We are all on a treadmill, working too much, stressing too much, rushing so much that when the weekend comes,we need to "reward" ourselves for making it through another brutal workweek bu either traveling, buying ourselves some luxury as if to reassure ourselves that it is worth it to live under constant stress. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is skyrocketing and many people are underemployed even though they have the education and skills. Perhaps what we need is a mandated workweek that is capped at 30 hours. We could all take a salary cut, live a simpler life less driven by consumption, and put more people to work.
11
the clutter that won't go away is the one that comes from the increasing percentage of our existence spent on tending the chaos we've created...it is the not-so-quiet desperation therefrom that leads us to the symbolic acts of simplification like household clutter-cleaning and its co-relatives, fad diet and ten minutes-a-day exercise routines that we hope will keep our corporal closets in some semblance of order as we grab and go through our days.
of course, by the time we are driven to these remedies, it is, for most of us, already too late, thanks to a system of education that that winds us up in the anxieties of careerism instead of the habits of mind (thinking, reflection) and body (of which we learn nothing in so-called "physical education") that, like skills in sailing and navigation, can take us anywhere.
if there is a single problem at the root of runaway complexity, it is our enslavement to an economy that has no social purpose, a private bottom-line scheme that, rather than serving as the engine of our lives, is the cage that has us, like hamsters, running to keep it spinning...all the rest, our institutional infirmities, (poor leadership, indifference to service, the absence of rigor) and our personality disorders (an addiction to convenience, incivility, impatience) are rooted in this economic system, controlled by special interests at the expense of "the general Welfare," the founding promise of our country's good, and wherein the real remedy inheres.
of course, by the time we are driven to these remedies, it is, for most of us, already too late, thanks to a system of education that that winds us up in the anxieties of careerism instead of the habits of mind (thinking, reflection) and body (of which we learn nothing in so-called "physical education") that, like skills in sailing and navigation, can take us anywhere.
if there is a single problem at the root of runaway complexity, it is our enslavement to an economy that has no social purpose, a private bottom-line scheme that, rather than serving as the engine of our lives, is the cage that has us, like hamsters, running to keep it spinning...all the rest, our institutional infirmities, (poor leadership, indifference to service, the absence of rigor) and our personality disorders (an addiction to convenience, incivility, impatience) are rooted in this economic system, controlled by special interests at the expense of "the general Welfare," the founding promise of our country's good, and wherein the real remedy inheres.
18
You can simplify your life by doing two things on a daily basis. First, turn off or log off from your devices that have you on a "wireless hamster wheel." Next, pick up a book, the old fashioned kind made of paper and cardboard, and read concentratedly in it for at least one hour. If you can do this for three weeks straight, you will begin to see that disconnecting is essential for mental health and well being.
123
You read my mind. A couple of months ago I suddenly set aside my laptop, stood up from my recliner, walked to my stand-up desk, and began reading an actual book to see if I still could. I now find myself reading while standing for most of the evening. When my wife gave me the standing desk for Christmas I was reluctant to use it, not wanting to emulate Donald Rumsfeld in any way. Standing instead of sitting whenever you can is at least one thing he got right.
2
I can see no difference between reading a book and reading a book online. I don't think the method of delivery is the issue. I do not see living a simpler life in this current society. Life is complex and even more so in American society. You would have to "drop off the grid" to do so. But even this requires resources as we do need to eat, drink and do something with our time. I think simple living is a myth. A nice thought, but not achievable.
2
I walk the dog a few times a day, unplugged. It's fascinating to see how the leaves have changed color, increasingly; the chipmunks and squirrels seem hyperactive gathering a bumper crop of acorns this year. Rhythm of seasons allow us to see so much, if you permit yourself a moment to unplug. Realistically speaking we are all connected, virtually, even without our devices. I have a twin and we can access each other's thoughts, emotions, thousands of miles away.
3
Simplicity can only be defined by the person seeking it. For me it begins in the heart and mind. It means being centered, and finding joy and satisfaction in the routine of daily living. It is independent of one's surroundings or environment.
14
Many folks find themselves working at jobs or professions that have little or no relationship to their personal interests. Their occupation was a way of survival, or just a means to an ends. Hobbies can fill the void for some. Others who have become affluent, (to varying degrees) resort to "Retail Therapy". This term seems to be in use by Generation X and Y persons.
Some folks are out of control spenders, other are parsimonious to a fault. Commercialism is part and parcel of American culture. Accumulation is the derivative result of buying the sales pitch or displaying wealth.
Some folks are out of control spenders, other are parsimonious to a fault. Commercialism is part and parcel of American culture. Accumulation is the derivative result of buying the sales pitch or displaying wealth.
6
Wonderful sentiment here. I would think that true simplicity, and the benefits accrued from attaining it lies in the clarity of our consciousness, more than the physical environment. Certainly clearing our physical environment can help facilitate that, but its not required (am I rationalizing here...?). Surprised David did not mention the path of Buddhist meditation as a sure recipe for a clear, simple mind that can pervade every facet of life.
5
David doesn't mention anything or anyone beyond Judeo-Christian world view. He pretends to be deaf to the existence of Buddha or even a civilization that existed before him, on the eastern side of the world. David is all about the western world. somehow he thinks the west exists by itself. Except the Middle East and near east, those places definitely exist for him. Cheers David, continue to live in your partial world.
1
The only reason civilization makes living more complex is because our experts have still not figured out the different functions and relationship of the brain and mind. We keep focusing on mind education while neglecting brain education. We even miseducate the brain and as a result the brain for most people is cluttered with emotional baggage.
Even the education mess is due to the fact man has cutting edge education to educate the mind and has fuzzy ideas how to educate the brain. In simple terms one can say that we keep our homes clean; we keep our cars and our offices spic and span and when it comes to our own brains and minds we keep them dirty; full of defective memories/knowledge/fixations.
