(Anti-)Minimalism discussion… book review of Marie Kondo coming soon.
23 August 2017 [link youtube]
This is a video from late November, 2016 (discussing minimalism, etc., following up on other videos that were current at the time). Yeah, in November, in Kunming, it really was cold enough to be wearing so many layers on camera. At that time I had not read Marie Kondo's book (title, "the life-changing magic of tidying up"). I am now planning to read and review her book on this channel.
Youtube Automatic Transcription
you may not be watching these videos in
order you may be watching these videos in the year 2020 or the year 2050 for all I know but I just this evening recorded two videos back-to-back the video I recorded before this one was supposed to be a response to my critics a response to my patreon supporters on the topic of minimalism so not my first video on that subject and we're really here talking about minimalism in the form that has become popular become influential within the digital vegan demi-monde right because you hear a lot about something with it the vegan baby want I think there are some obvious reasons for what that is in terms of the ethical and ecological impulses that draw people towards veganism many of those same people are drawn towards minimalism so I've got three different messages here and I'm gonna treat them as anonymous I just don't I don't know if these people would want me shouting them out on my channel and we the the video recorded before this one I thought I was gonna get straight into minimalism but I ended up talking more generally about the question of receiving and responding to criticism and specifically receiving and responding to criticism via patreon so these are people who pay one dollar a month you have the privilege of criticizing me but anyway I do I mean I get all kinds of them sometimes very worthwhile and interesting disagreements sent to me within patreon I think just a couple of people I think two people quit because they felt that I was anti Donald Trump now on this channel I don't think you can actually find me saying anything bad about Donald Trump but maybe just the tone of my voice they presume that I'm to disapprove it but hey you know that's how it's gonna be you're gonna lose you're gonna need some support every time you voice an opinion but Tim I don't think two people quit because they they felt that was not supportive enough towards the new president the United States Donald Trump I mentioned that because someone may be watching this video I was mentioned the year 2020 the year 2050 maybe you've forgotten who Donald Trump was well at one time Donald Trump was elected president United States of America okay so the first letter are gonna read out here from a patreon supporter is supportive of my view and then the second one is less supportive or more critical or more questioning of my view and then the third one is completely hostile so let's see all right question one this is or letter one this is from Alexa I'll use her first name only Alexa writes I agree that minimalism she jazz in quotation marks quote unquote minimalism usually ends up being one of the more diluted forms of consumerism because in addition to the sort of ostentation you highlight ie that I highlight in my earlier video on this topic in addition to the sort of awe sensation you highlight it encourages the constant drive to upgrade your possessions when you allow yourself very little you're always on the lookout for a new Holy Grail version of the items you have continually buying improved versions of necessities items that took energy or resources to produce and getting rid of perfectly good functional items because it is pod that is actually an interesting point that I mean III omitted in my earlier video I mean it's so obvious you can you can fail to recognize it but one aspect of minimalism is getting rid of perfectly good functional items as simple as it sounds it's easy to overlook that um okay so she doesn't say personal anecdote you often see this with photographers in an effort to combat the urge to constantly acquire more and more photography gear they pare down their collections to a bare minimum but are constantly selling and purchasing newer and more costly cameras to try to find the one camera that will be the best at everything when the perfect tool for every job simply does not exist so what she's alluding to here is that there's a kind of false a false god of productivity a false idol of what productivity is because productivity can't be achieved by having just one perfect camera or just one perfect tool you actually do need the clutter of a variety of different cameras of different tools for different jobs ok so again an interesting point that was not covered in my first video on the topic I'm reminded of here with all these conversations about minimalism for me one of the reasons why I don't own a bicycle is I know just how much is involved by when you want a bicycle you don't just on a bicycle you own all the tools you need to change a tire a lot of tools related to repairing the bicycle you know you need a whole garage full of stuff to be serious about bicycles and as is alluded to here with cameras a bicycle rarely means one bicycle anyone who's serious about biking pretty soon they own seven bicycles it's it's hard to own fewer than three bicycles because you know there's one kind of bicycle you use in the mud there's one bicycle use in the rain if you live in Canada you have a totally different bicycle for the snow you have a road bike maybe you have a racing bike which is not the same as a road bike maybe you have a grand touring bike very quickly people are serious about bicycles can spiral into having a whole garage full of stuff but on the other hand as she's saying you cannot actually have one tool for every job in terms of what's functional or what's effective actually you need different kinds of cameras and different kinds of bicycles for different kinds of things so it's lose-lose people this is a ballast yell did you think the story was gonna have a happy ending no it's all bad news it's all bad news all right um I continue to rehear this letter from Alexa and ultimately minimalism itself minimalism in quotation marks again that's my girl Alexa minimalism itself is a product being sold the rule of only keeping things that bring you joy is straight from the konmari method so this is alluding to Mary condo so I did my duty I had never heard of Marie condo before I googled her I looked up her YouTube videos before broadcasting with you now yeah this is some this is some Mary Kondo anyway so she goes I'm Marie Kondo can be credited with much of the current vogue of minimalism especially with the Martha Stewart / old magazine set not only doesn't Marie Kondo sell books and workbooks detailing her doctrine of paring down your for maximum happiness and empowerment she runs a consulting business to help rich people hire someone to directly coach their minimalism in person minimalism isn't the key to happiness any more than beer