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May 20, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Introduction to ‘Prosperous Descent’

A paperback of my new book, Prosperous Descent: Crisis as Opportunity in an Age of Limits, is available here and a link to a free pdf copy of the book will be sent out to subscribers of the Simplicity Institute in a week. Please sign up to the Simplicity Institute here to receive the link. INTRODUCTION TO ‘PROSPEROUS DESCENT’ By Samuel Alexander I sometimes tell my students that I am an... read more

May 18, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Prosperous Descent: Crisis as Opportunity in an Age of Limits

I’ve just published a new book, Prosperous Descent: Crisis as Opportunity in an Age of Limits, which is the first volume of my collected essays to be published this year. The cover and endorsements are posted below. A second book of collected essays, Sufficiency Economy: Enough, for Everyone, Forever, will be published in a couple of months. The paperback of Prosperous Descent is available here.... read more

May 6, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Marvellous Market: A Critique by Ted Trainer

Ted Trainer has just written a provocative, concise but important critique of the ‘Marvellous Market’ which he argues is the main cause of our fatal problems. See below: The Marvellous Market: The Main Cause of our Fatal Problems A ridiculous claim? Let’s see. There is no doubt the market system does many important things very effectively. It gets rid of inefficient firms quickly with no... read more

Apr 12, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Case for Simplicity, by Ted Trainer

Ted Trainer has just published a new Simplicity Institute report, ‘The Case for Simplicity’. I’ve posted the brief introduction below and the full report is available here. The Case for Simplicity Why try to live more simply? I think there are two main lines of argument. The first is that global sustainability and justice cannot be achieved unless we live much more simply than the... read more

Feb 24, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Paradox of Oil: The Cheaper it Is, the More it Costs

I’ve just published a new Simplicity Institute Report, ‘The Paradox of Oil: The Cheaper it Is, the More it Costs’. I’ve posted the introduction below and the full paper is available here. There will be oil, but at what price? – Chris Nelder and Gregor Macdonald THE PARADOX OF OIL: THE CHEAPER IT IS, THE MORE IT COSTS 1. Introduction It would be fair to say that the timing of the... read more

Feb 5, 2015 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Steady State Economy and the Incompatibility of Capitalism, by Geoff Mosley

The following text is a transcript (with minor revisions) of a talk Geoff Mosley gave at the 2014 Fenner Conference on the Steady State Economy at the University of NSW. Geoff is the Australian Director of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Thanks to Geoff for granting permission to reproduce his talk. ____________ A MESSAGE FROM THE FUTURE: THE STEADY STATE ECONOMY AND THE... read more

Dec 16, 2014 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Simple Life of Henry David Thoreau

Here is my chapter on Henry Thoreau from Simple Living in History: Pioneers of the Deep Future. HENRY THOREAU Few individuals in history evoke images of ‘the simple life’ more distinctly than the poet-philosopher, Henry David Thoreau. In 1845, when Henry was 27 years old, he left his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, and went to live alone in the woods, near Walden Pond, where he built himself a... read more

Oct 1, 2014 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Divestment Movement

Below I’ve posted the introduction to a new MSSI Issues paper, “Fossil Free: The Development and Significance of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement“, which I co-authored with Kara Nicholson and John Wiseman. As the probability and risks of catastrophic climate change continue to increase (Potsdam, 2012; Christoff, 2013), fossil fuel divestment has become an increasingly important... read more

Sep 9, 2014 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Simple Life – Past, Present, Future

The following essay, by the preeminent historian of simplicity, David Shi, is the ‘foreword’ to my new book, Simple Living in History: Pioneers of the Deep Future, which I co-edited with Amanda McLeod. This essay provides a wise and stimulating introduction to many of the individuals, cultures, and movements that have embraced forms of ‘simple living’ throughout history and which... read more

Aug 30, 2014 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Simple Living in History: Pioneers of the Deep Future

Simple Living in History: Pioneers of the Deep Future, edited by Samuel Alexander and Amanda McLeod. Below I have posted the ‘Table of Contents’ and ‘Preface by the Editors’. The book is available here. Information on the launch is available here. Please share 🙂 ________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface by the Editors, Samuel Alexander and Amanda... read more

Invitation / Incitation

The Simplicity Collective is founded upon the idea that a 'simpler life' of reduced resource and energy consumption is a viable and desirable alternative to consumer culture.

Our position is that simple living will improve not only our own lives, but the lives of others, as well as help save our planet from the environmental catastrophe towards which we are so enthusiastically marching.

We must not just fall in line, then, and continue the march ‘business as usual.’ We must explore alternative ways to live. We must experiment creatively, like the artist. We must be the poets of our own lives and of a new generation.