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Documentary: Less is Now (review)

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Joshua and Ryan (The Minimalists) have a new documentary Less is Now. Their key message - life is better with less stuff - remains the same. This time around they've interviewed regular people, and looked into the causes of our consumerism - and how it hurts us.

Here are some of my highlights:

S‫imple vs Easy

They're not the same. Easy is going with the flow. Buying whatever advertising tells you to. It takes work to be intentional but it's worth the work.

Haste makes waste

The idea of anything we want being "on your doorstep within 24 hours" sounds convenient. But convenience can be our enemy.

"If I can get you to purchase before you can think, I'm gonna get you to buy stuff you don't need".

Manipulation

Selling is OK - we want the grocery store to sell us food. But what people are pushing is not always compatible with what we need. Corporations are there to make money, make sales, and make more of both.

Marketers are "really impressive" with their ability to "manipulate our mind" to create a 'need' out of a want. The USA is the "most advertised-to society in history".

Deficit advertising

Annual advertising in the USA is 240 billion dollars. Some of this is promoting a product. But a lot is deficit advertising - saying we are inferior if we don't have the product.

So many messages telling us that we aren't good enough is not helpful to our state of mind.

The American Dream Nightmare

It's no longer a dream. Longer hours, little vacation, longer commutes, more time in front of screens. Losing the stuff that makes us happy and exchanging it for more work and more stuff.

The "endless horizon of aspiration" becomes an "endless black hole". The more we buy, the more our brains adjust to it - and want more. More money doesn't solve the problem because we just buy stuff and expand our horizon.

The weird part is that because we worked so hard to get it, we don't give it up - even though it doesn't make us happy.

Keeping up

We work out how much is enough by looking at those around us. But "keeping up with the Joneses" is so much harder thanks to media. We're comparing ourselves to celebrities instead of to our neighbours.

Goodbye Layby

Remember layby? When you got your item after making the payments. Not anymore. Society's attitude (like a 4-year-old in a shop) is "I want it and I want it now".

Stunning stats

The average American carries 4 credit cards and the average indebted household is $16,000 in debt. Americans spend more on shoes, jewellery and watches than on higher education.

Do we have too many things?

Is it only when we run out of room for them? Perhaps it's actually when we run out of purpose for them.

Sentimental items

Fewer is better. Joshua gets more value from a few items rather than "watering them down" with trinkets.

Memories are not in things but in us. He gives the example of his mum who kept his school work - all preserved in boxes that weren't opened for decades.

Mindset

Why are we depressed and empty when we have so much? Getting "more of the wrong thing is less".

"There are deeper things that fulfill us - our need for meaning, our need for progress, our need for intimacy." Sadly, we're "bingeing on all the wrong things and we're dying of hunger for the things that really matter."

Internal work

Joshua asked himself questions like::

  • When did I give so much meaning to all these material possessions?
  • What is truly important in my life?
  • Why have I become so discontented?
  • Who is the person I want to become?
  • How will I define my own success?

He reckons that without going through questions like these, our decluttered closet soon refills itself with new purchases.

Discovering your passion

We can get direction for a good life from our inner voice - rather than external stimulation.

"If people could just make a decision to be fully alive. If they could just get rid of everything that is sucking the life out of their soul. That's when you're going to find your passion. But your passion is never going to be about yourself. Your passion will always be about some good you can do in the world."

An invitation

Ryan ends the documentary with this invitation:

"Imagine a life with more. More time. More meaningful relationships. More growth and contribution and contentment. A life of passion unencumbered by the trappings of the chaotic life around you. What you're imagining is an intentional life. Not a perfect life. Not even an easy life. But a simple one. And to get there you might have to let go of some stuff that's in the way."

That's a great summary of their message in this documentary. If you've got Netflix, check it out. If you don't (perhaps you've minimised it away) watch it with a friend who has. It might help you both.

Other reading

The Minimalists first documentary

The Minimalists book - Everything that Remains

My other book reviews - or sign-up for future ones

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