or cologne or expensive makeup veganism is but people are sad and wants to be less sad so it selects I really do like Alexis running style but actually actually I didn't really read that in the right tone of voice but she really sticks in the the dagger at the end there minimalism isn't the key to happiness anymore than beer or Cologne but people are sad and they wanted one so I think that is true I think in many cases there is a yearning for a more meaningful a more happy a more satisfying life and at the root of sometimes of people getting involved veganism definitely people getting involved with something like minimalism and she ends with a joke and inside joke because I alluded to the fact I think I donate on this video I said warning anyone who is taking a shot of vodka every time I mentioned Laos you will get drunk because some people joke to the past and take a shot of vodka every time I mentioned Laos every time I mention Cambodia so Alexis actually ends this message by saying PS anyone playing that drinking game is dead by now cute all right so the next one so I mentioned I'm gonna read three messages the next one is a little bit more questioning a little bit more to screwing with me and then I have a letter a long letter really criticizing me or disagree with me fundamentally so this from guy named Alec all right so using first knew the first one was Alexa and this is Alec okay keep them straight Alec asks isn't anti-consumerism a kind of minimalism that is essential to environmentalism and ecology question mark okay so I pause I'm gonna read the whole message I actually disagree with this fundamental premise here i I think that anti-consumerism like anti capitalism suffers from a horrendously vague definition it's not just a negative definition it's a horrendously vague definition I am NOT an anti capitalist and I mean even though it's easy to be a critic of consumerism it's easy to criticize the excesses of consumerism at the same time we have to say well what then is anti-consumerism really I do not think auntie consumerism is essential to environmentalism I do not think any century consumerism is essential to ecology I don't so actually I do disagree with the fundamental purpose here now I'm gonna keep reading his message I'm not gonna just monologue on what my views are on the topic but if you want to know what my views are you can see any of the videos on this channel that deal with what I call the you know habitat conservation approach the wildlife management approach right I think that those challenges habitat conservation wildlife management they have nothing to do with consumers and ranty consumerism except in the vaguest sense in which we can define these terms so that everything is related to consumers mateys I mean you know if you define things vaguely enough they're all linked but you know ultimately from my perspective a group of people in a position of political power sit down with a map they draw a lines on a map and then they have men from the police and the army enforce the lines in the map but what are the lines in the map mean they mean over there you're allowed to cut down trees over here you're not over there you're allowed to dump pollution in the water and over here you're not and here are the lines what kind of pollution are you allowed to dump in the water what kind of pollution air not so this is the brutal reality of regulation um what there was a hilarious quote from Alan Greenspan all power to regulate comes out of the barrel of a gun ladies and gentlemen Alan Greenspan the worst Fed Chairman in the history the red state Alan Greenspan has the world's alright my opinion Alan Greenspan has got to be table for another video let's get on with with with Alex letter here all right so Alex says we know how many non-vegan environmentalists there are presumably there are also many environmentalists who spend big on superfluous and harmful things that require environmental harm alcohol tobacco other drugs unnecessarily large cars burning and nasarah mats of fuel long distance vacations of little value etc do you reject this kind of consumerism and is there a better word for this rejection than minimalism question mark so I've already anticipated this because I've been talking about extent to which I do not reject consumerism um you know and again I mean you know you could say that I'm viewing instead towards a regulation ISM you know I don't I don't think on a cultural level progress for ecology or progress for animal rights can come about through minimalism but again I'll reflect on this more in a moment maybe a little bit later but I mean I think - I think I understand psychologically why do some people cling to minimalism it may be because they come from a background of being a compulsive shopper of being someone who just buys too much stuff well I don't have that kind of background if anything my problem is the OPP's extreme I have a lot of experience living my whole life out of one suitcase one suitcase one backpack you know of owning extremely little so I'm not really saying this to insult those people I think they're people have a serious psychological problem where they are really hung up on owning expensive things or just owning a lot of things and they get into credit card debt so for them minimalism has as a as a meaning that's totally different from what we're discussing on this channel which is really more political and ecological and linked to veganism other forms of activism and our long-term attempts to militate for cultural change so I'm there making a significant concession for minimalism but so he asks do you reject this tiny consumerism and is there a better word for this rejection than minimalism well let me know again when you have regulations some people are really offended that I even say this here's a very clear example regulation let's say the government has a positive tax on leather shoes or I say positive because I mean raising the price okay so all of a sudden when you go to the store to buy a nike running shoe that's made at a leather it's 25% more fat more expensive it's a 25% chance on a leather running shoe from Nike like Jordan Air Jordan 1 Jordan the jordan one's 20 overs Norte and the government reallocates some of that tax monies have a negative tax on all of the shoes that contain no leather whatsoever let's say no animal products whatsoever so right next to the Jordan one bye the same company Nike the same corporation they make a shoe called the hyper dunk to buy knowledge then the hyper dunk it's almost entirely made at a plastic they have other shoes that are made out of you know cotton and canvas and other materials there are tons of other shoes even made by that one company right so now the price for the leather shoe is boosted up 25% the price for the non leather shoe is reduced to a percent to me this is not minimalism this is not ante consumerism this is completely working within the rules of a capitalist consumer society but this changes changes the world and again many many times talked about our attitudes