We have developed education for cleaning up the brain. Please check out my website, 'wisdompowerclub.com
Even the education mess is due to the fact man has cutting edge education to educate the mind and has fuzzy ideas how to educate the brain. In simple terms one can say that we keep our homes clean; we keep our cars and our offices spic and span and when it comes to our own brains and minds we keep them dirty; full of defective memories/knowledge/fixations.
We have developed education for cleaning up the brain. Please check out my website, 'wisdompowerclub.com
2
'There’s a whiff of the haute bourgeoisie ethos here — that simplification is not really spiritual or antimaterialism; just a more refined, organic, locally grown and morally status-building form of materialism.' This is the best sentence I've read on the modern simplicity movement, right on target.
If people need a philosophical reason for simplicity, climate change can serve as one. Mindfulness about consumption is one of the best routes to simplicity. Rather than going through your belongings to weed them out, don't buy so much in the first place.
If people need a philosophical reason for simplicity, climate change can serve as one. Mindfulness about consumption is one of the best routes to simplicity. Rather than going through your belongings to weed them out, don't buy so much in the first place.
31
If you think the "ache from all the scattered shallowness" of the inbox is bad, wait until you open your email in room with a chair and a desk, and you hear the echo of your own voice. Sorry, I like my books and my junk, I'm thankful for it all (as long as I can keep it all clean), but it doesn't mean I wouldn't leave it all behind for a higher calling, either. I wrestled with that years ago --- never get attached to anything! But, I just think, I want to live in a Morton building. They should come in packages - "The Inventor", "The Creator", "The Quilter", "The Librarian", "The Chef", "The Writer" --- honest to God. Living quarters with an open area filled with bookshelves and plenty of areas to create. I would be happy as a lark!
6
We would all be much better off with a simpler, less cluttered life. Let's begin our journey with a 30 hour work week, minimum 6 week vacations, and retirement at age 55. We would have ample time to clean out our closets, and our brains, and seek spiritual fulfillment through communion with simplicity.
I'm going to run this past my boss as soon as he comes in.
I'm going to run this past my boss as soon as he comes in.
60
My guess is that you are being sarcastic. But yet if you want to get off the rat-race treadmill, you will. It is not about simple, it is about what you are willing to sellout for.
You can sell your ''Self' for a few trinkets or pieces of silver, or you can be committed to a better life, a life of contentment and compassion.
You can sell your ''Self' for a few trinkets or pieces of silver, or you can be committed to a better life, a life of contentment and compassion.
When my mother in law died, we cleared out her home; more than a half century of accumulated life. She was a child of the Depression, and didn't "declutter." Things might be useful later on.
So we found her gems: for instance, china a stemware from the 50s that in a vintage color, so mid-century it had become cool again.
But we also cleared out dumpster after dumpster of just stuff - not good-willable, not salable, ultimately a basement and attic and rooms-full of trash. We dumped her life in the bin. We came home and got our own dumpster and started over, clearing what we didn't need, couldn't sell. But we haven't replaced it all. There is still no room.
If a cluttered house and a cluttered mind go together, we are in trouble. But we are working on paring down, and replacing only the things that are broken.
Being parents of college kids helps us in this effort.
So we found her gems: for instance, china a stemware from the 50s that in a vintage color, so mid-century it had become cool again.
But we also cleared out dumpster after dumpster of just stuff - not good-willable, not salable, ultimately a basement and attic and rooms-full of trash. We dumped her life in the bin. We came home and got our own dumpster and started over, clearing what we didn't need, couldn't sell. But we haven't replaced it all. There is still no room.
If a cluttered house and a cluttered mind go together, we are in trouble. But we are working on paring down, and replacing only the things that are broken.
Being parents of college kids helps us in this effort.
16
I go to a fair amount of estate sales and I have seen what you are talking about. A life trapped in junk. I never go to a sale without coming home and start dumping stuff. I want to live so that when I die people can clear out my space in a day (two if they take a long lunch)
43
It's not how much or little one can live with or without, but reperceiving our perception to regain the wonder we had as children, to see the miraculous in the "ordinary." Perhaps attainable through some drugs (dangerous), or meditation, or great works of art, perhaps to allow the right brain to operate more fully, as in Jill Bolte Taylor's "My Stroke of Insight."
3
A Little Boy and a Stick
He spied the stick at the edge of the wood, shorn by wind and fallen where only a child of a certain age could notice. He chose this one stick despite their plenitude and the vastness of the space they occupied. I was allowed to see it only because he drew my attention to it. He picked it up reverently, examining its every detail and named it for its uniqueness.
He threw the stick high, end over end to test its flippancy. It wobbled slightly, but the air straightened it with buffeting force. Next, he heaved it as a spear, but it wavered little, recalling its original fall and sensing that its own speed and direction could destroy. He cupped the stick in his hand to salve the spot where it had lost of some of its bark when it landed. He infused it with resilience, but he left a faint scar to remind it of its journey. He then held the stick up as a wand and waved it so that its shadow first hovered over the trail’s woodland border and then, in a snap, soared back into the forest.
Finally, after many days of companionship with the stick, he placed it back on the path where he had found it and promised, “I will never forget you! I love you!” By this, the boy forever gave his essence to the stick as he did to me – his once stricken grandfather whose reconnected spirit now calmly awaits the second crossing while spanning the two worlds his grandson pried open with a stick.
He spied the stick at the edge of the wood, shorn by wind and fallen where only a child of a certain age could notice. He chose this one stick despite their plenitude and the vastness of the space they occupied. I was allowed to see it only because he drew my attention to it. He picked it up reverently, examining its every detail and named it for its uniqueness.
He threw the stick high, end over end to test its flippancy. It wobbled slightly, but the air straightened it with buffeting force. Next, he heaved it as a spear, but it wavered little, recalling its original fall and sensing that its own speed and direction could destroy. He cupped the stick in his hand to salve the spot where it had lost of some of its bark when it landed. He infused it with resilience, but he left a faint scar to remind it of its journey. He then held the stick up as a wand and waved it so that its shadow first hovered over the trail’s woodland border and then, in a snap, soared back into the forest.
