Cult of Less

[crankyoldman]

Somehow the word "cult" is very apt.

I have mixed feelings about the idea of living out of a harddrive. Mainly because, well, it's a tinged privileged. There's one form of not having a lot of stuff due to poverty, but somehow it's just not as hip as this. :/

And what about art? I happen to sew a lot now, and that requires a certain amount of stuff to do properly. I think the majority of my accumulation of stuff is related to costuming or the fact I collect art. Am I tied down because of this, or is it a part of the enrichment of my life? I rather like making things, and a stash is very helpful for that (instead of having to go out and buy stuff every time I make something... often I can adapt what I have around).

As much as I love the digital world, there are things I enjoy about the physical one. What about you?

Comments

[geeksdoitbetter]

Mr Klein says the lifestyle can become loathsome because "you never know where you will sleep".

from what i can tell, these are upper middle class folks, choosing to not pay rent

i wonder how they repay their friends's kindness of letting them sleep on couches?

[crankyoldman]

Or what would they do if they didn't have friends that bought into owning/renting property?

I'd hope they at least do the dishes. That example in particular annoyed me.

[classysleuth]

Is that a safe way to live wandering around carrying expensive easily fenceable items. And what about if you have children there are ages when kids are too young for a computer.

On to the actual question, I personally like handling things so I'll know their real but digital movies, books, and music are all awesome and good for keeping a neat apartment. Not that the magpie that I am allows me to use them to their fullest.

But honestly going all digital is like talking on the phone you're missing half the conversation. With physical stuff you get touch, smell, and taste were currently their unavaliable in the digial and those sense are important for enjoyment of lots of items. and then there is art which the digital isn't even comparable to the physical.

[crankyoldman]

It strikes me as something that young, white, upper middle class men would find to be daring and interesting and pretty much everyone else would find problems with. Coming from a family of hoarders I can see where too much stuff is a problem, but life is messy.

Even the example of the man who own an apartment and keeps it bare... such a sad looking place.

[finch]

On the one hand, having tons of my books on my computer is awesome. On the other hand, I simply can't find a lot of my books as ebooks. I wish I could find more of them, but I'm not giving up some of my books just because it's not super minimalist to own things.

I paint, and I collect art. That means I have sketch pads and canvases and stuff hanging around. I don't want to live without art. Some people can. I can't.

I think having a website with a list of all your things is, tbh, a little exhibitionist. Moreso than the blog alone, anyway. I'll note that he owns at least two notebooks but no pencils or pens?

My gf and I could manage with a single moving truck. I think that's sufficient. But if that works for him, I don't have a problem with that.

[kaptainvon]

Reading the article, I agree that it smacks of privilege - it's worth noting that we're talking about spiky-haired twenty-something software engineers whose designer clothes are among the possessions they choose to retain, which is quite telling.

The stripping down of material possessions does have a certain appeal to me from time to time, but it's in constant tension with an inner desire to live in a kind of wizard's study. Plus, like you, I have pastimes that involve a lot of stuff-making, and which I can only fund through being a scrounger, a hoarder and a general accumulator of unconsidered trifles.

I view the exciting digital world as a distraction from actually making things more than vice versa, if you follow. That said, I wouldn't mind skipping straight to being a disembodied machine intelligence. Bodies are annoying.

[ambersweet]

There's nothing new in the idea of having everything you own fit in a backpack while you couch-surf, but there's also no virtue in it. Really, super-minimalists annoy me just as much as those couples on HGTV whose three-bedroom house isn't big enough for them, and they're really the same kinds of people - it's just that the thing that they use to try and make other people feel less important is a lack of possessions rather than an abundance of them.

Living like that also suggest that these folks don't have any hobbies that don't involve their electronics. While I suppose there's nothing wrong with that per se, I couldn't do it. My favorite hobbies are very tangible (knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, collage) and there's something incredibly satisfying about making something with your own two hands that I just don't get when I'm using a computer.

[novel_machinist]

I have a massive hate on for most people who choose to be homeless. They aren't forced to do this. They HAVE resources. Once they are tired of being "poor" they can return to their lives and no longer be "poor".

They're making a mockery of homelessness. /rant

And I dunno, I think there needs to be a balance. I don't need a lot of stuff, but I do need some things.

[crankyoldman]

Yes, homelessness is a lot more fun if you have the option to not be it when it stops being fun. My little sister and I as kids (because we didn't know better) used to "play bum" and sleep on the floor covered in newspapers. Of course, it was a fun game because we were inside and warm, and if we got too uncomfortable could just crawl up to our beds.