walt homosexuality I think is a huge example how changes in culture and laws have changed the status of homosexuals in the last 100 years um you know but of course the other one I talk about all the time is cigarette smoking right so even just price controls even just taxation can send a powerful message and as you know health information can send a powerful message and as I say again and again with homosexuals the fact that homosexuals organized permanent institutions such as you know bars and nightclubs and restaurants that also was a huge part of their their struggle and the success of their struggle my opinion anyway you guys have heard me talk about stuff in other videos why do I mention here from my perspective none of that has anything to do with consumerism or minimalism so that's my paradigm in this video we've summarized a lot of my approach to veganism we've summarized the community aspect we summarized the habitat conservation aspect alright let's get back to Alex message to me here okay so alec asks is there a word for this other than minimalism is this what you mean by instrumentalism I'm not sure that this word is adequate so I can answer this one simply no when I say instrumental ISM I'm talking about my own attitude toward the material possessions I own so fabulous set of pens here I think these are now illegal because they've disappeared from store shelves this is a fabulous pen made in China okay and this is a Chinese knockoff of a very expensive pen made in Germany called the Lambie pen why do I own three of them spend all my time studying Chinese my point was simply that I can regard my possessions my worldly possessions as instruments as means to an end why do I own this not because it makes me feel important not because it makes me feel wealthy not for all kinds of other reasons that minimalists critique but nevertheless i think when you look at function when you look at productivity when you look at outcomes when you look at robustness that was the main topic at document priority Oh being robust being prepared to deal with unforeseen circumstances those things were alluded to in the first message I was reading out before there are there's a totally separate set of criteria for how I evaluate the value of owning things that again doesn't have to do with minimalism but also from my perspective dozens uncritically in britain brace consumerism but at the same time you know this kind of worldly possession it got delivered here on a truck it's a product of the capitalist system it's a product of the banking system I'm not gonna front like I'm somehow you know opposed to the whole edifice of modern Western capitalism I'm not or that I don't benefit from it because I do I do better I am very grateful that I could buy this pen for eight Qui instead of paying a hundred euros for it made in Germany that's why I wonder I don't know if these are now illegal but I noticed they all disappeared from the store shelves I think the company that owns the patent in Germany I wonder if they had a crackdown and said hey you're you're copying our style oh alright um one can only speculate perhaps you could just call it aunty consumerism but I think would also be accurate to describe abstinence from environmentally harmful consumerism as a form of minimalism oh we got a technical issue here as a form of minimalism perhaps environmentalist minimalism or ecological minimalism or even ethical minimalism would be good terms I don't think it's fair to describe all minimalism as self-indulgent even if that form is the most prominent on the Internet these days after all the internet is an advertising medium we cannot allow advertisers to hijack and ruin every word for potentially answering anti-consumerist philosophies even getting rid of stuff that we own that others are more likely to actually use could be driven by environmentalists and ethical motives he says that he would be glad to give away his own junk if he thinks it won't be functional for him much of what he owns in this way this junk came by the way of presence or an inheritance when I come spending money I consider myself a kind of minimalist etcetera etcetera so the only thing I have to say in response to that message is that we have to be careful that we do not define minimalism so broadly or so vaguely that it means anything and everything this is a problem there often when you're debating atheism versus monotheism if you allow concepts like God to become so vague that they can mean anything then you can't refute them and also the arguments made in support of them become meaningless and this is a problem because minimalism can become so broadly defined and so vague that it starts to be meaningless and to be sure something like consumerism or capitalism can become so broad and so vague okay so my third message that actually strongly disagrees with me this person writing to me who I will allow to remain anonymous let's use a fake name let's say this is from Lisa but I do know who it's from this is really disagreeing with me on the point of minimalism but something I alluded to earlier in this video is that my own perspective on this is partly in form of the fact that circumstances in my life have forced me to live a life that is pretty minimalistic to only own things I can carry in one suitcase to own very little to care very little about worldly possessions I've mentioned many times up until age 37 I never owned a cellular phone I never around a car I never owned so many of the things that many modern Western people take for granted okay so this person who were calling Lisa writes to me and says I am NOT anti-consumerist I am a pro consumption capitalist but I believe that excess hurts us and hurts the environment she says that the full definition of meaningless sorry put me the full definition of minimalism is not to only own things that give you joy but to own things that give you joy or that you need right now again we're getting vague here necessity can mean anything assess any means different things to different people right some people think it's necessary don't 10 pairs of shoes etc etc but with that being noted um we continue so she says point one from your video is on robustness or efficiency she says obviously there is a tipping point for everything in your tool example there comes a point when the volume of tools in the level of disorganization completely outweighs any robustness advantage if you can't find the tool you were looking for or if it takes too long to find it you'd be better off running to the store and buying a new one especially that for the vast majority of us time is money okay now you know I feel that's a very weak refutation of the point I'm making and I think I made a very strong point in that video about robustness and the point that excessive robustness can be counterproductive well excessive minimalism can be counterproductive so you know I think that is a very weak response to that but you know we live in a world where anyway I think it's really useful to warn people about the concept of