Finally, after many days of companionship with the stick, he placed it back on the path where he had found it and promised, “I will never forget you! I love you!” By this, the boy forever gave his essence to the stick as he did to me – his once stricken grandfather whose reconnected spirit now calmly awaits the second crossing while spanning the two worlds his grandson pried open with a stick.
There is a word I have been wanting to use for a long time but today's Op-Ed finally has given me the opportunity balderdash!!!
I cannot imagine more complex religions than the ones cited. Examining the minutiae of the most mundane activities is not simple. Calvinism and Orthodox Judaism are all pervasive activities that negate the me.
The 17th century Unitarian answer to Puritanism or the 18th century Chassidic response to Jewish Orthodoxy were a rejection to the complexity of looking for some type of meaning to things that just were.
Today's "conservative" failure is an inability to simply accept what is and get on with life. Where it be an economic system that no longer serves the basic needs of most of the world's children or a world where over fifty percent now live in urban centers looking for a rock to rest on from a previous time prevents us from accepting simple solutions to how to live our lives.
Living in a cocoon is not simple it is simply an acknowledgement that becoming a butterfly is fraught with peril. The world is rapidly changing and adapting the mores and beliefs of bygone eras may provide some solutions to a confusing universe but the 1960s are never coming back and finding a way to grow a consumer economy designed for the suburban living of the 1970s is not simple but insane. Our grandchildren's lives fit neatly into a tablet they carry with them as they visit Istanbul or Paris. Simple is accepting what makes us feel good about ourselves nothing more.
I cannot imagine more complex religions than the ones cited. Examining the minutiae of the most mundane activities is not simple. Calvinism and Orthodox Judaism are all pervasive activities that negate the me.
The 17th century Unitarian answer to Puritanism or the 18th century Chassidic response to Jewish Orthodoxy were a rejection to the complexity of looking for some type of meaning to things that just were.
Today's "conservative" failure is an inability to simply accept what is and get on with life. Where it be an economic system that no longer serves the basic needs of most of the world's children or a world where over fifty percent now live in urban centers looking for a rock to rest on from a previous time prevents us from accepting simple solutions to how to live our lives.
Living in a cocoon is not simple it is simply an acknowledgement that becoming a butterfly is fraught with peril. The world is rapidly changing and adapting the mores and beliefs of bygone eras may provide some solutions to a confusing universe but the 1960s are never coming back and finding a way to grow a consumer economy designed for the suburban living of the 1970s is not simple but insane. Our grandchildren's lives fit neatly into a tablet they carry with them as they visit Istanbul or Paris. Simple is accepting what makes us feel good about ourselves nothing more.
14
It's always complicated, but sometimes it's direct, other times it uses denial. (choose, David!) For example, Republican ideas on race had slightly more leverage in the last two US elections than their conservative views, as the example of Obamacare consistently revealed: loved the coverage, hated him. The GOP endorsement by voters was a backlash about the ideas of race-in-power and reflected strong state organizing activity more than any real affinity (proved by Obama’s 2nd win).
The GOP is still a majority-of-minorities party (groups from anti-women’s rights/civil rights, zealots, and disciples).
It does see a victory: the world’s 4th largest political economy! The federal budget ranks 4th among global GDPs! Solely controlled by Congress and the President — the people have no direct say.
Looking for gold? Inside the budget is a safety net (social security!) whose legal obligations on the budget make it the world’s 25th largest GDP — the largest pool of firewalled public cash anywhere!
That Ryan’s function: to teach and educate the Freedom Caucus about the trillions at stake! Trillions for the private sector — not for cuts! Ryan knows the numbers. He’s persuasive in his element. Meanwhile, the GOP campaigns cultural elements (taxes, fear, failure) avoid any mention of the real prize: control of a giant political economy--4th among global GDPs.
The strategy: Declare the government the culprit! The rich — the best, the brightest! — the helpers, share the spoils.
The GOP is still a majority-of-minorities party (groups from anti-women’s rights/civil rights, zealots, and disciples).
It does see a victory: the world’s 4th largest political economy! The federal budget ranks 4th among global GDPs! Solely controlled by Congress and the President — the people have no direct say.
Looking for gold? Inside the budget is a safety net (social security!) whose legal obligations on the budget make it the world’s 25th largest GDP — the largest pool of firewalled public cash anywhere!
That Ryan’s function: to teach and educate the Freedom Caucus about the trillions at stake! Trillions for the private sector — not for cuts! Ryan knows the numbers. He’s persuasive in his element. Meanwhile, the GOP campaigns cultural elements (taxes, fear, failure) avoid any mention of the real prize: control of a giant political economy--4th among global GDPs.
The strategy: Declare the government the culprit! The rich — the best, the brightest! — the helpers, share the spoils.
8
Many people of course, do not have a choice about simplifying their life. The material things have been stripped away and not because they decided to, but because they lost them in 2008 or after. Things have never been the same since then. People are now repulsed by excessive consumerism as a result. Not by choice, they have come to realize how futile it all was. I have noticed that even some very high level and wealthy people I would never have guessed, are into survivalism. There is a sense of impending doom. Yet, if we were to have just a tad of inflation, there might be a revival of the lower and middle. Savers would be rewarded, and assets would gain in "value". If we were to reinvent ourselves and redesign our infrastructure for a new age of renewable energy, we might see a revival in human possibilities. Growth without limits is no longer possible. Mental capacities are the new frontier. Access is the new ownership. Stripping the public of the possibility of their own asset, they are forced to rent it or visit it. Much more is owned by the elite. Yet, the monster they have created has found new outlets. Civilization is finding new ways, and the movement now will be back to the commons. Ownership is not the big deal it used to be. Access is what counts now. It's easier to simplify once you grasp this.
