Why Frugality is a BAD Idea: 1

Many CONservative types (libertarians and extreme leftists included) have a deep-seated attachment towards the concept of frugality. However their desires have less to do with existing reality than with a more primitive perception of reality.

Frugality is a logical, if not rational, reaction to perpetual scarcity.

Scarcity of resources, things and services was the rule before the second stage of the industrial revolution (pre-1880s), but is no longer the case. Indeed, the converse is true as we can produce more than we can realistically consume, and I am talking about all 7-8 billion people on earth- not just ‘developed’ nations. Just to be clear- we are not talking about ten Airbus 380s for every man, woman and child- but something far more realistic-

It is possible to provide infrastructure, food, education, housing, transportation, healthcare and communication of a quality and abundance that exceeds what an affluent person living in a ‘developed’ country currently enjoys to every single person on this earth. All of this can be done without “exhausting resources” or any of that dying white dog-in-the-manger bullshit.

The real issue is, therefore, not technology or resources but human shortcomings- specifically human attitudes, preconceptions and just plain stupidity. So before we analyse why frugality is bad, let us try to understand the real reasons behind support for frugality.

1] Resources, things or services appear to be scarce, or your belief systems makes it heretical to believe otherwise. (CONservatives, environMENTALISTs)

2] People feel the need to control or screw over other people by misrepresenting the real cost of a better life. (The self-appointed “elite” of all societies and increasingly.. aging whites who have begun to see their rapidly declining relevance)

3] Everybody else appears to be doing it. (Sheeple)

4] Mercantile zero-sum mindset. (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, German, French etc)

5] Need for spiritual purity as required by cults (mainstream religions) that promise a ‘glorious afterlife’ in exchange for sacrifices that benefit the priests of that religion (pretty much all monotheistic faiths including sub-denominations, capitalism, calvinism, communism, feminism, extreme left world views)

Note- those who preach frugality for ‘spiritual purity’ and a ‘glorious afterlife’ or its secular equivalent never practice what they preach.

However the most important reason and logical basis of frugality is the belief that you can realistically save money for enjoying a better life in the future. The next post, or two, of this series will be devoted to eviscerating this flawed belief, on more than one level.

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