When you go to starbucks each morning, spending $100 a month there instead of owning your own coffeemaker - it's not minimalism.
It's consumerism.
Trying living with just what he has in a 3rd world country and it's minimalism.
It's consumerism.
Trying living with just what he has in a 3rd world country and it's minimalism.
While minimalism and survivalism have a great deal in common, they are not equals. Try living in a city with what a 3rd worlder does and it's a punishable offense (possession/use of large knife, firestarter, chickens, etc.).
Point being, these two things are orthogonal to one another.
Wouldn't there be huge efficiency gains (and minimalism) in a coffee shop having one large coffee machine, importing huge bags of coffee instead of tiny packages with loads of waste? Reusing 20 cups for 200 people instead of each person owning 5 cups?
3rd world countries have coffee shops btw...
Coffeeshops don't sell just coffee, they sell a workspace, convenience, wi-fi, etc. Now if one doesn't take advantage of all these other aspects of Starbucks then it doesn't make much sense to buy Starbucks, I agree.
From an individual's perspective, it is not minimalist, because now you will need to have an entire coffee shop in your life to obtain coffee. However, from a societal viewpoint, it is very minimalist, because now each person can share the means to produce coffee, thus consuming less: electricity, water (assuming most dump some out), coffee supplies/coffee, and coffee brewing equipment (really, we don't all need our own machine... well, I do. but that's why I am a capitalist)
If you prefer to buy your coffee pre-made, that's fine by me, but describing it as "minimalist" makes no sense to me at all.
The guy is just writing about his choice to minimize possessions, not to live an empty life devoid of the benefits of modern society.