54
@Carolyn
What was lost in 2008 was, in many respects, never ours. Houses on borrowed money, credit card debt, pay-day loans.
We are all addicted to more. And when a wrecking ball comes along like 2008, it strips away the lie of the previous decade.
America is no longer able to hide its wealth from the rest of the world. Others want in. Jobs that can be performed elsewhere are outsourced to those willing to work without paid health care for a fraction of the wages.
Blaming all of that on "Republicans" is childish. It is a tough world, and the era of relative calm is behind us. We would do well to look into the future and find ways to work together to get "most" of it right. Unfortunately, the Progressive American visits Copenhagen and comes back changed. Well, when Denmark does as much for the world as America has, it will probably be a fair model. And if Denmark did not have the burden of its past errors, as we have, it would be easier.
But it's not the reality we live. And getting a tongue-lashing from a Progressive is not wholly different than a religiously strident person doing the same thing to an atheist.
What was lost in 2008 was, in many respects, never ours. Houses on borrowed money, credit card debt, pay-day loans.
We are all addicted to more. And when a wrecking ball comes along like 2008, it strips away the lie of the previous decade.
America is no longer able to hide its wealth from the rest of the world. Others want in. Jobs that can be performed elsewhere are outsourced to those willing to work without paid health care for a fraction of the wages.
Blaming all of that on "Republicans" is childish. It is a tough world, and the era of relative calm is behind us. We would do well to look into the future and find ways to work together to get "most" of it right. Unfortunately, the Progressive American visits Copenhagen and comes back changed. Well, when Denmark does as much for the world as America has, it will probably be a fair model. And if Denmark did not have the burden of its past errors, as we have, it would be easier.
But it's not the reality we live. And getting a tongue-lashing from a Progressive is not wholly different than a religiously strident person doing the same thing to an atheist.
After over 30 years in Manhattan, we moved to Lackawaxen, PA (Eagle Town USA), less than two hours from the city. Our work as Art Advisors continues in a setting that Thoreau would have enjoyed. And, yes we went to the city for the current Picasso sculpture exhibition at MoMA (breathtaking!).
Our advice, leave the city to simplify your life, but do not go to the suburbs or gated communities when you can commune with nature every day.
Our advice, leave the city to simplify your life, but do not go to the suburbs or gated communities when you can commune with nature every day.
31
One day, Brooks should have Krugman post his column under his name and we'll see if all the gratuitous criticism is still posted. There's not much political in this post, yet so often, despite an intention (and often success) at reaching beyond the day to day political discourse so many need to see Brooks' in his conservative cloak. Criticize him when he waxes on about economic theory and a Burkean world, but don't discard everything he says just because he favors a different political party. I'm a progressive but I enjoy David's columns as well as his discourse on PBS, he's bright and level headed.
307
It's not always his politics. Brooks is often rightly criticized for his pseudo social science columns like this one because he has a tendency to infer grand themes from anecdotal examples or use the same tired rhetorical framing of black and white vs. gray again and again and again. For me, he's simply been writing about too many of the same things here on the op-ed pages for too long. He's had a great run, but I'm ready to hear from more voices with different views.
32
srb1228 looks the previous comments on Brooks' essay and finds "all the gratuitous criticism". I have looked over every comment posted as of now -- 28 comments -- and I find some affirmation of Brook's essay, a few jokes and one funny poem, a factual correction concerning Judaism, but no "gratuitous criticism" whatsoever.
5
Don't worry, this will still be in the top three most-emailed links from the New York Times.
4
A simpler time was defined when families gathered at the dinner table to discuss their days with some with world events being thrown in as part of the fare of conversation. Today, however electronic devises abound. Perhaps they create the clutter which sends our minds racing in so many different directions. With the dawning of the age of TV, the blue lights erie glow permeated the home's hearth casting a pall of silence. With each leap forward of the next new thing in personal electronics the race to overwhelm and distract our thoughts was on. Who today has not gone to a restaurant or cafe and witnessed groups of people sitting at tables, in what used to be a social gatherings, watching people hypnotized by the constant flow of information streaming across their tablets and smart phones. Norman Mailer once said "Things are becoming more technologically precise and more spiritually deadening." Perhaps the very first clutter that should be removed from our addicted lives are the screens which pull us away from the simple pleasures of human contact and communication Only then will our priorities start to rearrange themselves in a simpler and more focused way.
69
ReBABEL: Writer deserves a NOBEL PRIZE for writing so eloquently about one of the major obstacles to living a simple life, which r electronic devices: I pads, androids, cell phones just to name a few. Jimmy Breslin said one of his scariest moments was taking the subway at rush hour, and seeing that there was not one person reading a newspaper. Every Saturday night at a news stand on 79th and First Avenue a line formed waiting for the Sunday edition of the DAILY NEWS. Dear dead days, gone forever. I attribute the inability of many Americans to pass a diction test to the fact that they don't read newspapers anymore, They communicate in an abbreviated computer jargon by texting.DB's article is really geared towards a bourgeois elite, who can simplify their lives by choice. Others, the unemployed and the underemployed have simplified their lives out of necessity. Final point: It was G.K.Chesterton who wrote, " We all lead lives of quiet desperation." Nonetheless, a fine article by DB, but a finer comment by BABEL
4
Well said. However the fact is that we are all reading this online.
I took a religious vow of poverty for five years. I never owned less. I lived in a tiny bedroom housing all my possessions and it was mostly bare. I missed nothing. Today I throw away garbage bags full of clothes, old tech stuff, books, papers, and all, yet the clutter grows.
I guess what we need is a vow.
I guess what we need is a vow.
26
I took that vow as well (but for only three years). I agree about having missed nothing. But one of the great satisfactions of those days, for me, was possessions held in common with other members of my community. After having recently visited some of my old friends there, after 50 years, I can say that the system is still working well.