robustness about being prepared for unforeseen circumstances and I don't think it's useful to warn people that they are too prepared they are excessively prepared for unforeseen circumstances I mean just think about your own life whether it's in business or any other context person but I mean oh sorry just say I think that is a very weak response even though of course on a technical level it's true yes you may be you may have a friend who constantly keeps a lifeboat in his apartment in case the city is flooded do you know any people like that I don't I know a lot of people who are not prepared for even the slightest unforeseen problem in circumstance in their life they're not prepared for if the electricity cuts out they're not prepared you know and they're they're really prepared to live a life devoted to a very small range of functions and they can't cope very easily with any unforeseen circumstance and again I think that minimalism as as a doctrine and as a practice and as we can all see it on YouTube takes you further and further down that path of frankly a life that is fragile a life where you can't cope with unforeseen circumstances and problems ok number two I think you're saying that you're more interested in utility than happiness and she goes on to say more about this um again I just I think this is so I mean she's really strongly disagree with me I'm not gonna read the whole message because there's a lot there's a lot of words here but I mean so what if this were true if it's true that I'm more interested in utility than happiness so what on the other hand if I'm more interested in happiness than utility if I disagree and say the up so what this is just kind of irrelevant to me so if she's right it doesn't really overturning the points made my video but you know it's still kind of an interesting philosophical question is utility more more worthy than happiness um she expands the so to say some interesting things she says the joy you seek is the fulfillment that comes to your that comes from your identity as a scholar of Buddhism and in that sense what gives you meaning is owning certain books she says I liked the last sentence of your video where you said that what we own defines what we can do ok interesting I think that's perfectly accurate however we live in a service economy and unless you are seriously into self-sufficiency as my parents were this is interesting her parents she says repaired everything themselves sewed their own clothing grew their own food hunted gathered firewood and I participate in these things as a child which is probably why I despised them today so again I mean part of this stuff it reflects our own subjective you know experiences with these things as I've said in reality I have been forced to live quite a minimalistic lifestyle many ways I would prefer to have had a much less minimalistic lifestyle than the one I had when I was doing humanitarian work when I was a scholar of Buddhism when I was even had pretty normal jobs museums and even now that I'm moving to Hong to take up this job at University where I can't own anything more than I can fit in my backpack so I'm at one end of the spectrum appreciating what's in the middle and she maybe grew up at the opposite extreme of the spectrum appreciating you know what was in the middle so that's interesting so she's one of the tiny minority people who grew up in a household where people sewed their own clothes very very rare very very few people do that right um okay you don't need specialized equipment for things you don't specialize in well yeah but none of my example suggested that okay so she then says minimalism is not for everyone but a lot of people live as if they were self-sufficient keeping tons of things just in case when in reality they would call a repairman if they needed anything to be repaired I think your statement about what we should own should actually be seen as prescriptive not descriptive in other words you should own what you need for what you actually do I'll never repair a car in my life and neither will my husband we don't need these things I have no need to own books on Buddhist philosophy because I'm not a scholar of Buddhism and you probably don't need to own a closet full of formal dresses whereas I do practically speaking keeping things you don't use or like is like letting someone live rent-free on your home on the off-chance that might provide some use to you at a later date most Millennials would be better off having an estate sale and ridding themselves of grandma's clutter because for them it would be junk on the other hand some hipster repairman might really enjoy having boxes of 19th century tulle that he bought in an estate sale or goodwill PS unless you run a restaurant you don't need three can openers ever okay so a cute way a cute way to the end the message I think though even though she seems to make a strong argument I think in reality she has lost this argument because what she's done is moved the goalposts she has retreated and she has really weakened the definition of minimalism itself again and again so that now by the end of this message what is the meaning of minimalism at the beginning she had one definition that you should only own things that give you joy or things that you need okay but the end of this message this has been weakened and expanded and loosened to the point where minimalism seems to mean almost nothing you know what minimalism is just well don't be a hoarder ou don't own so much stuff that you're trapping in it okay nobody was debating that right so I mean again this is like if you're in a debate about atheism of versus believing in God and the the Christian rediff or or you jugu a christian or to a philosophical member of Judaism and they they make the definition of gods so vague that God becomes the principle of gravity that God becomes this abstract principle in the laws of physics it's like well okay now we're no longer debating something I want to debate I don't want to debate whether or not gravity exists I want to debate whether or not God exists I wanted to be whether or not I want to debate whether or not the Bible is really an important book for people to read I wanted to be you know the role of religion Modern Life I don't want to debate this this more vague version so likewise for me I started my video dealing with a specific definition of minimalism and that we definitely is a definition in the first message I write out that we see people acting out performing on YouTube and that we see people making money out of popularizing on YouTube with books they sell with consulting services and so on so that's I think a hard definition of minimalism and when we look at that you see exactly what I reject I reject I'll get her name wrong but I reject the woman who was mentioned the consultant who by the way makes videos on YouTube about how you fold your socks and I can fold your shirts and rearrange your house to be a clutter free and minimalistic it's very clear what it is I'm rejecting and I think it's also very clear what is she's rejecting but if we just keep on loosening up the definition of minimalism to the point where it's just a common-sense practical piece of guidance to not drown in your own garbage well then we've redefined minimalism to the point where it is no longer worth debating hit me up
