Frugal or simple living is an idea that has been around since the beginning of time, argued for by the likes of Epicurus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. It has resurrected strongly recently in various guises – living frugally by purchasing only what’s necessary and using items until they are worn, living with less by discarding unneeded items, and literally living small by living in so-called tiny houses which limit square footage to the minimum. Is this the right way to live? If so, why? What are the pros and cons of this lifestyle and attitude? These are some of the questions that Emrys Westacott of Alfred University attempts to answer.
Westacott looks at what he calls the moral versus the prudential reasons for practicing frugal living, including at whether or not it improves us as people or make us happier, whether or not it is good for the economy, and other such pro-con comparisons. In each instance, good arguments can be made for either side of the ledger. For example, though it may help a person’s character to not be attached to material, such detachment could lead to lack of charity when considering others’ needs. Similarly, although living frugally is usually good for the environment, in certain instances it may not be, as when for example the process for recycling certain materials is more harmful to the environment than using raw materials. The book is basically a run down through this list of pros and cons in each major category of moral or prudential impact, with Westacott and the evidence and arguments he presents convincingly siding with frugal living overall. He uses as sources of wisdom many of the sages of the past, some listed above, who advocated for and sometimes lived the simple life (e.g. Thoreau). Westacott explains how even these advocates of the simple life disagreed on what it meant and how it was supposed to come about.
My (grass fed) beef with this book is with Westacott’s failed attempt at speculating on how an economy can adapt to large scale changes to promote frugal living. His premise is that capitalism is an efficient system and results in a lot of the waste that harms the environment. He seems to be unaware that, as far as economic systems go (to paraphrase Woody Allen somewhat) it’s the best, all others being far more inefficient and requiring substantial government intervention. Specifically, for example, Westacott advocates a limiting the number of hours that workers can work so as to free them up for leisure or other pursuits. This is noble and well-intentioned but in practice hard to achieve and fraught with possible unintended consequences.
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