Would humanity be better off if more people were ascetics?

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Seems like it would. Think of all the resources saved. Trouble is, so many people's desires clash with this austere way of life so they refuse to live this way.

Why don't we split things down the middle and try voluntary simplicity?

Not necessarily. The asceticism would have to serve a purpose. For example, buying a heavy, inefficient car contributes to more pollution so stick with an efficient one. But there are parts of asceticism which serve no clear purpose. Denying yourself pleasure for the sole purpose of denying yourself pleasure does not seem wise to me. I would call it: responsible use of resources, rather than asceticism.

i think the world would be a better place and a happier one for those who could come to
curb materialistic desires..

But for me..no fasting..or restrictions of natural human sensual..pleasures...within reason...

So i guess that may make me a mix..of hedonism..and asceticism..

Give me a song..dance..and sun..and don't even clothe me fancy..or even none..

And i am just happy to be alive..

That's all i need..and LOVE..

I might be a YOGI leaning..dude..but this one is all extroverted..in
real life now..no REAL monk life for me....:)

It's a good topic for Lent. Imagine Lent all year long!
Most people cannot think of such a dreary lifestyle. They wouldn't ever have anything to look forward to. Each day would be dreary and exceedingly grey. No break from the monotony. Never anything new unless they became explorers on foot.

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo,
Oh I have a good idea. Veganism is pretty ascetic, plus it is better for the environment than giving up your car, and it saves 200 animals annually. Would you like to try it

I have tried it and I get really dizzy and light headed. Beans give me indigestion so I don't eat them too often. I must eat fish or poultry or I feel really weird and dizzy. I don't eat hamburger or steak. Sometimes, I eat bacon or beef hot dogs. I don't eat too much beef. Hamburgers are full of too much fat I never eat those.

No. Any change that makes it more difficult for me to get pizza and wine is not an improvement.

Did you eat properly while you were doing it? Did you get at least 1600 calories a day? Protein and the other stuff? I usually eat lentils.

If one assumes most conflicts are in some way a competition for resources,
then more people adopting a simpler lifestyle might calm things down a bit.

I don't like lentils. I have tried them and replacing meat with beans and I am not happy like that. My CNS just needs meat to function. My muscles need meat to move.
I don't eat a lot of meat just enough to function.

Haha! i am definitely an explorer on foot..

Everyday the earth is like
Christmas to me...:)

As more of the 3rd world comes online, everyone will have to simplify or fight for resources.

There's not enough of anything to allow Indians (eastern), Chinese, South Americans and Africans to consume at the enormous rates of the 1st world.

That is just a fact. It will be interesting to see what we do about it.

Yes indeed. I find it interesting already to watch how international commerce is adjusting to that. For me it is even more interesting than watching all of the running around about global climate changes.

I did not like the taste other but animal rights have to come before taste. I am eating a big bowl right now and don't really want to finish it but I will.
According to the experts we don't need meat, but it has to be done right though. Would you like to try again, this time following the recommendations of nutritionists? I lift weights on a vegan diet, no reason it can't support your lifestyle.

That is highly debatable. According to some experts you can do without meat, and according to others you can't. It heavily depends on what you mean by do. It has been shown that a vegan diet has a direct impact on brain function if vitamin and fatty acids are not monitored closely and sometimes you might need suplements which is an inefficient way to get your vitamins. And sorry for this, but though I agree with the fact that we must not inflict any unnecessary amount of pain on other living creatures, the fact is that we need to kill animals to live. A lot of the things that have been learned to support the factibility of a vegan diet have come from experiments performed on animals. We need to kill animals to produce grain and other vegetables. And unlike animals used for food or for research, there is no law requiring this animals to be killed in a humane way. Hares spend days agonizing in traps that farmers set to keep them away from their crops. The same goes for moles and other small rodents and marsupials. Birds are shot and killed as well. Millions of insects die due to pesticides or by having predators being unnaturaly introduced in their habitats to control their population (Which is an Organic accepted form of pest control) So yeah, eating meats is death, eating vegetables is death, existing is death.

If you want to have a vegan diet, I respect that. But please stop trying to make it all about saving the world because being a vegan doesn't even put a dent on all the impact you make in the world.

As to asceticism, I think it is great to be able to know what makes you happy and not being driven by greed or a desire to hoard. If we strived to make ourselves happy and make the world a better place to live, things would be different. Everybody needs something but nobody needs everything. Wealth makes sense when it is put to something fruitful or meaningful and not the accumulation of wealth as such. It is easy to see why would someone spend 30,000 dollars to travel somewhere far and see other things. But spending that on a piece of Jewelry seems pointless and absurd. If everybody focused on being happy and giving something back to the world they live in rather than being wealthy or famous, the world would certainly be someplace very different.