Livesimply

Back in 2005 anti-poverty campaigners in Ireland and the UK joined forces to set up the Make Poverty History campaign. Their aim was to challenge the structural injustices that keep people in poverty with particular regard for those living in the Third World.

In the last twelve months the ‘credit crunch’ and now the reality of global recession are bringing a greater degree of relative poverty to many in the developed world, and making many more of us aware that we have been worshipping at the idol of consumerism for too long. A long period of global recession is a good time for us to look at ourselves and re-assess our values with regard to material wealth.

The Livesimply project aims to do precisely this and on a wide canvas. Of course this is no new idea. Our Lord preached the parable about Dives and Lazarus, and St Ambrose wrote “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor, but you are giving them back what is theirs…..The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.”

Spearheaded by the Catholic charity Cafod, Livesimply arose from a desire to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples). A key idea in this encyclical is that “God intended the earth and everything in it for the use of all human beings and peoples.”

The project will run until 2009 and has already attracted huge support. Its website http://www.livesimply.org.uk/ explains that its principal objective is to encourage life with three Ss: “to look hard at our lifestyles, and to choose to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.” In this way, we will be able to create a world in which human dignity is respected and everyone can reach their full potential.

It is evident that the Livesimply movement ties in with a number of other projects which focus on sustainable lifestyles. It also connects with the now-familiar notion that the world’s natural resources will soon run out altogether if we do not make globally concerted efforts to respect the natural world God has given us. As Bishop Crispian Hollis has remarked, “Poverty, exploitation and degradation of the environment are inextricably linked”. Nick Clegg, leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrat Party reminds us of our obligation to future generations when he says that “it is vital we think about the generations that will follow us, and take care of the planet they will inherit.” Livesimply is, in fact, part of a huge network of movements and project groups that are attempting to raise awareness of the need to take action on preserving the world’s resources. Many of these take their initial inspiration from Christian organisations, but are open to men and women of all faiths and none. Examples from the UK are the Christian Ecology Link, Church Action on Poverty and Operation Noah.

Some object that a campaign to live frugally and use natural resources sparingly is a recipe for global economic disaster. Supporters of this view hold that it is a continuous increase in consumption which makes the world go round, and that there is an inherent contradiction between capitalism and the proponents of ‘green’ ideology. For them a sustained increase in consumer demand makes for a wealthier world. But they are wrong. The issue is: “At what medium- and long-term price?” On the website Why Business Needs Ecology Robert Kennedy Jr. argues from his own experience with the General Electric Company on the Hudson River. In his article How People Saved their River he talks about the pollution they left behind and how it left Port Edward and Hudson Falls poverty-stricken and without a future.

Kennedy draws the obvious conclusion: “Good environmental policy is identical to good economic policy…..We can generate an instantaneous cash flow and the illusion of a prosperous economy, but our children are going to pay for our joy-ride with polluted landscapes, poor health and huge clean-up costs that are going to amplify over time and which they’ll never be able to pay.”

Livesimply urges us to think again about how we consume on all levels, both collective and personal. It challenges every individual to think hard about how best they can put into practice a form of living which respects the three Ss. A page on their website presents the LiveSimply promises. Melosa D’sousa states her pledge in these words: “I will give all of my old or unwanted clothes and things to charity instead of throwing them away, but I want 15 other people to join me”. Another pledge runs as follows: “I will NOT print from my computer unless absolutely necessary, but I want 10 other people to join me.”

Livesimply emphasizes the paradox that its goals cannot be reached by individuals working in isolation, yet commitment needs to start with the individual. The promises made by its supporters include an invitation to others to show solidarity by aigning up to the same pledge, and to set a deadline in order to heighten the sense of urgency.

Make Poverty History was a successful movement and had support from a wide range of public figures including Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister. The Livesimply campaign deserves even greater support. If we are to heed what some economists say, the world turned a corner in 2008 with the continuing downturn in global prosperity. Many more of us may soon be forced to think about what living simply means, and to do something about it.

We may not, in fact, have much time left to establish new habits.