The Downshifter Next Door

Chapter 5: The Downshifter Next Door
This chapter focuses on telling the stories of various individuals who have moved away from the societal pressure to spend the variety of the stories are from people who have spent heavily and those who have made commitments to stop buying. In the mid- 1990s, consumerism was beginning to worry people/ In a survey, 75 to 80 percent of the public was agreeing that the country had become too materialistic. Americans have become addicted to shopping and spending big money. Consumerism was worried about how the ascendance of materialist values might affect the young people. One-third of Americans say they always feel rushed in buying. About 60 percent would like to simplify their lives. Downshifting is a response to living a more simple and peaceful lifestyle. Schor tells his readers the most common reason for downshifting is wanting more time, less stress, and more balance in life. Downshifting articulates the needs to do something more meaningful in ones life then spend money on all the wants in life. This chapter is full of examples of people have downshifted. My favorite downshifter story in this chapter is by a girl named Alice. Alice, along with her husband and two children, lived in the Boston suburb. Alice stayed home to raise the children. When they reached middle school she took a full time job at a high-fashion company that made handbags and accessories. She eventually found her job disquieting. Once Alice's company went under she was devastated. Her emotions were everywhere. That job gave her so much pressure because she was always away on business and not with her family. Like most downshifters, Alice had undergone a major change in her relationship with money. Her prospect for more time and less and money is much more comfortable for herself. You have to pick time or money she says. She had a new lifestyle. She had to dress less. Learning to live on less is a process. Alice says, "It is like going on a diet." Alice, like most people, feels like money i freedom. However, now she has gained other freedom that will cling to as financial liberation she gained when she went to work. The main key is learning how to say "no". Simple-livers struggle against the dominant cultural assumptions about consumption.Simplicity is involuntarily imposed on millions of Americans. In Schor's survey, 12 percent of the population reported that they had suffered an involuntary income loss in the 1990s. Americans need to learn how to manage money because it can all go away in a split second if not careful. People loose jobs each and every day. Simple living is not mainly about spending less, but about living differently. Americans need to learn how to enjoy their lives and not revolve it around the basis of money.