I never did agree with Oliver Wendell Holmes on this. “More complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life” to perhaps 5% of humanity at best. For the other 95%, an adequate number of calories per day, a spouse who neither nags nor is violent, and loose shoes suffice, on the rare occasion when one can obtain all these things. And the practice of clearing out of “those material things that might distract them from humility and grace, compassion and prayer, the spirit and the Lord” sounds like what demagogues urge who wish to bend humanity to their purpose rather than just let it pursue its own.
When so few can be among the 0.01%, it behooves those who can to invent a means of placating those who can’t. But I never considered the floggers of feng shui to be among the inventers; and “Mailwise” could only be popular among those who have given up on the possibility that “The Millionaire” would contact them via email.
Now … that was special. Thank you, David, for one of your increasingly rare “confections”. I was getting powerfully tired of parsing the inadequacies of Ben Carson and Donald Trump.
When so few can be among the 0.01%, it behooves those who can to invent a means of placating those who can’t. But I never considered the floggers of feng shui to be among the inventers; and “Mailwise” could only be popular among those who have given up on the possibility that “The Millionaire” would contact them via email.
Now … that was special. Thank you, David, for one of your increasingly rare “confections”. I was getting powerfully tired of parsing the inadequacies of Ben Carson and Donald Trump.
3
Why so trenchant, Mr. Richard Luettgen, of the 1%? Why assume these rare exotic people are having a simpler time of it? It takes a bit of all of us to make this world we live in, and if one has the choice to spend one's time as one likes best, it may be a step in the right direction.
Should I waste time in indignation over the likes of Dr. Carson and Mr. Trump, I will feel poor in spirit. There is only one original person whom I have yet to meet in a long life, brilliant short of a genius, so full of life and incorrigible at times, that I start to laugh and pull out my hair at the friend's intensity, mirth and energy, reminding me how unpredictable we are as humans.
There is the haunting memory of what a little known author, Jim G. Farrell, wrote in one of his novels on imperialism and the vision of what he took away from India, overwhelmed on his travels so many years ago, the sight of two men and two bullocks drawing water from the well every day of their life.
Whether he believed at the end of his short, simple and highly complex life, yet rich in many ways, that a nation does not create itself according to its own best ideas, but is shaped by other forces of which it has little knowledge, would not be for this reader to say, and perhaps David Brooks will write of this on another day.
Should I waste time in indignation over the likes of Dr. Carson and Mr. Trump, I will feel poor in spirit. There is only one original person whom I have yet to meet in a long life, brilliant short of a genius, so full of life and incorrigible at times, that I start to laugh and pull out my hair at the friend's intensity, mirth and energy, reminding me how unpredictable we are as humans.
There is the haunting memory of what a little known author, Jim G. Farrell, wrote in one of his novels on imperialism and the vision of what he took away from India, overwhelmed on his travels so many years ago, the sight of two men and two bullocks drawing water from the well every day of their life.
Whether he believed at the end of his short, simple and highly complex life, yet rich in many ways, that a nation does not create itself according to its own best ideas, but is shaped by other forces of which it has little knowledge, would not be for this reader to say, and perhaps David Brooks will write of this on another day.
"gemli" has it right. I no longer want a car, nor house necessarily either. Nor do I want much of anything except time with my partner and friends and books. i have the internet and a job people need. This is a luxury that comes from my luck and good fortune. To pretend that we determine our own simplicity is naive. We have some choice but not much. And for those who have more than enough, we well heed the words of Kurt Vonnegut: "I am wealthy because I know what is enough."
77
Thought provoking article Mr. Brooks. There is fable from Karnataka that is perhaps relevant here. A sophisticated pandit asks an ordinary peasant: "Suppose you were blessed with 3 wishes, what would you ask for?" a beautiful wife, worldly riches and comforts responds the peasant.
The pandit chides the peasant - "you fool, the divinity is granting you wishes, and all you can think of is worldly comforts? you couldn't ask for humility, simplicity and wisdom?"
peasant: "pardon me sir, i only asked for what i dont have."
The pandit chides the peasant - "you fool, the divinity is granting you wishes, and all you can think of is worldly comforts? you couldn't ask for humility, simplicity and wisdom?"
peasant: "pardon me sir, i only asked for what i dont have."
211
Beautiful! Imagine Trying to Define, Understand and Create Smoke Without Knowing
What it is and How it is Created. Our Experts are Doing the Same With
Emotional Intelligence.
Trying to create emotional intelligence is like trying to create smoke
without lighting the fire. Creating emotional health is creating
emotional health that generates emotional intelligence.
The big tragedy regarding wisdom and emotional intelligence is that
these terms are still fuzzy for our experts. Our experts like Daniel
Goleman and David Brooks decided to focus on emotional intelligence
while still not able to fully comprehend what constitutes emotional
intelligence. The problems with defining emotional intelligence are
the same as defining wisdom; as these two entities are one and the
same.
Wisdom/emotional-intelligence is the smoke where emotional health that
springs from an emotionally healthy brain is the fire. In order to
create the smoke one has to create the fire. Unfortunately our experts
focus on emotional intelligence; without fully comprehending what it
is; let alone not knowing that it is a secondary entity and that it
cannot be created on its own. Our experts got trapped into trying to
create emotional-intelligence without connecting it to the fact that
it springs from emotional health and its creation requires the
creation of emotionally healthy brains.
What it is and How it is Created. Our Experts are Doing the Same With
Emotional Intelligence.
Trying to create emotional intelligence is like trying to create smoke
without lighting the fire. Creating emotional health is creating
emotional health that generates emotional intelligence.
The big tragedy regarding wisdom and emotional intelligence is that
these terms are still fuzzy for our experts. Our experts like Daniel
Goleman and David Brooks decided to focus on emotional intelligence
while still not able to fully comprehend what constitutes emotional
intelligence. The problems with defining emotional intelligence are
the same as defining wisdom; as these two entities are one and the
same.