My mom was good enough to point out that it wasn't a game, and that people who have less wouldn't appreciate it, so we stopped.

[novel_machinist]

Because you have a wise, good mom who knows when to nip things in the bottom.

[paradox_dragon]

On the one hand: I think there's valid potential in minimalism and simple living to combat consumerism, capitalism, environmental degradation, etc. And if this is how they want to live their lives, it doesn't particularly bother me.

On the other hand: This is obviously a lifestyle restricted to a select few. It is incredibly privileged, and it is not a viable solution to unequal distribution of resources or anything like that. I think that simple living is most valuable when done in solidarity with the poor and working classes; this is exclusivity, not solidarity, and it's only possible due to possessing a social network of those with material privilege and resources. Moreover, it is not desirable to many, who like you (and me!) enjoy pursuits or pursue livelihoods dependent on bulky raw materials or means of production.

To conclude: My problem is when stuff like this gets framed as a social justice solution or a source of superiority that I have a problem with it. If a dude just wants to get rid of his DVD, whatever. But don't act like it's an option for everyone or that it would be a good thing if everyone did the same.

[crankyoldman]

I often think of the difference between this sort of privileged minimalist fetishism and people genuinely wanting to combat the destructiveness of pure materialism are more essentialist. In all reality, you don't need a hard drive or a computer or designer clothes. You do need somewhere to shelter you when you sleep, something to clothe you in whatever your weather is.

Unfortunately more often than not I see the good points of minimalism being drowned out by fetishistic lists of possessions and a very consumerist idea of "if you have this thing, you can keep your whole life in it".

Still chasing the thing to buy to solve all your problems.

[whitemage]

:|

I don't want to live in a computer. Ever. Noncorporeal being on the etherplane, we'll talk, but no effing harddrive Matrix shiz.

Also, yes. It's very privileged. Someone somewhere must be owning that property you are staying in. Also as Drak said, they can walk away at anytime.

More importantly? What kind of jobs are they working? Freelance? Something hip and trendy? I guarantee you, when I worked HR, if some dudebro came to use with "no physical address," I don't care how good his skillz are, hahahahaha, NO. Because he could be effing gone with company secrets the next day and we'd have no recourse. Plus, the whole establishing identity. Just no.

And, yeah, I agree about the hobbies, and the things. There is nothing inherently wrong with things, as there is nothing wrong with not having things (unless the lack of things is severe and ouches you). In the end, once again, it's finding a balance that works for you.

Ei, humans and balance. WTH.

[firecat]

These modern young folks they need LAPTOPS, IPADS, KINDLES, and TWO EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES to be minimalist and fancy free? Why, back in the 1950s, the Beats went on the road and all they had to record their awesome drug-saturated adventures was PENS AND PAPER. Or in some cases manual typewriters.

[crankyoldman]

Ha ha, I know! I actually had a friend hitchhike from Wisconsin to Texas, and the most high tech piece of equipment he had on him was his tent and his phone, which was a simple pay as you go type.

[jack_of_none]

Mainly because, well, it's a tinged privileged

This is entirely my problem. Also, I notice all these people are dudes who have probably never had to worry about getting harassed for walking alone at night.

Plus, what about pets? What about children? What about hobbies that aren't digital (I make jewelry)? What about weather? This is kind of crass, but where the hell do you have sex -- on your friend's couch? Doesn't that make you kind of a douchebag?

This is the kind of privileged nonsense that made me avoid anyone who self-identifies on the internet as a 'transhumanist'.

[crankyoldman]

Yes, it would be very nice to be able to shed all my trappings on a purely philosophical level; but the sad truth is, the world as it is would make that very very hard for me. And I've got no kids, pets, or live-in partner!

My best friend spent a summer hitch-hiking and I envied him, because if I were to do the same thing alone, you can bet I'd get murdered or worse. But he was a pretty unassuming looking white guy, and has that freedom. At least he wasn't a douche about it, and aware of the fact that I could never undertake such a journey. Instead I travel to visit friends with normal modes of transport--alone, but always in communication so there is SOME safety.

And I'm struck by the whole necessity of having to have all those electronic trappings; some people would argue that a hard drive and an electronic keyboard and whatsit are completely unnecessary. While extreme, I've always admired nuns and monks because at least they've narrowed it down to REAL essentials.

I really hope the couch bum at least is celibate. XD