Looking ahead 10 years from now is pretty variable because technology is ever changing. I see myself still integrated into society with a normal job, a house, and a family with 2 or 3 kids. Originally, I wanted to live the high life. Nice car. Nice house that isn’t too big or too small. Dogs. Beautiful garden. The American Dream. I cannot fully say that even after reading this book, that I still don’t want those things, because truthfully I still do. However Radical Simplicity definitely opened my eyes to a way to still be integrated into society but also take certain measures to enable my life to be more sustainable. After reading the book, I still do want all of those things, however now I want to substitute some of the materialistic aspects of my dream life 10 years from now, with more sustainable products. Having a quaint home just large enough for the family, but have it be built “green” and still have it be super nice inside, is an adjustment I want now that I am more aware. I want a fuel efficient car, instead of the luxurious Mercedes, and a garden that grows native plants to California and fresh produce rather than a garden of water-wasting seasonal flowers. By not spending as much money on unsustainable things such as gas-guzzling cars, or large gardens which use a lot of water, I can save that money and put it toward travel and my kids. I am well aware that having 2 - 3 kids is not the ideal number because having fewer kids is more sustainable, but having a medium sized family is extremely important to me. Regardless of what Merkel says about family size that aspect of my life 10 years from now cannot and will not be changed.
While reading the novel, Joanna and I came to the conclusion that Merkel is a “nature whisperer” - or a little forest fairy you could say. The book began being very inspiring as he brought out all of this information about modern society and how we need to improve being sustainable to enable future generations to enjoy the benefits which we have now. Slowly as the novel progresses though, Merkel becomes extremely radical. I understand that his point of view and concept of the novel is supposed to be radical, hence the title, but I feel that he lacks the concept of reality. There is no way society can revert back to times when technology was inexistent, or when people simply hunted and gathered, doing what they needed to simply survive. The world does not move backwards, and this is where I feel that Merkel was a bit ridiculous.
Merkel was put in a highly idealistic position. He had made enough money to go out and buy a house and all he needed prior to his transition to simple living, and on top of that, he did not have a family to support during this project. In modern day society, money plays a significant part in almost every aspect of our lives: higher education for our kids, transportation, and even going to the grocery store. To completely opt out of modern capitalistic society would be impossible for a person with a family of 5. In my opinion, Merkel has some great ideas for how living simply can help ensure a sustainable future, but I think instead of taking his direct advice and completely changing one’s lifestyle to the simple living he is able to do, individuals should take the lessons that he is teaching in the book, and try to implement them as best as they can into their daily life. Only by doing this can society shift as a whole to make changes to becoming more sustainable. Being completely on the radical side will not suede people to change their habits because truthfully it just isn’t practical for most people who aren’t as fortunate as Merkel.
I think different aspects of my life lay in different spheres of how conscious I am of my unsustainable decisions. For example, I admit I am highly unconscious about how unsustainable some of the food products I am eating are, such as my produce or any boxed item. When I am home I have a lot of control over going to the local produce market to get produce, but here at school, my sustainability does not cross my mind because I do not have control over where my produce from the dining hall comes from. From reading this book however, being sustainable has definitely crossed my mind more in everyday decision making. However, I am more conscious about being sustainable by using reusable water bottles and trying not to use grocery bags as much as possible. I feel like this is the easiest way people can change small aspects of their life to a become more sustainable. By simply altering little aspects of our lifestyles we can incorporate some of Merkel’s radical ideas to make them more practical to modern society.
