The Limits of Minimalism

In his 1979 speech “Crisis of Confidence” President Jimmy Carter said, “Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.”** What was true in 1979, is even more true today. Americans are still pursuing identity by what we consume and still coming up empty. We’re still doing it because nothing seems to have presented a better alternative.

I recently watched the documentary Minimalism, now available to stream on Netflix. As someone currently researching marketing, consumption, and identity there was a lot that appealed to me and a lot I think they get right. Mainly, I think they hit the nail on the head in identifying that society shapes us so that our primary identity is as consumers and that we find meaning by what and how much we consume.

The film is full of people whose personal experiences led them to realize just how much they were actually searching for meaning from what they owned and how they were trapped in that lifestyle, expecting to feel free and secure once they achieved a certain level only to find out that it was always just around the corner. At one point one of the main subjects of the documentary recounts a time that he considered what kind of espresso maker would best define him as a man. Perhaps the example sounds a little ridiculous but I think many of us often think such things when we decide what to buy — how does this item contribute the view of myself I have and that I want others to have of me? Fed by aspirational marketing messages and brand profiles, new things allow us to reinvent ourselves and renew our life.

The people in the film express minimalism in different ways and with different values. They don’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach but encourage people to think about how items add true value or joy to their life. The point isn’t just to have less stuff. At the core of it is the belief that by having less stuff perhaps we will have to work less at life-sucking jobs and can instead have more time for the life we want; it allows us to regain control of our health, finances, relationships, and time so there’s space in life for what matters.

I think these are good things. I think the experiments, exercises, and challenges they discuss in various blog posts and podcasts are great ways to help us stop the madness and break the cycle of consumption so we’re forced to think about things differently. But I think there’s a limit to what this can deliver.

I know minimalism doesn’t claim to give meaning itself (and I don’t think most people I know who are into it expect it to) but I think it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking it will. It can simply become another standard to strive for and as with any movement it has a certain aesthetic that we can be drawn to fit into. Instead of being defined by what I have, I want to be seen as the type of person who has less. As a perfectionist who likes to have control over my spaces or environment, it’s also easy to think that gaining more control over my life will give me more security and contentment. Again, there is some value to it, but I know from personal experience it’s a value that can easily be misplaced.

Perhaps even more important, though, is that minimalism is all about throwing away the template that America gives us so that we can go out and create the life we really want. It’s really just a different version of the American dream that tells me I’m free to live how I want. But as a Christian, my life is not my own; it’s bound to Christ. To be transformed into the image of God is to be free as I was created to be–not free from interference but free for God and for others. So I don’t think we find more meaning by re-evaluating our stuff, but we find it but moving more towards God and towards others in our lives. That will most certainly lead us to re-evaluate the stuff in our lives, but hopefully it won’t be about creating life on my own terms and trying to gain control over myself.

Minimalism itself confirms our identity as Americans has been formed to be consumers because to re-form our identity is to change the way we consume. But to operate within that paradigm doesn’t really change the game at all. Our identity is so much richer and fuller than that but we don’t recognize it because it’s become so spiritualized and other-worldly in our minds and lives. Ultimately, to understand and reclaim the fullness of our identity in Christ holds much more power than minimalism can ever have.