There are a number of great points in this article. I don’t agree with everything the author says, but for the most part he is spot on, as in this quote:

If I could do one massive experiment on the whole US I would take away TV for a month. Once a chunk of the population survived the mind-poison withdrawal I bet great things would start to happen.

People would shop less, exercise more, talk to their neighbors, maybe even, dare I say, read a book or plant a garden. You can bet the social and political landscape of the US would look mighty different.

The status quo assumes we need a lot of energy for a good quality of life. On the contrary, we have too much energy now and our use of it has damaged our quality of life and the environment as well, which is inextricably linked with our quality of life.

With Jesse and India in the USA this week I’ve been living a very minimal lifestyle. Turned off the heat (yes, it is still chilly in Edinburgh), no TV, mostly simple organic/local foods. I am using barely any electricity – basically just my laptop, the oven and an occasional load of laundry. The only consumerism in sight consists of walking two blocks to buy some fruit, bread or milk at the shop, and that doesn’t count. For recreation I’ll ride my bike across the city for some football in the park. It feels good to use less (external) energy.

via No Impact Man