Minimalism: Keeping what you need and scrapping what you don’t [VIDEO]

With consumerism at its highest, there has probably never been a better time to take up a minimalistic lifestyle.

Consumerism could be defined as a social and economic order in which many individuals aspire to acquire goods and services beyond their needs.

The 2024 Netflix documentary Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy is one of the latest that shows the impact of consumerism, particularly on the environment.

A 2020 peer-reviewed scientific journal Psychology & Marketing, which covers the psychological study of marketing and consumer behaviour, revealed that materialistic consumption leads to lower individual and societal wellbeing.

Recent studies indicate that low-consumption lifestyles bring greater personal satisfaction and environmental benefits. Queue the minimalistic lifestyle.

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Minimalism

An advocate for a minimalism, US writer Joshua Becker, described minimalism as intentionally living with only the things one really needs — items that support a person’s purpose.

“I am removing the distraction of excess possessions so I can focus more on those things that matter most,” wrote Becker on Becoming Minimalist.

“At its core, being a minimalist means intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it. It is a life that forces intentionality upon us. As a result, it forces improvements in almost all aspects of your life.”

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Benefits of minimalism

Beyond the economic benefits of spending less money, a minimalistic lifestyle has intangible and long-lasting benefits.

According to Becker, minimalism slows down life and frees individuals from the modern hysteria about living faster. It offers the freedom to disengage.

“It aims to remove the frivolous and keep the significant. It values the intentional endeavours that add value to life.”

A minimalistic lifestyle also benefits the environment. In the abovementioned Netflix documentary, viewers see the impact that buying items they don’t need has on the planet.

Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy pulls back the curtain on the world’s top brands, exposing the hidden tactics and covert strategies used to keep all of us locked in an endless cycle of buying — no matter the cost.

The film has candid interviews with former employees of global brands such as Nike, Amazon and Apple.

“We were constantly developing new ways to get you to buy,” former Amazon employee Maren Costa says in the film.

“Influencing your behaviour is subtle ways that you’d never even realised. And every trick in the book is being used to hide what’s really going on.”

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