Politics | The Simplicity Collective

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Nov 6, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Simplicity, Sustainability, and Human Rights

Mark A. Burch has just published another fine Simplicity Institute Report, this time addressing the themes, “Simplicity, Sustainability, and Human Rights.” I’ve posted the introduction below and the full report is available here. I don’t claim any professional credentials or special expertise with respect to human rights. My perspective is that of a layperson, not a jurist or human... read more

Jun 16, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

What will Rio+20 bring?

My article below, on the Rio+20 conference, has just been published on the Post-Carbon Institute’s Energy Bulletin, available here. In a few days the international community will be meeting in Rio de Janeiro to hold the most significant environmental conference since the Rio Earth Summit of 1992. As the planet’s ecosystems tremble under the weight of overconsumption, this conference surely... read more

May 9, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Transition Towns as Resilience Pioneers

Dr. John Barry has just published an original and challenging new book called The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability: Human Flourishing in a Climate-Changed, Carbon-Contrained World. John was leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland for six years, and now is a Reader in Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast, Ireland. Here’s the blurb of his new book: Going against both the... read more

Apr 23, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Urban Food Forests: A Policy Proposal

Relocalising food production – especially in urban centres – is absolutely critical to decarbonising our economies and making our communities more resilient. My vision of a sustainable urban landscape is one where the streets are lined with fruit and nut trees, supplying the community with a greater portion of its own food. The City of Moreland (my local Council in Melbourne) is in the process... read more

Apr 9, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Ted Trainer and The Simpler Way (Review Essay)

I’m very pleased to announce that Ted Trainer has joined the Simplicity Institute, and in recognition of this important event I’ve spent the last week writing a review essay of his work, which I’ve posted below. Ted has been writing about The Simpler Way for many years, and in coming weeks and months he will be publishing a series of essays on the Simplicity Institute website (which I... read more

Feb 23, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Overcoming Barriers to Sustainable Consumption

Our country is set up structurally to oppose voluntary simplicity. – Michael Jacobson Our lifestyle decisions, especially our consumption decisions, are not made in a vacuum. Instead, they are made within social, economic, and political structures of constraint, and those structures make some lifestyle decisions easy or necessary and other lifestyle decisions difficult or impossible. Change the social,... read more

Feb 17, 2012 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Simpler Way: A Practical Action Plan for Living More on Less

I’m pleased and excited to announce the launch of the latest initiative of the Simplicity Institute – The Simpler Way: A Practical Action Plan for Living More on Less. ____ The Simpler Way, created in collaboration with Ted Trainer, consists of a website and booklet which provide detailed practical advice on how to live a ‘simpler life’ of reduced and restrained consumption. More... read more

Dec 19, 2011 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Ten Most Popular Posts of 2011

As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the readers of this website for their support and contributions. Our community is now over 1,000 strong, and I’m very much looking forward to exploring voluntary simplicity, and all it entails, with you in 2012. Now, more than ever before, we need to be reimagining the good life beyond consumer culture. I have plans to relaunch... read more

Nov 29, 2011 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Voluntary Simplicity and Transition vs. Empire

This post is a short excerpt from a paper of mine considering the role the Simplicity and Transition Movements might play in resisting the forces of globalization and producing a degrowth or steady-state economy. The age of globalization is upon us, and it could be that any attempt to realize a degrowth or steady-state economy will face forms of resistance today that may not have been faced as recently... read more

Nov 2, 2011 Posted by Samuel Alexander

One Vision of Occupy Melbourne

Occupy Melbourne may have fallen out of the news, but several hundred people have still been meeting everyday on the steps of the State Library to continue their grassroots activities. It remains a vibrant community of passionate and compassionate people, and the energy levels have not been dampened but only enhanced by the executive beating we received a couple of weeks ago. Recently I set myself... 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.