Looking for "more" or "less"?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There's a rock and a hard place unfolding in the global economy. \u00a0The rock: We need to buy lots of stuff to keep the economic machinery going, so that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking for "more" or "less"?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There's a rock and a hard place unfolding in the global economy. \u00a0The rock: We need to buy lots of stuff to keep the economic machinery going, so that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-11T16:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.indianmoney.com\/userfiles\/image\/Bull-or-bear-market.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/\",\"name\":\"Looking for \\\"more\\\" or \\\"less\\\"?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-11T16:00:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-11T16:00:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"There's a rock and a hard place unfolding in the global economy. \u00a0The rock: We need to buy lots of stuff to keep the economic machinery going, so that\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Looking for “more” or “less”?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. 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{"id":570,"date":"2010-08-11T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2010-08-11T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=570"},"modified":"2010-08-11T10:00:37","modified_gmt":"2010-08-11T16:00:37","slug":"looking-for-more-or-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/11\/looking-for-more-or-less\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for “more” or “less”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The hard place: The most popular article in the NY Times<\/a> this morning questions the premise that we\u2019ll be happy if we buy more stuff. \u00a0The article catalogs the major life shift of Tammy Strobel, who jumped off the work-spend treadmill with her husband. \u00a0She\u2019s now living simply, as one of the growing number minimalists who try to limit their number of possessions to around 100, including 0 cars<\/strong>. \u00a0They\u2019ve evaporated 30k of debt, are exercising more, eating better, volunteering their time, taking walks in the woods, and have never been happier.<\/p>\n

Welcome to our economic world. \u00a0We\u2019re stuck, collectively, in a consumerist model that depends on buying stuff, and now we\u2019re discovering that, like unfermented soy products, maybe stuff isn\u2019t so good for you after all. \u00a0If we all start living like Tammy, what happens to the auto industry, and the rest of the \u2018stuff\u2019 that creates our economy?<\/p>\n

There are books about this subject, which you might want to check out here<\/a> (if you\u2019re interested in the book picture) and here<\/a> (if you\u2019re interested in lifestyle changes) and here<\/a> (if you\u2019re interested in just reducing your own debts).<\/p>\n

I hope all of us work to become more like Tammy because this is what, I think, the Bible commends<\/a>. I spent $30 at Goodwill last week, and have a new fall wardrobe, but this doesn\u2019t do much for big economic machine. \u00a0That too many are becoming like Tammy\u00a0is the great fear of wall street. \u00a0My response: \u00a0Moving towards the light is like rappelling off a cliff. \u00a0There\u2019s some uncertainty regarding all the implications, but there\u2019s a knowing, a trusting, that doing it right will be best, in the long run, for everyone.<\/p>\n

Are you simplifying? \u00a0How?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"