Live Simply

To disappear is a dream for some. Finding a simple cabin in the woods with no internet connection, living close to nature is an escape from modern complexity. Breaking free of civilization has been a dream floated for generations.

One of the best-known writers to do just that was Thoreau himself. He chronicles his perspective in Walden at a time he was at odds with the modern civilization of his own time. He opted to escape.

Thoreau’s enthusiasm for self-reliance was a radical departure from the prevailing influence of the church in the mid 19th century. But more to the point was the transcendence of being in tune with the movements and rhythm of nature. The complexity of society he was departing around 1854 when Walden was published is difficult to compare to today but his intentions still ring true and are certainly more poignant than ever. 

To take Thoreau’s critic a step further is to inch deeper into the criticisms put forth by the ideas of anarcho-primitivism. He was perhaps one of the earliest proponents. The movement takes a broad look at the scope of civilization’s role (beginning with hunter-gatherers) in the destabilization of nature’s balance and advocates for deindustrialization and reverting to a more simple societal structure. Anarcho-primitivists believe that deconstruction of societal complexity would alleviate pressures of overpopulation and social stratification. 

In the mid-1990s Jared Diamond proposed the provocative idea that agriculture was mankind’s gravest mistake. It was, as he argues, the point at which societal inequality began to plague humans. The agricultural revolution also introduced homogeneous diets of less nutritious cereal crops and the need to defend land and goods through any means necessary. Wars, kingdoms and servitude were born. The Bible itself even describes Adam’s need to work that land as a punishment cast by God. 

Deciding where to depart civilization, how to live simply and defining what it means to live sustainably and ethically is challenging people today amid a changing world. The question has evolved from what does it mean to be human to the far more perplexing how do we human?