LzzyJane's Profile

At the risk of becoming a person who argues on the internet, I have to take Vino's side here.

Though this may represent inspirational simplicity to you, it seems disrespectful at worst and anachronistic at best to take these pictures and talk about simplicity.

Simplicity is a choice. Poverty is not. Simplicity is willfully paring down to only what you need. Poverty is not having what you need or a choice in the matter.

I'm not challenging the merit of investing in fewer personal possessions, but that action represents the opposite of the scarcity of poverty. Investment is a supreme act of economic agency- it is the ability to save money, spend more, and choose when to spend.

The merit of simplicity aside, I think it's ridiculous to look at these examples of poverty and say that's what we should learn from it. Without the element of choice, this isn't simplicity, it's desperation.

I'm surprised by all the negative comments on space bags. I used them when I traveled to Poland for 4 months and they certainly helped. A year later, I still use them for household linen storage. They certainly don't shrink down as much as in the commercials unless all you're packing is ridiculously fluffy things, but they do help. Wrinkling is comparable to normal storage methods, there's less wrinkling of course if you roll garments rather than fold them. I've never had any ripping or sealing problems.

Ooh! I know the inspiration for the bust display in the first picture. The KUMU (the lovely national art museum of Estonia outside Tallinn) has a huge lofted room covered in busts like that. The nifty bit is that they also made them all whisper.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1330/760098248_2c43ed48e9.jpg?v=0