order you may be watching these videos in the year 2020 or the year 2050 for all I know but I just this evening recorded two videos back-to-back the video I recorded before this one was supposed to be a response to my critics a response to my patreon supporters on the topic of minimalism so not my first video on that subject and we're really here talking about minimalism in the form that has become popular become influential within the digital vegan demi-monde right because you hear a lot about something with it the vegan baby want I think there are some obvious reasons for what that is in terms of the ethical and ecological impulses that draw people towards veganism many of those same people are drawn towards minimalism so I've got three different messages here and I'm gonna treat them as anonymous I just don't I don't know if these people would want me shouting them out on my channel and we the the video recorded before this one I thought I was gonna get straight into minimalism but I ended up talking more generally about the question of receiving and responding to criticism and specifically receiving and responding to criticism via patreon so these are people who pay one dollar a month you have the privilege of criticizing me but anyway I do I mean I get all kinds of them sometimes very worthwhile and interesting disagreements sent to me within patreon I think just a couple of people I think two people quit because they felt that I was anti Donald Trump now on this channel I don't think you can actually find me saying anything bad about Donald Trump but maybe just the tone of my voice they presume that I'm to disapprove it but hey you know that's how it's gonna be you're gonna lose you're gonna need some support every time you voice an opinion but Tim I don't think two people quit because they they felt that was not supportive enough towards the new president the United States Donald Trump I mentioned that because someone may be watching this video I was mentioned the year 2020 the year 2050 maybe you've forgotten who Donald Trump was well at one time Donald Trump was elected president United States of America okay so the first letter are gonna read out here from a patreon supporter is supportive of my view and then the second one is less supportive or more critical or more questioning of my view and then the third one is completely hostile so let's see all right question one this is or letter one this is from Alexa I'll use her first name only Alexa writes I agree that minimalism she jazz in quotation marks quote unquote minimalism usually ends up being one of the more diluted forms of consumerism because in addition to the sort of ostentation you highlight ie that I highlight in my earlier video on this topic in addition to the sort of awe sensation you highlight it encourages the constant drive to upgrade your possessions when you allow yourself very little you're always on the lookout for a new Holy Grail version of the items you have continually buying improved versions of necessities items that took energy or resources to produce and getting rid of perfectly good functional items because it is pod that is actually an interesting point that I mean III omitted in my earlier video I mean it's so obvious you can you can fail to recognize it but one aspect of minimalism is getting rid of perfectly good functional items as simple as it sounds it's easy to overlook that um okay so she doesn't say personal anecdote you often see this with photographers in an effort to combat the urge to constantly acquire more and more photography gear they pare down their collections to a bare minimum but are constantly selling and purchasing newer and more costly cameras to try to find the one camera that will be the best at everything when the perfect tool for every job simply does not exist so what she's alluding to here is that there's a kind of false a false god of productivity a false idol of what productivity is because productivity can't be achieved by having just one perfect camera or just one perfect tool you actually do need the clutter of a variety of different cameras of different tools for different jobs ok so again an interesting point that was not covered in my first video on the topic I'm reminded of here with all these conversations about minimalism for me one of the reasons why I don't own a bicycle is I know just how much is involved by when you want a bicycle you don't just on a bicycle you own all the tools you need to change a tire a lot of tools related to repairing the bicycle you know you need a whole garage full of stuff to be serious about bicycles and as is alluded to here with cameras a bicycle rarely means one bicycle anyone who's serious about biking pretty soon they own seven bicycles it's it's hard to own fewer than three bicycles because you know there's one kind of bicycle you use in the mud there's one bicycle use in the rain if you live in Canada you have a totally different bicycle for the snow you have a road bike maybe you have a racing bike which is not the same as a road bike maybe you have a grand touring bike very quickly people are serious about bicycles can spiral into having a whole garage full of stuff but on the other hand as she's saying you cannot actually have one tool for every job in terms of what's functional or what's effective actually you need different kinds of cameras and different kinds of bicycles for different kinds of things so it's lose-lose people this is a ballast yell did you think the story was gonna have a happy ending no it's all bad news it's all bad news all right um I continue to rehear this letter from Alexa and ultimately minimalism itself minimalism in quotation marks again that's my girl Alexa minimalism itself is a product being sold the rule of only keeping things that bring you joy is straight from the konmari method so this is alluding to Mary condo so I did my duty I had never heard of Marie condo before I googled her I looked up her YouTube videos before broadcasting with you now yeah this is some this is some Mary Kondo anyway so she goes I'm Marie Kondo can be credited with much of the current vogue of minimalism especially with the Martha Stewart / old magazine set not only doesn't Marie Kondo sell books and workbooks detailing her doctrine of paring down your for maximum happiness and empowerment she runs a consulting business to help rich people hire someone to directly coach their minimalism in person minimalism isn't the key to happiness any more than beer or cologne or expensive makeup veganism is but people are sad and wants to be less sad so it selects I really do like Alexis running style but actually actually I didn't really read that in the right tone of voice but she really sticks in the the dagger at the end there minimalism