Terry Hamrick posted this tidbit on Twitter today:
The "Live Simply" sticker on your SUV is a tad disingenuous, don't you think?
It struck me funny because the tweet highlighted the social perception
that SUV owners live anything but simply.
But the fact that this SUV owner identified themselves with the message on that sticker challenges the validity of the "live simply" paradigm as an absolute frame of reference rather than a contextual frame of reference, or perhaps something else.*
In other words, to live simply may mean something different to a Tibetan nomad than it does to a middle-class American walking the fine line between riches and desire.
Which is argument enough for us not to *live and ponder life's questions within the boundaries of our own social bubble.
Absolutes do indeed exist, contrary to the beliefs of populists, but seeing them clearly does require that you eliminate the boundaries that fog your vision. Unfortunately, the anti-populists live in dreamworlds of absolutes within their cloudy bubbles.
Perhaps this is why the two-party system of American politics and the misguided components of each (with the Democrats adoring context but failing to recognize absolutes and the Republicans failing to recognize any sort of context that would validate their absolutes) will never cure the U.S. economy from its cyclic affluenza epidemic of buying stuff, or wanting to buy stuff.
So, yeah, live simply. But be real about it, too. It's not just your bubble.
Interesting reflection. I just get plain mad. But that doesn't solve anything either. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Barbra Noel | March 10, 2009 at 11:31 AM
That is something I struggle with. While I don't have a "Live Simply" sticker on my 1995 Yukon, I do have one on my bicycle, which is my primary mode of transportation. My wife and I sold one of our two cars and now bicycle commute pretty much everywhere. We kept the SUV instead of the Honda civic knowing it was a gas hog. However, we love to go climbing and take our two large dogs. We also love the fact that we can camp in the SUV very easily as well as haul things when we need to. We thought of selling it, but that would actually be less sustainable because the person that bought it would likely drive it a lot more than we do. With that being said, I still feel guilty driving it. I would feel just as guilty, though, going out and buying something else just to look simpler. That guilt is also not enough to make me give up fleeing the city for the mountains every chance I get. I don't have an answer to what it means to truly be simple. I know I'm not there, but I want to be. Thanks for the post.
Posted by: Will | March 12, 2009 at 02:36 PM
Yeah, I think I'd have to take exception to that too. I have a Rav 4 and I'd love to slap a "Live simply" sticker onto it. Thats just about ALL I have, too. No house, no apartment or monster motor home. I don't even spend much time in it. Most time is spent out(car)doors!
Posted by: Robin McQuinn | March 17, 2009 at 06:07 PM
Hey Ryan,
saw something very similar today while I was on my lunch break. It was a Ford F250 (one of the ones with the dual wheels in the back) with a "TreeHugger" bumper sticker on it. Upon further inspection of the side of the vehicle it turns out that the truck belonged to a tree removal company :/
Posted by: Jonathan Ryan | April 29, 2009 at 10:20 AM