When Minimalism Isn't Enough

"I have one bowl." — Ron Swanson

I have been very attracted to the idea of minimalism for a while now: the whole, live in a tiny house, build a minimalist wardrobe, reject careerism thing. That is why, about two weeks after I moved into my house in Mexico, I got incredibly excited.

Here's the thing. Since I'm only here for nine months, it doesn't make sense to furnish a home, invest in cooking ware, or bring all of my clothes with me. After settling into my little tangerine-colored abode, I took inventory of my living situation for the year.

I sleep in a bedroom whose only real furniture is a bed and a nightstand. Annabel and I own one pot and one pan. My living room doesn't have a sofa, so we improvised, and have pillows to sit on around our coffee table. We have two bowls.

After watching the underwhelming documentary Minimalism on Netflix (would recommend if you think minimalism is stupid; would not if you think anything else), I sat for a few minutes of reflection.

I am a minimalist, I decided.

It happened organically, and I am incredibly content with the development. It feels great to have what you need, and to find that when you look around, you don't see much else. I'm more gung-ho than ever about living in a tiny house someday.

A month or so after that, though, I was having a conversation with my landlady/neighbor. She is a wonderful, energetic, and incredibly talkative woman, which is why I wasn't surprised when our conversation took a U turn to the topic of minimum wage.

I lived in Mexico as a kid, and am familiar with the incredibly unjust working conditions that many Mexicans experience as a part of their daily lives. So, I was a bit surprised to learn that Mexico has a minimum wage at all. But, it does. And, it is somewhere between $60 and $70 pesos a day. That is $3.22 to $3.76 USD per day. Forget hourly wages.

I wish it were needless to say that I was shocked; but this news is not at all shocking to people who earn that much, it is just part of life.

One of the first things I thought about was how difficult it must be to grocery shop on that salary. Is it even possible to get enough food for a week? On my most recent shopping trip, I decided to see for myself.

Pictured below is everything you can buy for $104.55 pesos ($5.61 USD), just a little less than the $122.4 pesos you'd allocate towards groceries if you spent 34% of your minimum income wage on them (the percentage that most Mexicans spend on food). I assumed that I could spend the rest on tortillas to help stretch my food supply, being that about $20 pesos would get me enough tortillas for about a week. I say "I could," because I don't spend anywhere near that little. My grocery budget is almost 4X that much (and I am being money conscious).

This $104.55 pesos includes bread ($24.45), milk ($14.85), beans ($26.5), eggs ($20.5), noodles ($4.8) and tuna, the cheapest meat I could think of ($14.7).

I have a hard time thinking about how to meal plan on that kind of a budget without being hungry pretty often, even if I did just buy more of the cheapest items here and less of the expensive ones. I don't know that it would be possible.

I notice that there's nothing fresh on my table, no fruits or vegetables, and that there's not space in the budget for other food items (oil, chicken broth for the noodles, coffee, sugar, salt, chilis, drinking water, etc.). I realize that it would be unspeakably difficult to support a family, even if it is just one child, with this kind of a wage. I also know, from living here, that it would be hard to allocate a full 34% of your budget to food if you worked for minimum wage, being that your other living costs would hardly be covered by your remaining money.

Minimalism isn't enough, I've decided.

I am convinced that living so that I am incredibly conscious of my material possessions and every day expenditures (like minimalists are apt to do) is necessary. It is necessary, at least, if I want to be a conscientious global citizen. It is even more necessary if I hope to be a Christian who takes Jesus' example to heart.

I also believe, though, that this sheer conscientiousness is not enough. What we need are conversations, opportunities to be educated on social issues, a never-fading desire to see change, and the impetus to do something about it.

Perhaps if the right handful of people decided to live justly above all else, we'd have the necessary legal team to advocate for employment reforms in countries that need them. With another handful, we may have the backbone of a charitable organization that helps people suffering injustices in the meanwhile. With small handfuls everywhere, of people who would be willing to live with less so that we could all enjoy the dignity of living in a just world, I have no doubt that we'd see real, life-changing differences.

And living with less doesn't only mean less things. It may mean spending less time putting in the extra hours to make more money than you need, and spending those hours somewhere else. It may mean living with less luxuries (grande pumpkin lattes, nail salon appointments, trips to the movies, etc.) so that you have more money to support worthwhile charities. Living with less can mean a lot of things. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a big first step to live with less material goods, but we can go further.

I'd blame my conviction that the world can really, actually change on the optimist in me, but I have witnessed too many organizations that are making positive differences to be so naive.

Yes, I will continue to try and be a minimalist. But I also want to be more. I think that we all need to be more if the justice that so many dream about is going to be possible.