Radical Simplicity

Honestly, when I envision my future 10 years from now, I expect to have completed grad school by then, hopefully I will be married with kids and occupied with a job that makes me happy. (Notice, I haven't mentioned any plans concerning sustainability.) I guess it is natural for human beings to prioritize their needs according to the material aspects of life as opposed to the immaterial things. I admire individuals who care enough about the environment to take a stand against the majority and lead their lives in their own environment-friendly way. This takes a lot of courage as one has to abandon a lot of luxuries in life to live sustainably, or try to. Unlike Jim Merkel, people with large families can't just give up a high-end job for the sake of environment's safety. However that doesn't nullify the fact that we can lead a supportable life without damaging nature. We should at least consider preserving our surroundings in our everyday lives, for example, eat meat only during one meal per day, turn the lights off whenever we leave our rooms etc.

I must say RS is in fact a riveting read. I used to think that impoverished people couldn't lead a sustainable way of living even if they wanted to. Merkel's description of Kerala changed my point of view when he mentioned that the inhabitants of Kerala ''organized and defeated a dam project that threatened an intact evergreen forest called Silent Valley.'' (It should be noted that Kerala is not an impoverished place; people just opt for a simpler life.) Merkel mentions his rendez-vous with a well-spoken man called Somadas who lives with his wife and two kids in a house without any furniture and appliances. Houses and shops are simple in this part of the world. I was shocked when Merkel revealed the price of his tailor-made shirt - 75 cents only! Thanks to local materials from the bioregion, products made in Kerala are bound to be cheap since no transportation energy is used up and no resources are used in advertisement and promotion. However, it's quite the opposite in countries like the USA, UK, Canada to name a few, which have been affected by globalisation. Clothes are far more expensive although stores that offer reasonable prices exist.

I have started considering eating less meat (it's a huge deal for me since I love meat) since it's much more environment-friendly but more importantly because I want to live longer! My material wants are pretty basic as I have previously mentioned. I don't want too much of anything since that's how we become corrupt. Merkel's list of questions concerning the non-material aspects of life helped me analyse my future needs (material aspects are not as important.) I found out that laughter and fun in life mean the most to me followed by fair relations with other species and other people. I realised that once in a while I must take some time out to check whether or not I care about others and I feel cared for. Although non-material aspects are significant, we should prioritize our material wants first. As a result, one will discover that some of our material ''needs'' are not really needs, but more like wants.

Although I admire Merkel's emphasis on simplicity and his courage to radically change his lifestyle, I feel that we can still contribute to the environment's well-being without being so drastic. In his chapter ''Sharing the Earth,'' Merkel lists four points we can follow in order to ''take less'' which are 1) Earn less, taking less of the available work 2)Consume less 3) Make wiser choices 4)Purchase local products. First of all, I don't think it's natural for a person to forgo a job with a high salary for a low-paying one. More money means more luxuries. As far as consuming less goes, we can always give up some things that are not required. For example, we can buy less frozen food/meat, that way less power will be used up by the refrigerator and opt for more vegetables instead. I guess it goes without saying that ''making wiser choices'' should be considered by everyone, even when it's not enforced. Without each individual changing his/her life drastically, we can definitely make an impact collectively. Purchasing local products is not always easy since there are some stores that do not give information about where the product has come from. However, it's a rare case. For example, Whole Foods sells fruits that are mostly from countries in South America. And even the ones that are locally grown are out of some people's budgets! It's a tricky situation but that's how it is. Those of us who have backyards can make use of them by planting seasonal vegetables and fruits.

In my eyes, Merkel's life choices are a bit too extreme for those who have families and those who do not have enough savings to pursue a life for about $5000 a year. I plan to have a family of my own one day and I don't think that would be the best route for me. Although I definitely want to lessen my negative environmental impact in future.