5th May
Over the next few days I shall be reflecting on some of the issues raised in the Hazelnut Community’s recent edition of Rooted in Rubble, about living simply – https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l
“There is a profound difference between the pain of poverty and the choice of simplicity. Poverty is not freedom. It is constraint, often imposed and unjust, limiting choice and exhausting those who live within it. It must never be romanticised or reframed as virtue.”
This is clearly an important point to highlight. I think it places a responsibility on those of us who have choices, to make choices that benefit the poor and those disadvantaged by our economic system. In other words we shouldn’t just withdraw from world in order to enjoy lives of simple living, but should create lives of simple living within or alongside the world so that we can also find ways of changing the world so that it does benefit the poor and estranged.
This might be by campaigning, writing to our MP, signing petitions. It might be by choosing to buy from or support companies that operate fairly and proactively in favour of the poor and vulnerable (explore for example, fair trade companies and B Corps). It might be by giving generously to, or otherwise supporting, organisations that seek to improve the wellbeing and opportunities of the poor and marginalised.
Living simply should not prevent us from, but actively prompt us to, better loving our neighbour!
The Green Tau 