What do minimalism, the tiny house movement, vanlife, and homesteading all have in common besides being extremely popular with young people? They are a canary in the coal mine. Admittedly, I am no exception to the rule. I have an interest in all these things. Many young people are giving up on the conventional American lifestyle, and it is no wonder why. It isn't just America with this issue. Spend some time reading about the “lying flat” movement in China. Or consider the internet's “antiwork” movement. Boomers would like to imagine these groups as a small minority of whiney young people; the next decade will be a rude awakening. I can empathize with people who think this is a non-issue. I've contradicted my fair share of piers grumbling about “late-stage capitalism” or “corporate greed.” Any meaningful reflection quickly leaves these indictments feeling like low-hanging fruit, but I wrestle with the idea that young people's intuition to give up on “being successful” may be wise, even if I disagree with them about the reasons why. None of these movements are regressive or antitechnology, per se. It isn't that young people are giving up on a good life; they are looking at their parents' lives and questioning what “the good life” indeed looks like. Why live this way when technology has given us access to knowledge to break free from our debt overlords if we so choose?
In some ways, I'm an ideal specimen for how powerful this separatist movement is. I've overcome the economic odds, got a home, five kids, great money, and can have almost any creature comfort I want. Even still, the cost-benefit analysis is bleak. I have spent plenty of time contemplating whether or not the dogfight to get here has been worth it. It isn't just that the path is becoming increasingly difficult; the payoff is also diminishing. In return for our physical, mental, and spiritual health, we get tons of tasty food with no nutrients, tons of possessions that are all made of plastic, excellent sick-care (sponsored by Pfizer), and a retirement package that has as much hope of keeping up with inflation as Whil E. Coyote did of keeping up with road runner. Don't forget the excessive maintenance on a house that you should have never been able to “afford” in the first place. We get everything we have been told to want, but we will be in debt for eternity to banks that have made their fortunes loaning our money back to us at interest. The government is supposed to protect us from an organization like that, right? With a bit more tax revenue, they can solve any problem, right? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I can't help but feel we are in an open-air luxury prison where we can have anything our heart desires except free time or privacy. Keep your nose to that grindstone, you little slave, or you lose the sports car! You better nail this project or no more dance lessons for Suzie! Won't it be embarrassing if you can't afford the iPhone 16? They have a new insurance policy for radiation poisoning, so there is no trouble on that front anymore!
If there is one issue that will unite the artificially politically divided populations of the world against globalist schemes, it will be this one. It is the only interest that every religion, creed, and cause share: a quality standard of living. A generation or two without some proxy war or globalist agenda to disrupt life isn't too much to ask for.
As a side note, I don't believe what we are living through is capitalism; as long as the government uses crisis debt as infinite cash, they are the actual ruling class. As Mayer Rothschild once said, “Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.” I'm blessed to have stumbled upon something that has freed me from the rat race enough to write my book, and as a result, it is a prominent theme in the text. The next decade's increasingly important cultural narrative will be awakening to the reality that the real battle isn't left-vs-right. It is between people who want to rule the world for the “greater good” and people who want to be left alone for their own sake.