isn't the key to happiness anymore than beer or Cologne but people are sad and they wanted one so I think that is true I think in many cases there is a yearning for a more meaningful a more happy a more satisfying life and at the root of sometimes of people getting involved veganism definitely people getting involved with something like minimalism and she ends with a joke and inside joke because I alluded to the fact I think I donate on this video I said warning anyone who is taking a shot of vodka every time I mentioned Laos you will get drunk because some people joke to the past and take a shot of vodka every time I mentioned Laos every time I mention Cambodia so Alexis actually ends this message by saying PS anyone playing that drinking game is dead by now cute all right so the next one so I mentioned I'm gonna read three messages the next one is a little bit more questioning a little bit more to screwing with me and then I have a letter a long letter really criticizing me or disagree with me fundamentally so this from guy named Alec all right so using first knew the first one was Alexa and this is Alec okay keep them straight Alec asks isn't anti-consumerism a kind of minimalism that is essential to environmentalism and ecology question mark okay so I pause I'm gonna read the whole message I actually disagree with this fundamental premise here i I think that anti-consumerism like anti capitalism suffers from a horrendously vague definition it's not just a negative definition it's a horrendously vague definition I am NOT an anti capitalist and I mean even though it's easy to be a critic of consumerism it's easy to criticize the excesses of consumerism at the same time we have to say well what then is anti-consumerism really I do not think auntie consumerism is essential to environmentalism I do not think any century consumerism is essential to ecology I don't so actually I do disagree with the fundamental purpose here now I'm gonna keep reading his message I'm not gonna just monologue on what my views are on the topic but if you want to know what my views are you can see any of the videos on this channel that deal with what I call the you know habitat conservation approach the wildlife management approach right I think that those challenges habitat conservation wildlife management they have nothing to do with consumers and ranty consumerism except in the vaguest sense in which we can define these terms so that everything is related to consumers mateys I mean you know if you define things vaguely enough they're all linked but you know ultimately from my perspective a group of people in a position of political power sit down with a map they draw a lines on a map and then they have men from the police and the army enforce the lines in the map but what are the lines in the map mean they mean over there you're allowed to cut down trees over here you're not over there you're allowed to dump pollution in the water and over here you're not and here are the lines what kind of pollution are you allowed to dump in the water what kind of pollution air not so this is the brutal reality of regulation um what there was a hilarious quote from Alan Greenspan all power to regulate comes out of the barrel of a gun ladies and gentlemen Alan Greenspan the worst Fed Chairman in the history the red state Alan Greenspan has the world's alright my opinion Alan Greenspan has got to be table for another video let's get on with with with Alex letter here all right so Alex says we know how many non-vegan environmentalists there are presumably there are also many environmentalists who spend big on superfluous and harmful things that require environmental harm alcohol tobacco other drugs unnecessarily large cars burning and nasarah mats of fuel long distance vacations of little value etc do you reject this kind of consumerism and is there a better word for this rejection than minimalism question mark so I've already anticipated this because I've been talking about extent to which I do not reject consumerism um you know and again I mean you know you could say that I'm viewing instead towards a regulation ISM you know I don't I don't think on a cultural level progress for ecology or progress for animal rights can come about through minimalism but again I'll reflect on this more in a moment maybe a little bit later but I mean I think - I think I understand psychologically why do some people cling to minimalism it may be because they come from a background of being a compulsive shopper of being someone who just buys too much stuff well I don't have that kind of background if anything my problem is the OPP's extreme I have a lot of experience living my whole life out of one suitcase one suitcase one backpack you know of owning extremely little so I'm not really saying this to insult those people I think they're people have a serious psychological problem where they are really hung up on owning expensive things or just owning a lot of things and they get into credit card debt so for them minimalism has as a as a meaning that's totally different from what we're discussing on this channel which is really more political and ecological and linked to veganism other forms of activism and our long-term attempts to militate for cultural change so I'm there making a significant concession for minimalism but so he asks do you reject this tiny consumerism and is there a better word for this rejection than minimalism well let me know again when you have regulations some people are really offended that I even say this here's a very clear example regulation let's say the government has a positive tax on leather shoes or I say positive because I mean raising the price okay so all of a sudden when you go to the store to buy a nike running shoe that's made at a leather it's 25% more fat more expensive it's a 25% chance on a leather running shoe from Nike like Jordan Air Jordan 1 Jordan the jordan one's 20 overs Norte and the government reallocates some of that tax monies have a negative tax on all of the shoes that contain no leather whatsoever let's say no animal products whatsoever so right next to the Jordan one bye the same company Nike the same corporation they make a shoe called the hyper dunk to buy knowledge then the hyper dunk it's almost entirely made at a plastic they have other shoes that are made out of you know cotton and canvas and other materials there are tons of other shoes even made by that one company right so now the price for the leather shoe is boosted up 25% the price for the non leather shoe is reduced to a percent to me this is not minimalism this is not ante consumerism this is completely working within the rules of a capitalist consumer society but this changes changes the world and again many many times talked about our attitudes walt homosexuality I think is a huge example how changes in culture and laws have changed the status of homosexuals in the last 100 years um you know but of course the other one I talk about all the time is cigarette smoking right so even just price controls even just taxation