From the perspective of someone who lives and works in a small late capitalist city or larger:
It is a privileged position to be able to ‘live simply’ and be content. It is true whether you compare low class to high or developed countries to developing. Socio-economic structures of late capitalism are not easy to resist and I applaud anyone who does. Being ‘consciously aware’ of both structural and psychological forces that drive us to want more is not sufficient to be able to actively resist late capitalism’s 24/7 psychological bombardment and governing power structures.
To live simply you will need to be constantly resisting against everything around you. This is not psychologically sustainable. First, you must play the game in order to achieve enough social and financial capital to have the required amount of power and agency to ‘live simply’. You can’t start calling shots until you have something to back it up.
Imagine you decide that one day you will save enough money to buy some land, build a food garden and maybe even some solar panels; “Then I can live simply”, you tell yourself. You accept that you will need to work hard in your job (or find one) for a few years first. That means accepting the world around you and playing the game. You continue to dream of your future simple life but the daily grind that is so antithetical to your vision, beliefs and values is starting to get you down. Among the hustle and bustle you picture your future pumpkin patch briefly. Your attitudes and behaviours are out of alignment but you must play the game.
Years pass. You’ve reached a point where you are no longer just ‘getting by’ and you can start saving money toward your goals.
More years pass. Some life happens. Daily grind. Suffer now to prosper later. You meet someone and fall in love. You grow a pumpkin in a bag of soil because you can’t plant it as you are renting; you eat it and it is tasteless. You’re proud nonetheless.
More years pass. Between Netflix shows you are struck with a random memory and smile with the side of your mouth: “Remember when I grew that pumpkin in a bag of dirt?”, you say to your partner. “Yes, oh my god it tasted so weird”, they reply. You smile, agree, blow air through your nose, and return to Netflix.
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Game Studies GG 