Wisdom/emotional-intelligence is the smoke where emotional health that
springs from an emotionally healthy brain is the fire. In order to
create the smoke one has to create the fire. Unfortunately our experts
focus on emotional intelligence; without fully comprehending what it
is; let alone not knowing that it is a secondary entity and that it
cannot be created on its own. Our experts got trapped into trying to
create emotional-intelligence without connecting it to the fact that
it springs from emotional health and its creation requires the
creation of emotionally healthy brains.
1
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to leave alone."
17
Except that I love ALL my books and find it hard to throw any out. When I moved to Pais (from San Diego) three-and-half years ago, I rented a storage back in San Diego just for my books. It's costing me $53 a month. Each time I go visit, I bring back some of my books. Perhaps it's time to "to take all their books off their shelves and throw them on the floor. Only put back the books that you truly value." But which do i REALLY value? I guess I'll have to find out on my next visit.
9
Asceticism and self-denial maybe all well and good for those who wish to focus their lives and spiritual improvement while disdaining material comfort. Needless to say, most of these individuals appeared to of been men with neither wives nor children. St. Francis of Assisi is an anomaly; and while many of us hold the example he set in high esteem, we also know that the simple life that many claim to be pursuing can quickly become burdensome, claustrophobic, and coercive. Ultimately, that lifestyle becomes tyrannical. New England Puritans may have rejected ostentatious wealth as an outward sign of their religious devotion, but they were hardly the kind of people you might look to as examples of toleration and accommodation of views that differed from theirs. Quite the contrary, with self-abnegation and self-denial came a virulent intolerance towards anything that might challenge their vision of themselves as a godly people, or weaken the discipline that held their communities together. In the long run, Puritan asceticism was doomed to failure, and its legacy is to be found today in those who blame others for tempting them.
We read of Henry David Thoreau who spent time living alone in a rude hut on the shores of Walden Pond in Waltham, Massachusetts. I lived not far from there, and it is a beautiful place. But the conditions under which Thoreau chose to live for so long as he did were transitory and ultimately untenable. Most people either could not, or would not do so.
We read of Henry David Thoreau who spent time living alone in a rude hut on the shores of Walden Pond in Waltham, Massachusetts. I lived not far from there, and it is a beautiful place. But the conditions under which Thoreau chose to live for so long as he did were transitory and ultimately untenable. Most people either could not, or would not do so.
6
Arthur, Thoreau very much depended on his mom to do his laundry and his friends for prepared food. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/pond-scum
Notice how David has conveniently omitted mentioning the Transcendentalist movement that Thoreau was an integral part of. Thoreau's writings were greatly influenced by eastern philosophy, he developed his unique style by distilling thoughts from various philosophies. "He was one of the few Western writers to explore ancient Eastern thought. He studied the Bagavad Gita, the Vedas, and the Upanishads, and his journals were full of personal responses to these Hindu scriptures. He also gained insights from Taoism and other ancient Chinese traditions."
Notice how David has conveniently omitted mentioning the Transcendentalist movement that Thoreau was an integral part of. Thoreau's writings were greatly influenced by eastern philosophy, he developed his unique style by distilling thoughts from various philosophies. "He was one of the few Western writers to explore ancient Eastern thought. He studied the Bagavad Gita, the Vedas, and the Upanishads, and his journals were full of personal responses to these Hindu scriptures. He also gained insights from Taoism and other ancient Chinese traditions."
2
Would people please read a book on the New England Puritans and get them right instead of using them as evidence for what every argument being made? And by the way, Puritans expected to prosper materially and get rich because wealth was a way God showed his blessings
1
"virulent intolerance towards anything that might challenge their vision of themselves as a godly people"
Well said.
Well said.
1
If everyone lived more simply, probably the economy would collapse, but I suspect there's no danger of everyone living more simply, so feel free to declutter and such.
It's very true that most folks don't have this problem, as they are buying from craiglist or the dollar store.
This notion of stuff doesn't buy happiness goes back a really long time, I'm surprised the author does not mention it.
It's very true that most folks don't have this problem, as they are buying from craiglist or the dollar store.
This notion of stuff doesn't buy happiness goes back a really long time, I'm surprised the author does not mention it.
9
If you are considering ridding yourself of books, please feel free to drop them off at my house. But, please, no romance novels, I get enough of that from David Brooks' columns.
150
Talking, reading and about simplicity is just another form of clutter. If a person is serious about simplicity, she should just shut up and simplify her life without announcing her intention to do so.
Silence, cunning, exile... Simple.
Silence, cunning, exile... Simple.
17
All simple and simple good advice, but her daily emails may be missed and her absence noted.
Right, because everyone knows instinctively how to do things and doesn't need any guidance or help
"...many people these days are apparently learning who they are by choosing what they can do without."
Or discovering what they can do without, even without a real choice, by living simply with what's left after losing a job and hope to financial gamesmanship, disruptive technology, or misplaced trust in economic policies and corporate management. What could be simpler than living homeless, other than more simply not living at all.
Or discovering what they can do without, even without a real choice, by living simply with what's left after losing a job and hope to financial gamesmanship, disruptive technology, or misplaced trust in economic policies and corporate management. What could be simpler than living homeless, other than more simply not living at all.
153
We are under emotional and psychological assault 24/7/365 from all kinds of media as they deliver commercial messages that shape an uneasy, indeed manic and unsustainable reality. We can reject that reality... it is nonsense.
Rather life is about simple, caring relationships with others and our environment. It's about making better choices. It's about turning away from the assaults and walking calmly and confidently in another direction.
No, we don't need iPhones, we don't need to beat the Chinese, we don't need to Viagra ourselves... we need to ignore the screams, the hysteria, the phobia-merchants.
Love your neighbor. Accept and rejoice in your mortality. Smile first. Find your place without carving out a new one, or climbing to the 'top'.
The revolution starts with you.
