Sacrificing to stave off bankruptcy

Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila

After admitting that the country is in the midst of a fiscal crisis, President Macapagal-Arroyo has been calling on everyone to make sacrifices, to practice austerity, to scrimp and save so that the nation can make both ends meet.

The people who are living below the poverty level cannot make any more sacrifices. If they were to be more austere, they would be starving to death. It appears that they are condemned to a life of involuntary simplicity.

It is to the elite, the top 10 percent of the population who own about 80 percent of the country's wealth, that the call for sacrifice and austerity should be especially directed. It is the very rich, the very influential and the very powerful, many of whom live lives of excess, luxury and conspicuous consumption, who should be urged to live lives of voluntary simplicity.

For instance, it would help the nation greatly if the senators and representatives, most of whom belong to the economic elite, would give up their pork barrel,

especially during the current fiscal emergency. Abolishing the pork barrel would free about P20 billion that could be used for urgent social services and infrastructure such as schoolbuildings, hospitals, health care and child feeding programs. But safeguards must be instituted to make sure that the congressional pork barrel would not be merely transformed into the President's pork barrel.

Many other suggestions have been made on how to save money for a cash-strapped government. Limit foreign travel to absolutely essential trips. Urge high-salaried officers of government corporations to take pay cuts. Stop the purchase of expensive luxury vehicles for government officials. Stop serving merienda at meetings, etc., etc.

But these are mere details. What is needed is to adopt a certain philosophy and reorient the attitudes of the rich and the powerful. That philosophy could be "voluntary simplicity," which was discussed extensively in a book of the same title by Duane Elgin in 1981.

Voluntary simplicity does not mean living in poverty, but "living with balance in order to find a life of greater purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction," Elgin says. A life of voluntary simplicity, he says, "can have both a beauty and functional integrity that elevates the human spirit."

Elgin says that people who choose a life of voluntary simplicity, among other things, tend to:

o Have compassionate concern for the world's poor. A simpler life fosters a concern for social justice and equity in the use of the world's resources.

o Lower their overall level of personal consumption -- buy less clothing, less jewelry and observe holidays in a less commercialized manner.

o Change their patterns of consumption in favor of products that are durable, easy to repair, non-polluting, energy- efficient, functional and esthetic.

o Shift their diets away from highly processed foods, meat and sugar toward foods that are more natural, healthy and simple.

o Recycle items such as metal, glass and paper.

o Change transport modes in favor of public transit, smaller and more fuel efficient cars, riding bikes and walking.

A life of voluntary simplicity embraces the tenets of frugal consumption, ecological awareness, social concern and personal growth. It does not mean bringing down the rich to the level of the poor, but helping the poor overcome their poverty so that they can improve their lot and lead more meaningful lives.

Elgin says that to live more simply is "to live more lightly, cleanly, aerodynamically. It is to establish a more direct, unpretentious and unencumbered relationship with all aspects of our lives: The things that we consume, the work that we do, our relationships with others, our connections with nature and the cosmos, and more."

George Leonard, author of The Transformation, said that a copy of Elgin's book in every American household could change the course of history. Voluntary Simplicity shows that what this nation [the United States] needs is not so much a change of policy as a change of mind, and that individual citizens, acting on their own, can do more to solve our crisis than can any national administration," he says.

It may be too much to expect every Filipino household, because of the pervasive poverty, to buy a copy of the book. But a start could be made with the decision makers and the economic, political and intellectual elite of the country. Voluntary Simplicity should be required reading for them. It should impress upon them the elegance, the logic and the wisdom of voluntary simplicity. The times call for frugal and simple living.