Voluntary Simple Living: A dual social movement and indicator of changing cultural values

Intro

This paper will provide evidence upon three points. That Voluntary simple living is both a reform movement and an alternative movement. That both movements are in the coalescence stage of development and finally, that Voluntary simple living is an expression of changing cultural values which favour personal independence and community growth.

First, some definitions

Social movements are organised groups that intentionally promote or resist change through collective action. (Goldberg in Kendall et al, 2001: 126) Most social movements progress through three stages; preliminary, coalescence and institutionalisation. (Kendall et al, 2001: 129)

Sociologists also divide social movements into five types based on the goals and the amount of change they seek to produce. Reform and revolutionary movements seek to change society while religious and alternative movements seek to change the individual. Resistance movements oppose changes to society and/or individuals. (Aberle, 1966; Blumer, 1974 in Kendall et al, 2001: 128)

In detail, and of interest to this essay, a reform movement seeks to improve society by changing some specific aspect of the social structure and an alternative movement seeks to change some aspect of people’s behaviour. (Kendall et al, 2001: 128)

            Voluntary simple living is a deliberate change of lifestyle to meet personal needs and can, as a consequence, have a positive impact on the community. Though voluntary simple living is practised in many ways, it predominantly values less consumption of goods and services. According to Patrick McCormick, an assistant professor of ethics at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, the different messages in the simplicity movement are frugality, stress management and less often, social and ecological justice.

            Independence is defined as: The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without interference.[1] 

            Financial independence is anything that frees you from a dependence on money to handle your life. (Dominguez, J. and Robin, V., 1992: xxvii)

Social values tribes are described by Canadian Sociologist Michael Adams as distinct groups of people who define themselves by how they associate with money.[2]

Organisation of Arguments 

This essay will first, define where voluntary simple living fits in as a social movement and second, that voluntary simple living is related to changes in Canadian cultural values and last of all, that voluntary simple living results in increased personal independence and community growth.

Arguments

Voluntary simple living is quickly becoming two wide spread social movements.  Through books, websites and organisations, more and more people are simplifying their life and spreading the news about how they did it and what the benefits are.

            When Cecile Andrews, author of The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life, offered a voluntary simplicity seminar in Seattle in 1989, only four people attended. Three years later there were 175 people crowding the room (Humphreys, 1989).

Earlier this year Douglas College invited the now celebrated Cecile Andrews to conduct a Circle of Simplicity workshop for staff. At the well-attended Douglas College workshop, participants learned the individual and group benefits of creating Simplicity Circles, how to set them up and how to contact other Simplicity Circles on the Internet.

The number of Simplicity Circles forming around North America is one indicator that voluntary simplicity is receiving wide spread attention.

            Many books have contributed to spreading the ideals of simple living. One of the first and most popular books to date has been Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. In it, the authors describe how they became financially independent and how others can too. With proceeds from their book they created the New Road Map Foundation to provide educational resources based on a vision of co-operative human community.

            Many institutions are being formed as resources that encourage the ideals of simple living. The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University hosts the program Seeds of Simplicity. This non-profit association is working toward developing a strong voice for voluntary simplicity.

            Voluntary simple living is also concerned with creating sustainable lifestyles that have a different consumption pattern than mainstream society. The Center for a New American Dream offers an action kit to help people realign their consumer needs.

            Besides books, seminars and the formation of non-profit organisations, there are many websites that offer assistance and information.

            According to the Goldberg and Kendall model of social movement phases described above, voluntary simple living has passed through the preliminary stage into coalescence stage. The beginnings of the last stage, institutionalisation, are apparent but, since voluntary simple living does not mean the same thing to everyone, that step may still be a long ways off.

             Examining the Goldberg and Kendall definitions for types of social movements, it is apparent that voluntary simple living is both a reform movement and an alternative movement.

As a reform movement, voluntary simple living seeks to improve society by changing the social structure of consumption and changing the perception that frugality and thriftiness are linked to poverty.