can send a powerful message and as you know health information can send a powerful message and as I say again and again with homosexuals the fact that homosexuals organized permanent institutions such as you know bars and nightclubs and restaurants that also was a huge part of their their struggle and the success of their struggle my opinion anyway you guys have heard me talk about stuff in other videos why do I mention here from my perspective none of that has anything to do with consumerism or minimalism so that's my paradigm in this video we've summarized a lot of my approach to veganism we've summarized the community aspect we summarized the habitat conservation aspect alright let's get back to Alex message to me here okay so alec asks is there a word for this other than minimalism is this what you mean by instrumentalism I'm not sure that this word is adequate so I can answer this one simply no when I say instrumental ISM I'm talking about my own attitude toward the material possessions I own so fabulous set of pens here I think these are now illegal because they've disappeared from store shelves this is a fabulous pen made in China okay and this is a Chinese knockoff of a very expensive pen made in Germany called the Lambie pen why do I own three of them spend all my time studying Chinese my point was simply that I can regard my possessions my worldly possessions as instruments as means to an end why do I own this not because it makes me feel important not because it makes me feel wealthy not for all kinds of other reasons that minimalists critique but nevertheless i think when you look at function when you look at productivity when you look at outcomes when you look at robustness that was the main topic at document priority Oh being robust being prepared to deal with unforeseen circumstances those things were alluded to in the first message I was reading out before there are there's a totally separate set of criteria for how I evaluate the value of owning things that again doesn't have to do with minimalism but also from my perspective dozens uncritically in britain brace consumerism but at the same time you know this kind of worldly possession it got delivered here on a truck it's a product of the capitalist system it's a product of the banking system I'm not gonna front like I'm somehow you know opposed to the whole edifice of modern Western capitalism I'm not or that I don't benefit from it because I do I do better I am very grateful that I could buy this pen for eight Qui instead of paying a hundred euros for it made in Germany that's why I wonder I don't know if these are now illegal but I noticed they all disappeared from the store shelves I think the company that owns the patent in Germany I wonder if they had a crackdown and said hey you're you're copying our style oh alright um one can only speculate perhaps you could just call it aunty consumerism but I think would also be accurate to describe abstinence from environmentally harmful consumerism as a form of minimalism oh we got a technical issue here as a form of minimalism perhaps environmentalist minimalism or ecological minimalism or even ethical minimalism would be good terms I don't think it's fair to describe all minimalism as self-indulgent even if that form is the most prominent on the Internet these days after all the internet is an advertising medium we cannot allow advertisers to hijack and ruin every word for potentially answering anti-consumerist philosophies even getting rid of stuff that we own that others are more likely to actually use could be driven by environmentalists and ethical motives he says that he would be glad to give away his own junk if he thinks it won't be functional for him much of what he owns in this way this junk came by the way of presence or an inheritance when I come spending money I consider myself a kind of minimalist etcetera etcetera so the only thing I have to say in response to that message is that we have to be careful that we do not define minimalism so broadly or so vaguely that it means anything and everything this is a problem there often when you're debating atheism versus monotheism if you allow concepts like God to become so vague that they can mean anything then you can't refute them and also the arguments made in support of them become meaningless and this is a problem because minimalism can become so broadly defined and so vague that it starts to be meaningless and to be sure something like consumerism or capitalism can become so broad and so vague okay so my third message that actually strongly disagrees with me this person writing to me who I will allow to remain anonymous let's use a fake name let's say this is from Lisa but I do know who it's from this is really disagreeing with me on the point of minimalism but something I alluded to earlier in this video is that my own perspective on this is partly in form of the fact that circumstances in my life have forced me to live a life that is pretty minimalistic to only own things I can carry in one suitcase to own very little to care very little about worldly possessions I've mentioned many times up until age 37 I never owned a cellular phone I never around a car I never owned so many of the things that many modern Western people take for granted okay so this person who were calling Lisa writes to me and says I am NOT anti-consumerist I am a pro consumption capitalist but I believe that excess hurts us and hurts the environment she says that the full definition of meaningless sorry put me the full definition of minimalism is not to only own things that give you joy but to own things that give you joy or that you need right now again we're getting vague here necessity can mean anything assess any means different things to different people right some people think it's necessary don't 10 pairs of shoes etc etc but with that being noted um we continue so she says point one from your video is on robustness or efficiency she says obviously there is a tipping point for everything in your tool example there comes a point when the volume of tools in the level of disorganization completely outweighs any robustness advantage if you can't find the tool you were looking for or if it takes too long to find it you'd be better off running to the store and buying a new one especially that for the vast majority of us time is money okay now you know I feel that's a very weak refutation of the point I'm making and I think I made a very strong point in that video about robustness and the point that excessive robustness can be counterproductive well excessive minimalism can be counterproductive so you know I think that is a very weak response to that but you know we live in a world where anyway I think it's really useful to warn people about the concept of robustness about being prepared for unforeseen circumstances and I don't think it's useful to warn people that they are too prepared they are excessively prepared for unforeseen circumstances I mean just think about your own life whether it's in business or any other context person