The Priviledge of Minimalism

Minimalism 

/ˈmɪnɪməˌlɪz(ə)m/

noun

1. A movement in sculpture and painting which arose in the 1950s, characterised by the use of simple, massive forms.

2. An avant-garde movement in music characterised by the repetition of very short phrases which change gradually, producing a hypnotic effect.

3. Deliberate lack of decoration or adornment in style or design

According to The Human Givens Charter, our innate emotional needs include “a sense of competence and achievement”, that is often quantifiable. We measure accomplishments by numbers, by how much we make, spend and own. It doesn’t even need to be about money, it can be about how many degrees you obtained, and how many places you visited, how many miles you’ve run. We strive for more, we take pleasure in indulgence and excess. But to Millburn and Nicodemusn, indulgences only brought debt, stress, and anxiety. Having “achieved everything that was supposed to make them happy: six-figure careers, luxury cars, oversized houses, and all the stuff to clutter every corner of their consumer-driven lives.” Despite all of this,  there was a void that couldn’t be filled with more stuff. They weren’t fulfilled until they became minimalists, until they became free.

It’s important to note that choosing the minimalist lifestyle is a privilege, being able to attain everything you've set out to have is a privilege, experiencing excessiveness and opulence is a privilege.  Millburn and Nicodemusn had the privilege that allowed them to understand that fulfilment comes from more than just materialistic wealth.   

Millburn and Nicodemusn emphasise how minimalism opens the door to “Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture, which we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom”. However can we really escape the capitalistic, consumer driven culture that has been built for over centuries and have had trillion of dollars worth of marketing to sustain it. The capitalist foundations are on its core built on consumption, the aim is to produce more, to gain more, to consume more. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the most prominent tool to measure a country’s success, for economists and investors alike it’s a representation of the economic production and the growth of a country. It’s a pretty big deal. One of the ways we measure GDP is by adding up what everyone spent in a year, hence our countries financial and economic success–that sustains our education, healthcare, safety and standard of living– is directly correlated to our consumption. To clarify, the GDP equation consists of 5 things: consumption, government spending, investment and net exports. On average consumer spending accounts for almost 70% of the GDP. So to live well we must consume. We need to consume.