"No European who has tasted Savage Life can afterwards bear to live in our societies." — Benjamin Franklin

Monday, December 10, 2007

Consumption

Don't recycle!
Don't "Buy Local"!
Instead,
CONSUME LESS!

This is one of my mantras. I try to keep my possessions to a minimum. This is very helpful in many aspects of life: I don't need much living space, I can move easily, I worry less about the security of my "stuff", etc. A far-flung result of this attitude is that I'm causing less to be dumped into landfills later, and polluting less by not requiring that things be made for my consumption.

Hunter-gatherers are known for having few possessions. What they do have, they can often carry on their backs. They don't worry about their stuff because it's simple and easily-replaceable.

We can learn a lot from hunter-gatherer cultures.

Edit : Here is a good article concerning a doctor marrying a yoga teacher, and how they both re-thought their attitudes to money and possessions.