Rather life is about simple, caring relationships with others and our environment. It's about making better choices. It's about turning away from the assaults and walking calmly and confidently in another direction.
No, we don't need iPhones, we don't need to beat the Chinese, we don't need to Viagra ourselves... we need to ignore the screams, the hysteria, the phobia-merchants.
Love your neighbor. Accept and rejoice in your mortality. Smile first. Find your place without carving out a new one, or climbing to the 'top'.
The revolution starts with you.
60
If all Americans were to adopt this philosophy of simplicity, we would also experience a large loss of jobs and therefore much more income inequality, due to the paradox of thrift.
13
The present system of 'buy more to prop up the economy' is bad for most of us and is bad for the planet. What's the end game?
There you go again, David, preaching simplicity from your elitist perch.
170
@klm
Envy. It's a powerful seduction. If you gave everyone in the country $100,000 a year in income and free health care, nothing would change. There would still be others with more stuff who lived longer, and so the pursuit of immortality would commence, transcending health care to pursue the illusive.
Communists need to get over the fact that not all people will end up in the same place. Even in so-called Communist countries, it was ironic that the leaders still chose to live lives of relative comfort next to the citizens.
Brook's version of simplicity was very much self-directed. And any who would see it otherwise are truly strange.
Envy. It's a powerful seduction. If you gave everyone in the country $100,000 a year in income and free health care, nothing would change. There would still be others with more stuff who lived longer, and so the pursuit of immortality would commence, transcending health care to pursue the illusive.
Communists need to get over the fact that not all people will end up in the same place. Even in so-called Communist countries, it was ironic that the leaders still chose to live lives of relative comfort next to the citizens.
Brook's version of simplicity was very much self-directed. And any who would see it otherwise are truly strange.
I relate to David, we are the same age, as is Obama. Perhaps David too has kids who have left home, either to pursue higher studies or jobs (or Israeli defense forces). As we embrace empty nesting, these kinds of thoughts are bound to emerge, what do we do with so much space, so many things, so many gadgets, once kids leave home.
What David should really ponder about is this. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/world/middleeast/ahmad-chalabi-iraq-de...
Ahmad Chalabi, a PhD from Univ of Chicago, single handedly led George Bush towards a war without any basis, fueled by neocons who had distorted and disruptive thought processes. Simple Iraqi lives were at once, broken, dreams dislodged, for hundreds and thousands of Iraqis. Not to mention the ripple effects that spread through out the world. I still remember, my father had just turned 80, he just could not believe that Bush Jr was embarking on Gulf War II, he had worked with Iraqi scientists before, personally had met some outstanding people from Iraq. My father never recovered from the war, just the notion of American led war on Iraq, somehow he had the foresight of the disastrous effects it would have on America, on the sons and daughters, and their children. Because karma is a thing to reckon with, it is non judgmental, it simply returns the favor.
What David should really ponder about is this. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/world/middleeast/ahmad-chalabi-iraq-de...
Ahmad Chalabi, a PhD from Univ of Chicago, single handedly led George Bush towards a war without any basis, fueled by neocons who had distorted and disruptive thought processes. Simple Iraqi lives were at once, broken, dreams dislodged, for hundreds and thousands of Iraqis. Not to mention the ripple effects that spread through out the world. I still remember, my father had just turned 80, he just could not believe that Bush Jr was embarking on Gulf War II, he had worked with Iraqi scientists before, personally had met some outstanding people from Iraq. My father never recovered from the war, just the notion of American led war on Iraq, somehow he had the foresight of the disastrous effects it would have on America, on the sons and daughters, and their children. Because karma is a thing to reckon with, it is non judgmental, it simply returns the favor.
2
Mr. Brooks, obviously, the GOP already takes your advice. Simply say "NO" to everything. By doing so thinking is not needed or required.
46
and Marco Rubio, whom Brooks would like to see as the GOP nominee for President, has gone even further by renouncing the responsibilities of the job he was already elected to do.
The most satisfying simplicity is the recognition that time is the greatest wealth.
43
.....time and health!
5
Time is moment to moment living, because in reality we only have the present moment. Past is gone and future is not here yet. It doesn't mean we dismiss past and future it just means the more fully we are present the more rich we become.
4
Time is the one asset that once lost you can never get back.
1
Judaism, Orthodox or otherwise, did not and does not favor ascetic living, and when it did, it was usually the result of external influence, such as the influence of monastic Christian practice on Judaism, as academic research has shown. This was the exception and not the rule. Normative Judaism had and has no objection to living a good an enjoyable life with what money can buy. Alas, not everybody has enough.
As for "high thinking" to clear out distraction in (Orthodox) Judaism, I, at least, have no idea what this is.
In any case the reference to Judaism here is totally unnecessary and irrelevant.
As for "high thinking" to clear out distraction in (Orthodox) Judaism, I, at least, have no idea what this is.
In any case the reference to Judaism here is totally unnecessary and irrelevant.
10
You have rightly pointed out what is missing in Judaism. No wonder here in America, prominent Jews take up Buddhism as their past time. From Allen Ginsburg to Jack Kornfield to Surya Das, Brian Weiss to Jon Kabat-Zinn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Buddhist.
"It has been estimated that 30 percent of all Western Buddhists are of Jewish heritage, and many of the prominent Western Buddhist teachers were born Jews." That's a lot.
"It has been estimated that 30 percent of all Western Buddhists are of Jewish heritage, and many of the prominent Western Buddhist teachers were born Jews." That's a lot.
1
Many should be extremely cautious when persuing a life of simplicity. Once you take out all of the noise of consumerism, you might be terrified of what you will see in the mirror.
9
It is terrifying at times, but the struggle makes me more human and my consciousness is changing little by little, human consciousness can change by rejecting the imposed realities of competition, fear, approval, 'being all i can be', etc, etc, etc
"It’s easy to see what today’s simplifiers are throwing away; it’s not always clear what they are for."
