Our first precept is Simplicity. The doctrine of "Peace" was chronologically first, but we are talking about the order of our precepts in our lives. Peace comes later, and I assert that it is a natural outcome of the practice of Simplicity and Integrity.
I think it is axiomatic that the continuous complexity and stressful stimulation of modern life have brought about a great deal of misery even as it has brought about the comforts and conveniences we can no longer even imagine existing without. We have exchanged immediate and localized manual labor for climate controlled electronic entertainment and "news." Some of that exchange is very welcome. Some of it has resulted in universal anger and resentment and the mass hysteria that is now playing out in the media as well as obesity, drug use, depression, despair, and self-injury. But how to practice Simplicity in American and Western modern Life? Well, I am going to get to the how-to of it in future posts. In this post, I want to examine the benefits of Simplicity.
I believe that in the absence of oppression and want people are, for the most part, rational and reasonable. I think that to be human is to be rational and reasonable (of course, that implies that the unreasonable and immoral are somehow less than human). People suffering from oppressive forces, be they political as in the case of the current mass hysteria, or physical as in the case of hunger or material need, can indeed behave less than reasonably.
Simplicity to a Free Friend is not necessarily the wholesale rejection of technology, electricity, or vehicles while spinning wool or reading by candlelight. Simplicity is a mindset of limiting what sensory inputs we are going to allow into our orbit in some rational way before they can negatively influence us and then examine the inputs that we allow into our lives—and carefully examine them—before taking a course of action. How much and what influences and inputs we allow into our lives is the perusal of the individual. A thoughtful and contemplative person practicing Simplicity will be able to discern what is best here, and most if not all of us will avoid getting trapped by things that harm our well-being. Because Simplicity is first and foremost about the ultimate importance, we place on our well-being.
The ancient Greek philosophers had a beautiful word for the satisfaction that comes about through keeping one's life simple—Eudaimonia. The best English translation of the idea that this word describes is "human flourishing." And this is why we say that Simplicity must come first. Because the remaining precepts of Integrity, Community, Peace, and Equality can only exist in an environment where the people themselves, the individuals, are flourishing. Aristotle said it this way—
We take what is self-sufficient to be that which on its own makes life worthy of choice and lacking in nothing. We think happiness to be such, and indeed the thing most of all worth choosing, not counted as just one thing among others'.
Well-being has a long list of attributes: First on that list is good mental and physical health. We cannot be good and loving husbands and wives and parents if we are not in good health, and it is the individual who is responsible for their health. Loving relationships, pleasant friendships, satisfying and productive work—work we can be proud of, sustained by, and made secure with—are indeed near the very top of this list. All of these are the very essence of our precept of Simplicity as it is expressed on a personal level and this implies the acceptance of personal responsibility for our well-being. We represent this responsibility to ourselves by avoiding self-destructive behaviors and engaging in healthful and beneficial behaviors (overindulgence in food/drink/drugs is self-destructive; marring our bodies (think tattoos/piercings or any other form of self-injury or scarring) in any way is simply unacceptable. Of course, past mistakes must be forgiven and forgotten; today is a new day).
If each member of the community must be a contributing member, it then follows that the first step is to be in a position where one sees to their own needs first. Otherwise, what is it we would have to contribute if we do not have enough of what we need? Think about that for a moment and then compare that counter-intuitive but perfectly logical conclusion with the nonsensical virtue-signaling dominating the world around us.
The practice of Simplicity will keep us out of debt and other unnecessary financial entanglements that put undue strain on ourselves, our families, and our communities. Pride in our work and personal success is an essential component of our well-being. Material competition with our neighbors is not; this requires a combination of finesse, courtesy, and generosity in our relationships with other members of the community.
Politics and Simplicity are almost certainly mutually exclusive. Oh, you can vote if it turns you on, and you should vote if you are informed and capable of reason. But politics is anathema to the practice of Simplicity—and the more virulent the political persuasion, the less it is in keeping with Simplicity. When Ayn Rand said—
Man—every man—is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life.
—She was not referring to letting our children, extended family, clan, or community do without while we saw to our own needs. What she was saying was that one must see to his or her own house, family, and community first and foremost. If you have any doubt about this, consider what Rand said about Integrity—
The virtue involved in helping those one loves is not “selflessness” or “sacrifice,” but integrity. Integrity is loyalty to one’s convictions and values; it is the policy of acting in accordance with one’s values, of expressing, upholding and translating them into practical reality. If a man professes to love a woman, yet his actions are indifferent, inimical or damaging to her, it is his lack of integrity that makes him immoral.
—Rand and Aristotle were very Quakerly in their philosophies!
Practicing Simplicity is the practice of keeping our lives in balance. It means doing many or even most things for yourself—and this yields both skills and personal satisfaction. An over-concentration on work/achievement will take its toll on the family, as will underachievement; This is not easily reconciled with our culture of specialization—until you look down and realize that you have not seen your toes in many years due to the effects of all of that specialization.
Robert Heinlein, the author of one of the 20th centuries best selling novels, "Stranger in a Strange Land," had this to say about specialization:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Many of us will still have to specialize for a long stretch of our professional lives, but I think it is important to consider just how unhealthy it is and to find a way to introduce non-specialized, Simplicity focused activities into our lives—gardening, woodworking, construction, cheesemaking, sewing, knitting, gathering firewood, cutting the grass with a reel mower, fishing, sports with the kids, and anything else we can think of. Simplicity is a form of meditation, one that you can discuss with your other community members.
But most of all, Simplicity starts and ends with you as an individual and with your very personal well-being, the well-being of your family, extended family, and community.
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Greg, QUUC
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