Tom Hodgkinson writing in The Ecologist:
“One way to avoid environmental catastrophe would be not to end poverty but to end wealth. It is wealth, not poverty, that makes the problems… This is why I would recommend that every family and individual try to earn and spend less money, not more. Use your imagination to to live well on less each year. This way you will consume less and so create less pressure on the world’s resources. Ending global wealth may be the only way out of our predicaments.”
Sums up our position perfectly.
Jeremy,
Excellent points. But is earning less the answer? I considered this more at my blog, Living Small; what’s your take? Also, is Hodgkinson’s article available online? Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Thinking about it, earning less is part of it, but in the end living generously is going to be more important than living simply. I know some pretty wealthy city people who do a whole heap of good by not spending it all on themselves, so earning less may not be the best thing for everybody.
Unfortunately our culture seems to pursue wealth almost for its own sake, which is crazy.
I understand where u r coming from , I’ve lived in poverty with debt etc and I did not enjoy IT one bit ,I am finally working and earning more money . This enables me to have more choices and freedom which I never allowed myself to have before. I don’t recommend living in poverty for anyone. Everyone deserves a good quality life and to experience different things in life. You are unlikely to achieve this if you are living in poverty.I have plans to live life to the full and it does not come cheap I m sure most people would choose wealth over poverty any time