Response to Radical Simplicity: Too Radical For A Beaver

Jim Merkel's Radical Simplicity provides an almost engineering approach to the concept of sustainability and the different ways in which of providing a healthy future for the world. Given that he was a military engineer and lived off of multi-million dollar checks before his radical change, one might have thought that the person that Merkel turned into after would never come into existence. One might have thought, in addition, that a person who would give up such luxuries and comforts of such a rich and wealthy life would either be too crazy, or maybe experiencing some god like messiah coming to their doorstep and preaching the harms of and greed. Maybe the second part may or may not have happened, but given Merkel's lasting impression on the reader in his book, it is safe to say that he may be calling for changes outright revolutionary, or too radical even for a small beaver to handle.

Indeed, Merkel's book Radical Simplicity has left an enduring effect for the rest of my life. As I reflect on my life before reading the book and after, and seeing myself ten years from now, I see that how I have been before reading Merkel's book has been quite un-sustainable and damaging towards the beautiful world and the local environment. After reading Merkel's book, I have become more aware at how much waste I produce that degrade the environment, as well as how much my own cultural and materialistic values play a part in my wasteful behavior.

First, lets see what my lifestyle will be like in 10 years after reading Radical Simplicity. After learning of all the sustainable ways of living in areas that don't have the luxury to live off of even the basic resources people in America take for granted, such as basic running water, oil guzzling cars, or even plastic items, I have finally realized that my wasteful actions cannot continue. In addition, after learning that my primary areas of waste are in paper and plastic items, as well as in transportation type services that emit large quantities of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions, I plan that in ten years I reduce the amount of paper I waste by using less paper and other paper items, as well using more sustainable, aluminum type items for drinking water or other basic needs instead of constantly relying on plastic bottles for water, which eventually get thrown away in large amounts. Moreover, concerning my other materialistic value of emitting a lot of greenhouse gas emissions by constant use of transportation, such as buses, trains, cars, and other modes of transportation, I am hoping that in ten years or even less I become more of an efficient driver by only driving when I need, or also by using more carpooling services so as to limit the amount of driving, and greenhouse emissions, that negatively affect the environment. In addition, I am hoping that in ten years I can drive more of an efficient, energy saving vehicle that has much of a less impact on the environment than do oil consuming vehicles. All in all, after reading Merkel's book, I am hoping that I become more a sustainable and environmentally friendly person by consuming less and wasting less, thereby reducing my impact on the environment.

Now, lets see what my lifestyle will be like 10 years from now if I had not read the book. Seeing this in perspective and realistically, I would be choking the very breath of the world. I would be practicing such wasteful behaviors, such as continuing to waste large quantities of paper, plastic, and other items that may have a dangerous impact on the earth. Furthermore, I would be consuming so many resources in many different categories, such as paper, food, stocks, transportation, etc. that I would need more than 6 earths to adequately provide for my un-sustainable living habits. I would still be practicing un-sustainable actions and hurting the environment by continuing to waste large amounts of paper, large amounts of plastic items, as well as not caring how much greenhouse gas emissions are emitted and driving more gas guzzling vehicles that will continue to hurt the environment and the people around me. Furthermore, ten years from now, I might use up more acres of land and more resources than the environment around me can handle, which will also cause a negative effect on the environment.

Now, after looking forward ten years in my life and seeing whether Radical Simplicity has an immediate affect on my life, it is safe to say that indeed such a book has left a lasting impression on my wasteful patterns and has already changed me as a person to not waste and to consider more how my actions are negatively or positively affecting the environment. However, the ways in which Merkel lives and seems to promote his ideals of the perfect, eco-friendly environment appears too radical for many readers, and me. His idea that everyone should have a salary of no more than $5,000 seems a bit too extreme. First, a lot of people would find such a limit extremely harsh for any basic luxury, and even might disagree entirely that such a salary limit will help sustain environmental safety. I mean, if such a limit was established, people all over America will complain that the basic luxuries cannot be bought, such as that nice car, or cool boat, or even those cool plasma screen 43 inch televisions that makes everyone happy. In addition, the $5,000 limit will also hamper the poor. How can the poor, who live maybe their entire life without such basic necessities, improve their living habits by having such a limit. I think that such salary is too radical in a way that it will promote more class conflict that sustainability. There will be more people who will live with such a limit in poverty and without basic needs, and their will be that small, rich class at the top that are already well off and have lived the life with vast wealth, such as Jim Merkel, and won't necessarily be affected by such a change. I feel like Jim Merkel's advocation of such a salary limit is the main radical obstacle that might bring people to the edge of whether they would like to live in such a limited way.