but I mean oh sorry just say I think that is a very weak response even though of course on a technical level it's true yes you may be you may have a friend who constantly keeps a lifeboat in his apartment in case the city is flooded do you know any people like that I don't I know a lot of people who are not prepared for even the slightest unforeseen problem in circumstance in their life they're not prepared for if the electricity cuts out they're not prepared you know and they're they're really prepared to live a life devoted to a very small range of functions and they can't cope very easily with any unforeseen circumstance and again I think that minimalism as as a doctrine and as a practice and as we can all see it on YouTube takes you further and further down that path of frankly a life that is fragile a life where you can't cope with unforeseen circumstances and problems ok number two I think you're saying that you're more interested in utility than happiness and she goes on to say more about this um again I just I think this is so I mean she's really strongly disagree with me I'm not gonna read the whole message because there's a lot there's a lot of words here but I mean so what if this were true if it's true that I'm more interested in utility than happiness so what on the other hand if I'm more interested in happiness than utility if I disagree and say the up so what this is just kind of irrelevant to me so if she's right it doesn't really overturning the points made my video but you know it's still kind of an interesting philosophical question is utility more more worthy than happiness um she expands the so to say some interesting things she says the joy you seek is the fulfillment that comes to your that comes from your identity as a scholar of Buddhism and in that sense what gives you meaning is owning certain books she says I liked the last sentence of your video where you said that what we own defines what we can do ok interesting I think that's perfectly accurate however we live in a service economy and unless you are seriously into self-sufficiency as my parents were this is interesting her parents she says repaired everything themselves sewed their own clothing grew their own food hunted gathered firewood and I participate in these things as a child which is probably why I despised them today so again I mean part of this stuff it reflects our own subjective you know experiences with these things as I've said in reality I have been forced to live quite a minimalistic lifestyle many ways I would prefer to have had a much less minimalistic lifestyle than the one I had when I was doing humanitarian work when I was a scholar of Buddhism when I was even had pretty normal jobs museums and even now that I'm moving to Hong to take up this job at University where I can't own anything more than I can fit in my backpack so I'm at one end of the spectrum appreciating what's in the middle and she maybe grew up at the opposite extreme of the spectrum appreciating you know what was in the middle so that's interesting so she's one of the tiny minority people who grew up in a household where people sewed their own clothes very very rare very very few people do that right um okay you don't need specialized equipment for things you don't specialize in well yeah but none of my example suggested that okay so she then says minimalism is not for everyone but a lot of people live as if they were self-sufficient keeping tons of things just in case when in reality they would call a repairman if they needed anything to be repaired I think your statement about what we should own should actually be seen as prescriptive not descriptive in other words you should own what you need for what you actually do I'll never repair a car in my life and neither will my husband we don't need these things I have no need to own books on Buddhist philosophy because I'm not a scholar of Buddhism and you probably don't need to own a closet full of formal dresses whereas I do practically speaking keeping things you don't use or like is like letting someone live rent-free on your home on the off-chance that might provide some use to you at a later date most Millennials would be better off having an estate sale and ridding themselves of grandma's clutter because for them it would be junk on the other hand some hipster repairman might really enjoy having boxes of 19th century tulle that he bought in an estate sale or goodwill PS unless you run a restaurant you don't need three can openers ever okay so a cute way a cute way to the end the message I think though even though she seems to make a strong argument I think in reality she has lost this argument because what she's done is moved the goalposts she has retreated and she has really weakened the definition of minimalism itself again and again so that now by the end of this message what is the meaning of minimalism at the beginning she had one definition that you should only own things that give you joy or things that you need okay but the end of this message this has been weakened and expanded and loosened to the point where minimalism seems to mean almost nothing you know what minimalism is just well don't be a hoarder ou don't own so much stuff that you're trapping in it okay nobody was debating that right so I mean again this is like if you're in a debate about atheism of versus believing in God and the the Christian rediff or or you jugu a christian or to a philosophical member of Judaism and they they make the definition of gods so vague that God becomes the principle of gravity that God becomes this abstract principle in the laws of physics it's like well okay now we're no longer debating something I want to debate I don't want to debate whether or not gravity exists I want to debate whether or not God exists I wanted to be whether or not I want to debate whether or not the Bible is really an important book for people to read I wanted to be you know the role of religion Modern Life I don't want to debate this this more vague version so likewise for me I started my video dealing with a specific definition of minimalism and that we definitely is a definition in the first message I write out that we see people acting out performing on YouTube and that we see people making money out of popularizing on YouTube with books they sell with consulting services and so on so that's I think a hard definition of minimalism and when we look at that you see exactly what I reject I reject I'll get her name wrong but I reject the woman who was mentioned the consultant who by the way makes videos on YouTube about how you fold your socks and I can fold your shirts and rearrange your house to be a clutter free and minimalistic it's very clear what it is I'm rejecting and I think it's also very clear what is she's rejecting but if we just keep on loosening up the definition of minimalism to the point where it's just a common-sense practical piece of guidance to not drown in your own garbage well then we've redefined minimalism to the point where it is no longer worth debating hit me up