Not for the GOP. It wants only to have a one sentence tax code: "No taxes for me, only for thee."
Not for the GOP. It wants only to have a one sentence tax code: "No taxes for me, only for thee."
102
And what's simpler than a branding statement like "GOP"? Much easier than typing "GRAND OLD PARTY" all the way out.
Wanna really simplify? Type a single letter R, which unlike "GOP" is value-neutral.
Wanna really simplify? Type a single letter R, which unlike "GOP" is value-neutral.
A non theological deep reason for simplicity is in the slogan 'Live simply so others can simply live.' To a Humanist this is plenty.
21
If only excessive materialism and manifold opportunities were the problem in this country. I think Mr. Brooks tends to project his own affluent angst on society at large. While he’s looking for some sort of Platonic transcendence, the rest of us wish we had the resources to wander lonely as a cloud and develop refined sensibilities.
Unlike Thoreau, most of us don’t have the option to live in the woods and find ourselves. Yet we live in a time that Thoreau would think worked by magic. Our lifespans are far greater than the early 40s of his day, and we live them in less abject misery. The majority of people then lived hard, short lives without the prospect of health, wealth or higher education.
The crime today is that these things should be available to all us, but they’re rationed by the richest nation on earth that claims it can’t afford to take care of its citizens. Maximizing life, health, learning and happiness is low priority. The few have it all, and the rest have very little.
Only the affluent can afford simplicity. When Mr. Brooks talks about the moral and social afflictions that beset “this country” he seems to be talking about a parallel universe that most people don’t inhabit. Before we worry about those whose lives are so cluttered and rich and full of options, we might spare a thought for those who don’t have enough to throw any of it away.
Unlike Thoreau, most of us don’t have the option to live in the woods and find ourselves. Yet we live in a time that Thoreau would think worked by magic. Our lifespans are far greater than the early 40s of his day, and we live them in less abject misery. The majority of people then lived hard, short lives without the prospect of health, wealth or higher education.
The crime today is that these things should be available to all us, but they’re rationed by the richest nation on earth that claims it can’t afford to take care of its citizens. Maximizing life, health, learning and happiness is low priority. The few have it all, and the rest have very little.
Only the affluent can afford simplicity. When Mr. Brooks talks about the moral and social afflictions that beset “this country” he seems to be talking about a parallel universe that most people don’t inhabit. Before we worry about those whose lives are so cluttered and rich and full of options, we might spare a thought for those who don’t have enough to throw any of it away.
460
"Our lifespans are far greater today..." except as pointed out on these pages, for middle-aged whites. Lives of simplicity have been foisted upon them by economic policies begun and perpetuated by the 0.1%. They now sit around home, jobless and feeling useless, with no medical care and soon-to-be -privatized Social Security if the Speaker has his way, and dope and guns easy to get. Truly a simple life.
10
Brooks wants us to think he's heard the sound of one hand clapping (for him, no doubt). If I throw my books on the floor and replace only those I value, will the maid clean up the rest, David? I'll don a hair shirt and push a rock up a mountain with my nose the moment after I see Mr. Brooks do so.
2
I'm poor, yet satisfied and happy. I am even simplifying my life. But I just started oil painting this year at age 64. Contentment, not simplicity is a worthwhile goal. When I can serve others I win.
2
If many people start living more simply, jobs disappear and the economy shrinks. We then have excess people, people whose labor and trades we no longer need because we are living more simply. Who carries these people: relatives, friends, former coworkers and neighbors; charities; local governments; Uncle Sam, or no one, so that they live and die on the street.
Ideally, if peoples' tastes and spending patterns become much simpler, their work hours will also shrink and positions for the unneeded unemployed will open up. But the way a free economy works, workers will find their hours going up and pay not increasing because there is competition from the unemployed. The unemployed suffer the fate of no-longer-needed barns in the countryside. The natural response of any economic actor is to pass the cost of carrying the presently unemployed to another actor, and when all actors manage to evade the cost, the presently unemployed are not carried.
A successful return to simplicity is not impossible. But it can only happen if it is coordinated by an activist government. Our present government is incapable of such coordination because the effort would be coopted by parties interested in making money from it. So we have to fix our government first, which is true in any case.
Ideally, if peoples' tastes and spending patterns become much simpler, their work hours will also shrink and positions for the unneeded unemployed will open up. But the way a free economy works, workers will find their hours going up and pay not increasing because there is competition from the unemployed. The unemployed suffer the fate of no-longer-needed barns in the countryside. The natural response of any economic actor is to pass the cost of carrying the presently unemployed to another actor, and when all actors manage to evade the cost, the presently unemployed are not carried.
A successful return to simplicity is not impossible. But it can only happen if it is coordinated by an activist government. Our present government is incapable of such coordination because the effort would be coopted by parties interested in making money from it. So we have to fix our government first, which is true in any case.
41
I do not expect government to address the issues you point out. Nor do I look to corporations, or any other embodiment of the status quo.
Instead, the revolution in values will bubble up from the bottom. In fact, it's already started. In urban gardens, locally-owned and operated co-ops, and new definitions for housing developments built on community, sharing, and caring.
Instead, the revolution in values will bubble up from the bottom. In fact, it's already started. In urban gardens, locally-owned and operated co-ops, and new definitions for housing developments built on community, sharing, and caring.
9
If Americans want to simplify their lives, maybe they should start with the federal tax code?
17
The 99 percent must be
All bastions of simplicity,
And hardly by choice
Eschew the Rolls Royce,
Victims of inequality.
Are billionaires choosing hair shirts?
Discovering the meaninh of "hurts",
Expanding their rashes
Of tax exempt stashes
While laying off too rich desserts?
All bastions of simplicity,
And hardly by choice
Eschew the Rolls Royce,
Victims of inequality.
Are billionaires choosing hair shirts?
Discovering the meaninh of "hurts",
Expanding their rashes
Of tax exempt stashes
While laying off too rich desserts?
136