Blue Collar Simplicity

This recession has changed my thinking on a lot of things--Wall Street, materialism, career, etc. The hard times is when we reconnect to our values, and we learn about what we are truly about. For me, that has been a reconnection with the blue collar lifestyle and an appreciation for the voluntary simplicity movement.

The problem with the voluntary simplicity movement is that it is the psychological crisis of yuppies and technogeeks with money and stuff who find out that none of it improves their lives one bit. So, they ditch the fancy cars and the McMansions in favor of smaller homes, hybrid vehicles, recycling their waste, and eating organic food. With it, they also reject capitalism and the work ethic.

On the other side, we have blue collar workers who dream of the good life which is almost always in material terms. They want bass boats, gigantic four wheel drive vehicles, RVs, etc. Many of them submerge themselves in consumer debt up to their eyeballs to buy all this shit. Then, they scramble, bitch, and drink because they can't make all their payments.

My choice has been to adopt the best of both of these worlds. I believe in hard work and simple living. What this means is that unlike the conflicted yuppies and technogeeks, I think being a workaholic is a good thing. But I also have no desire to acquire a bunch of shit I don't need. Most of the frivolous shit people buy is for the sake of leisure. This is the crux of the issue.

The problem with the yuppies and the technogeeks is that they have lots and lots of money but no time for leisure. For them, it is not a shortage of stuff but having time to enjoy it. They pare down to relax and enjoy life. On the flip side, you have blue collar people who have leisure time but not a whole lot of money to spend. So, they spend money they don't have and take on the very stress that the yuppies and technogeeks want to escape. Either way, you can choose to have lots of money or lots of time, but you can't have both.

All this hit me while thumbing through the master catalog for Bass Pro Shops. You can easily drop $2K on all the stuff they sell in that thing, and it will barely outfit you for a respectable fishing trip. People ask me why I don't go fishing, and the answer to that is simple. I can't afford it. In these uncertain economic times, I can't spend money that I might need for food and rent. Naturally, they tell me I should "finance it." Put it all on the credit card. No thanks.

The bottom line is that everybody wants to do the same thing--spend more and work less. My answer is the opposite. Spend less and work more. This is such a crazy idea that people look at me like I have lost my mind. But I don't buy into the myth that happiness comes from leisure.

I hate leisure. Trust me, I have tried to enjoy it. But I'm not like everyone else. I believe a bad day at work is better than a good day fishing. I know this sounds totally insane. But when I work, I accomplish things, and they pay me for it. In leisure, you pay money to accomplish nothing.

The problem people have is that they don't know what the good life is. They have an idea that revolves around leisure and materialism which they pursue and ends in frustration and disappointment. This consumerist leisure lifestyle is neither rewarding nor sustainable. People talk about enjoying the rewards of their labor, but I have found the dirty secret that the reward is in the labor itself.

This realization of mine is nothing new. This idea goes back to the Puritans and their work ethic. The Puritans believed in working hard, but they also eschewed materialism. This combination of hard work and thrift resulted in an explosion of wealth relative to other societies. These values don't necessarily have to be Christian as the same thing exists in Asian countries known as the Confucian work ethic. When you combine hard work and thrift, good things happen.

The downside of this viewpoint is that it puts you at odds with the rest of society. I feel the strain daily. I have media that tell me to buy buy buy. I have society that tells you that work is for suckers. It seems everyone is into getting over on someone else. Finally, I have to deal with family, co-workers, and friends who question my lifestyle choices. It is damn tiring.

I like to work. I want to work more. As for leisure, I spend my downtime mostly reading which is relatively cheap. I don't do vacations. I hate them. I don't care to own a Jet Ski. I think people who play golf are idiots and losers.

The American Dream today is simple. Work M-F 9-5 with an hour long lunch each day and all holidays off. Make a shitload of money fucking people over. Spend weekends on the golf course and splitting time between the lake house and the beach house. Vacation two weeks per year and try to up this to six weeks per year like the French. Have lots and lots of toys. Pat yourself on the back for all of your "hard work."

If this seems like a perversion of the work ethic, it is. Blue collar people think this is the good life, and they try to imitate it in their respective way. This means lots of hunting and fishing. Plus, rednecks play golf, too. There was a time when JFK would not play golf publicly because he didn't want to alienate himself from the working class. Now, the working class hits the links as much as the leisure class.

The most radical thing you can do in society today is work hard and not spend money. It blows people's minds. Yet, this is the firm foundation that America was built on. Hard work and thrift are the cornerstones to wealth and happiness. As the Puritans put it, "There is no joy in idleness."

I reject the central thesis of The 4-Hour Workweek
. It is a damning indictment of our current culture and especially the business culture that such a book should be so popular. Ulimately, such dreams of unbridled leisure are a fantasy. This country and this society needs to get back to work. We need to eschew "tricks" and focus more on virtue and values.

This thinking has been an evolution for me. I have progressed in my viewpoints on this. I have the recession to thank for this reassessment. The irony and great fear of these troubled economic times is not that people will be out of work, but they will actually have to do some work for a change. No more getting over. It is all about getting the job done now. It is about providing value for the dollar and being responsible and finding happiness in something other than laying on your ass or playing with an expensive toy.

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