As an alternative movement, advocates of voluntary simplicity provide resources to help individuals learn how they can change their consumption patterns of both time and resources so neither are wasted.

Changing cultural values, that favour personal independence and community growth, will be illustrated by comparing new and old survey information as well as examining some anecdotal evidence supplied in voluntary simple living literature.

            In 1991 the survey results of the Canadian Forum on Canada's Future (CFCF) listed the core values of a poll of 400,000 Canadians. Diverse demographic factors such as age, gender and social class were all incorporated in the Canadian values of ten years ago. Equality, dialogue, tolerance, diversity, compassion and an appreciation for Canada's natural beauty and world image were all listed as values of Canadians. (Kendall et al, 2001: 46)

            The validity of reporting the CFCF findings as core values for all Canadians, regardless of demographics, is being questioned. Canadian Pollster and Sociologist Michael Adams claims Canadian core values are becoming more diverse because technologies such as computers and the Internet allow people to cross cultural boundaries and experience a wider spectrum of values.

            Adams claims there are twelve distinct social value groups in Canada and the consensus on social values is breaking down as Canadians focus more on personal freedom and self-fulfilment. (Kendall et al, 2001: 47)

            In his books, Better Happy than Rich and Sex in the Snow, Michael Adams theorises that Canadian society can be broken into social values tribes according to their relationship with money and their age. Adams' twelve social tribes all associate differently with money in a combination of six different ways. Adams considers how a person relates to making money, spending it, saving it, giving it away, stealing it and happiness associated to it. Adams found there were three groups in the over 50 years and up range, four groups among baby boomers and five amongst Gen-X, under 30 years of age. These changes in Canadian society, Adams speculates, permit more personal freedom and self-fulfillment and are indicative of the demographic change taking place.

Adams' findings align closely with the motivational factors behind the voluntary simplicity movement. People want more personal freedom and self-fulfilment and they are beginning to realise their relationship to money is central to their understanding how they can obtain what they want.

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin say the problem with most Americans is that they are trapped in the twin cycles of consumption and debt. In Your Money or Your Life Dominguez and Robin advocate for people to become aware of their spending habits, to see money as a representation of life energy and to pursue financial independence.

Whether or not to seek financial independence is a complicated subject in voluntary simple living literature. Not all authors mention financial independence directly, though all advocate for controlled spending.

In a review of voluntary simplicity literature, Patrick McCormick at Gonzaga University found it was unclear whether authors were, or were not, recommending financial independence. After reading books on voluntary simple living by Elgin, St.James, Andrews, Dominguez and Robin etc., and reviewing magazines such as Money and Kiplinger's, McCormick wrote that;

"… it was often hard to distinguish the benefits of voluntary simplicity from the financial security and independence promised us on all those TV infomercials that tout the advantages of the real estate or direct mail business." (McCormick, 1997)

             It appears that authors and publishers are aware that financial independence is not achievable by the many people drawn, voluntarily or not, to simple living. To emphasise the value of choice of lifestyle, many authors discuss what it means to have enough of something. Enough money or work, enough time or energy, enough clothing or furniture or dishes.

Canadian Betty Jane Wylie, author of Enough, has written a gentle grandmotherly advice sort of book dealing with the subject of enough. Her book has some interesting concepts about increasing free time by decreasing the amount of housework by ridding the house of clutter or, if the house is big, exchange the house for something smaller.  Another message in her book concerns how our independence, exemplified in each house hold having to have a washer, dryer, lawn mower etc., is interfering with a much less expensive and more rational sharing of consumer goods and housing.

Wylie illustrates that the amount of personal independence must also be gauged lest it be taken too far and become costly. She provides examples relating how living co-operatively in the city can add to personal independence. (Wylie, 1998:136)

There is agreement, among supporters of voluntary simple living, that the lifestyle adds to the community, making the community stronger instead of fragmenting it further with a multitude of individuals.

