12 Reasons for Adopting a Simpler Lifestyle

The following items were printed in our ‘It is Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness’ leaflet many years ago, and are still appropriate today.

For the sake of PERSONAL INTEGRITY and as an expression of personal commitment to a fairer distribution of the earth’s resources;

As a way of REDUCING OUR IMPACT on the environment, so that the present slide towards ecological disaster may be halted, and eventually reversed;

As a matter of DE-LINKING from global competition for scarce resources, which increases international tension and fuels the arms race;

As a move towards a way of life which is more PERSON-ORIENTED than thing-oriented, with greater opportunities to work together and to share resources with one’s neighbours.

As a way to increase PERSONAL AUTONOMY, so that by consuming less one is less dependent on a dehumanising and impersonal economy;

As a way of appreciating the riches of the NATURAL WORLD, and the fact that we share this planet with millions of other organisms;

As a way of NURTURING CREATIVITY, by making us rely more on our inner resources and inventiveness and less on high-pressure commercialism;

As a means of promoting PHYSICAL, MENTAL and SPIRITUAL HEALTH, by eating more wholesome food, by reducing tension and anxiety, and by allowing ourselves more time for meditation and prayer;

As a means of ECONOMISING, so that by saving on daily living expenses, we can choose either to devote more MONEY to important causes, or to work fewer hours for our necessities and spend more TIME on worthwhile activities;

As a stimulus to LEARNING MORE SKILLS, so that we are able to make, repair and maintain things, and to provide our own entertainment;

As a REDIRECTION OF PURCHASING POWER towards the creation of satisfying jobs which meet genuine social needs;

As an expression SOLIDARITY WITH THE FOUR-FIFTHS OF MANKIND who have no choice about their life style.