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Thread: A More Simple, Plainer America?

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    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    A More Simple, Plainer America?

    I picked up a copy of the WSJ today at work (we sell it at the grocery store) and scanned quickly and I think it was in Peggy Noonan's column. Yes, I just checked it was - in her column regarding looking back at 2020 - Ms. Noonan predicts America will emerge from this pandemic as a simpler, plainer society.

    Now what do you think, likely or not? I'm kind of glad to post this ? as it is not political, nor does it involve my zip code, and it is ln line with the original intention of this board. Not only all of the above, but I personally find this question and possible discussion over it interesting. Rob

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    Yppej
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    I sure hope so.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    I think most of us here like that idea in the abstract. I mean isn’t that why we are here? Simplicity, simple life.


    I think it is when we have to start dialing into the details that it will be a problem with how that plainer,simpler life is defined. Many will feel a loss, and rightly so. A loss of material objects. A loss of square footage in living space. A loss of experiences.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    I picked up a copy of the WSJ today at work (we sell it at the grocery store) and scanned quickly and I think it was in Peggy Noonan's column. Yes, I just checked it was - in her column regarding looking back at 2020 - Ms. Noonan predicts America will emerge from this pandemic as a simpler, plainer society.

    Now what do you think, likely or not? I'm kind of glad to post this ? as it is not political, nor does it involve my zip code, and it is ln line with the original intention of this board. Not only all of the above, but I personally find this question and possible discussion over it interesting. Rob
    What did she say that means?

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    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frugal-one View Post
    What did she say that means?
    She didn't exactly say that, she did a little review of editorials over the course of the pandemic and mentioned America becoming a simpler country as the tone in May. You can read the article here: Peggy Noonan – Columns, pieces and posts
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Yes, she didn't state what that meant at all. People try to find the silver lining by grabbing onto romantic cliches about simple living, but I hate to say that I'm cynical. It's not like people who emerged from The Great Depression decided that darning socks and getting 4 dinners out of one chicken was far superior to steak every Saturday.

    And, yes, what would make this country simpler and plainer?? Fewer ads on TV? Fewer people working long hours? A 50s tableau of Dad coming home from work to wafts of warmth circling above a home-made casserole, with smiling, well-dressed kids saying grace?

    We on this board who hold certain values dear--values around thrift, nature, gratitude, mindful spending and mindful living--are a rare breed and I believe will always be so. But we can always hope that some out there will see the light at the end of this.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

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    Yppej
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    The only concrete example she gave of simplicity was the end of fashion as we knew it.

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    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Follow the money. There's so much money in fashion and marketing (some overlap there, too) and in other endeavors that I think it's unlikely people will shift quickly to an end to fashion or smaller homes (in rural areas) and so on. Many people can be manipulated to buy buy buy. I don't see that changing. There may be some areas that shift, like increased grocery ordering online or people being more comfortable with Teams or Zoom meetings rather than have ten people drive to a central location to meet. But this is a mighty big ship to turn. And we likely won't notice the tipping points that have occurred during the pandemic until many years down the road ("Can you believe people actually used to fly hundreds of miles to go to a half-day business meeting?")
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveinMN View Post
    And we likely won't notice the tipping points that have occurred during the pandemic until many years down the road ("Can you believe people actually used to fly hundreds of miles to go to a half-day business meeting?")
    haha! BTDT. One example: Newark to Seattle for a two-hour capabilities presentation. We slept on the plane. I thought it was stupid then and I'd think it's even more stupid now. And we didn't even get the work.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

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    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    My favorite stupid meeting involved a flight from Portland to San Francisco for a one hour meeting that could easily have been accomplished with a handout. But I liked being in SF, and the next day we were on to Los Angeles. Most meetings are dumb; out of town meetings more so, usually.

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