Voluntary simplicity pioneers Duane Elgin and Cecile Andrews have similar opinions about simple living and the benefits to the community. Elgin says that sharing your skills, possessions and personal experiences is essential to the community and living the simple life. Andrews feels that one of the purposes of the voluntary simplicity movement is to cut consumption through educated buying, community-based bartering, time management and volunteering. (Humphreys, 1998)

Jacqueline Blix and David Heitmiller, a couple who embraced the ideas in Your Money or Your Life, wrote a book called Getting a Life in which they reveal how they implemented their new lifestyle. In their book, Blix and Heitmiller describe the activities they now engage in since they no longer work full time. Blix volunteers at a community garden and with a group that provides help to the elderly. Heitmiller is a Big Brother and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. (Davis and Stover, 1996)

Anecdotal evidence that links embracing voluntary simplicity with an increase in personal independence is easy to find. Every book and almost every article written on the subject of voluntary simple living contains testimonials or profiles that indicate one leads to the other.

Increased self-fulfillment is not so well documented. If core Canadian values are changing, and people are becoming more independent, and voluntary simple living practitioners are using their new found free time to volunteer in their community, then volunteerism must be on the rise in Canada.

According to the highlights from the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP), a recent report on volunteerism published by Statistics Canada in August 2001, there was a 13% decrease in volunteerism since 1997. (NSGVP, 2001:32) This represents almost one million fewer volunteers.

Possible explanations for this lack of volunteerism are that Canadians may be more pressed for time because of demands by work and family. (NSGVP, 2001:56)

Though there are fewer volunteers than in 1997, statistics indicate there has been a 9% increase in the average total hours contributed per volunteer over that of 1997. One quarter of the almost 27% of Canadians who volunteer provided 73% of the volunteer hours in 2000. (NSGVP, 2001:32)

Though there are no statistics in this report that associate a persons lifestyle to a person’s ability to volunteer, it is practitioners of voluntary simple living who have reduced time demands by work and family that are the most likely candidates to volunteer in their community.

Conclusion

Voluntary simple living is both a reform movement and an alternative movement in the coalescence stage of development as defined by Kendall, et al, in the sociology text Sociology in our Times. 2^nd Ed.

Voluntary simple living encompasses a wide range of lifestyle choices centred on a person’s core values. Core Canadian values as identified in the Citizens Forum on Canada's Future in the early 1990's have little in common with voluntary simple living values but newer findings by Canadian Sociologist Michael Adams show that Canadian values are changing. Recently, more Canadians have been drawn to voluntary simple living as the economy and their relationship with money has changed. The changes in Canadian society that permit more personal freedom and self-fulfilment are also the motivational factors behind the voluntary simple living movement.

Advocates of voluntary simple living seem split as to whether financial independence should be a primary goal of the lifestyle. However, there is agreement that those engaging in the voluntary simplicity lifestyle benefit from assessing their needs by asking themselves what enough is.

            There is much evidence to suggest that when people disengage from twin cycles of consumption and debt, they achieve more personal freedom and independence. Self-fulfilment, another recently revealed core value, is realised when practitioners of voluntary simplicity direct their newly freed time to community works.

Bibliography

 Books

Dominguez, J. and Robin, V., Your Money or Your Life New York: Penguin Books, 1992.

 Kendall, D., Linden, R., Lothian Murray, J., Sociology in our times Second Ed. Scarborough: Thomson Learning, 2001.

 Wylie, J., Enough Kelowna: Northstone Publishing, 1998

 Internet

Adams, M.: 2000 Better Happy than Rich [on line] http://erg.environics.net/rich/

Davis, K., Stover, S.: 1996, Down shifters,  Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Vol. 50/8, p32, [on line] EBSCO database, keyword: simplicity.

Humphreys, Christine,: 1998, ABCNEWS.com [on line] http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/simplicity980630.html

McCormick, Patrick,: 1997, Warning: Simplicity may complicate your life. U.S. Catholic, 62/7, p46 [on line] EBSCO database, keyword: simplicity.

Hall, M.H.,: 2001, Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: Highlights from the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating Ministry of Industry, Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 71-542-XIE [on line] http://nsgvp.org/n-2000-hr-ca.pdf