EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Five, Number Four
March/April 1996

Living Simply — Why It's So Difficult!

The first step toward devising a sustainable economic base in the USA, once we have the vision, is to identify the obstacles to such an effort and create proposals to address the obstacles.

Over the past three years Elaine and Nelson Stover of the Institute of Cultural Affairs, Greensboro NC, have conducted LifeStyle Simplification Labs in eight states and two foreign countries. The Lab is a one day participatory event which starts participants on the journey to a more authentic, sustainable lifestyle. Analysis of 500 responses written by Lab participants to the question "What blocks to living a simpler lifestyle do people face?" revealed 12 major categories of obstacles:

  1. Unclear Vision of the Simplification Path — a lack of positive role models, negative connotations (poverty, or sacrifice) to "simple living"
  2. Inability to Determine "What Is Enough" — the cultural value "More Is Better", especially with regard to "stuff," relationships, time and money.
  3. Mechanized Daily Habits — habitual consumptive behavior attributed to media bombardment of addictive messages.
  4. Addiction to Material Rewards — caught in the cycle of work-and-spend: working hard, spending money on items promising fulfillment, and having to work harder to pay for them.
  5. Externally Defined Images of Success — "Who I am is what I have," need for status symbols.
  6. Unrealistic Work Expectations — "Who I am is what I do;" inability of employees to extricate themselves from employer demands, for the sake of fewer work hours and simpler lifestyle.
  7. Over-Emphasis on Rugged Individualism — fear of becoming too dependent on others.
  8. Institutionalized, Monetized Security — fear that a simpler lifestyle would not support the costs of insurance, health care, education, and other cost outlays.
  9. Patriotic Obligation to Consume — "simpler lifestyle is positively un-American;"
  10. Unconducive Infrastructure Design — separation of residential and commercial areas, inaccessible public transportation, and inequitable taxes.
  11. Underdeveloped Support Network of People Seeking Alternatives — fear of isolation by the mainstream discourages many from reaching out to build support systems.
  12. Diminished Sense of Individual Impact — fear that what one person does will make no difference in our society; "Will it be worth it to simplify my life?"

For more on LifeStyle Simplification Labs write Elaine Stover, ICA, 5911 Western Trail, Greensboro NC 27410; 910/605-0143; email ICAGboro@igc.apc.org.

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