In piecing together these ethereal concepts I have been called to read a few other books recommended by the writer on his website, Ishmael.org. The first book I found is Radical Simplicity by Dan Price. It is the story of how the author lives his life in as simple a way as he can while still interacting with the modern world. He is not a full hermit, completely sheltered away from the outside world in a Grizzly Adams  style cabin. In fact, he produces a monthly magazine that he puts out to thousands of people, has a copier, propane heaters and even a telephone and electrical service. The simplicity shows up more in what he doesn’t have.

• He doesn’t have tons of space in which to collect a bunch of unused and under-appreciated stuff.
• He doesn’t have tons of clothes competing for show time.
• He doesn’t have a typical, oversized house which consumes a ton of energy and resources.
• He doesn’t have a mortgage.
• He doesn’t have a commute.
• He doesn’t have a full dining room with twelve intricately detailed place settings.

I could go on, of course, but you see the picture. He has simplified his life so that the outside pressures of the world do not have an impact on him, unless he chooses to allow them in. For instance, he spent many years traveling the world with a contract for a writing gig. While he did that though, he took his tent wherever he went. He avoided hotels at all costs. He maintained his simplicity wherever he went.

Why did Dan Price do this? He did this so that he could experience freedom. Freedom is a very powerful thing, yet so many people think that it only comes after working hard and long for many years to get to a financial position where your money opens the doors of freedom. Dan Price has shown that that is not necessary. He shows how he gained freedom by simplifying his life, by taking away all the pressures that society has artificially placed on our lives.

While I don’t believe that everyone would agree with Dan Price’s version of freedom or the path he took, I do believe that everyone can gain something by going through a process of simplification. A few years ago, we simplified our lives greatly by selling off about 80% of our belongings. It was very liberating for me during that time. I felt a huge relief. I had never been one who likes trinkets and “stuff” so it felt good to eliminate much of the “stuff” we had accumulated over the years. It was tough for Amelia at first, but she is a veteran nowadays.

Dan Price’s book has gotten me thinking of new ways to simplify again. For nearly three years, we have had a bunch of our remaining “stuff” packed away in boxes. Outta sight. Outta mind. Outta there?

Granted, somethings we are keeping because they will be useful later and too costly to replace. Like Tupperware for food storage when we live in our own place again. Especially in Costa Rica where we will have to keep the bugs at bay. But there are other things that we could get rid of here and replace when we get to our destination. Under this category would be things like cups, plates and cutlery. This type of thing is very cheap in almost every location in the world. There is another category that is hardest to figure out. We have a bunch of artwork that we have collected over the years. I have heard horror stories about art taken to the tropics and it gets destroyed by the humidity. I couldn’t forgive myself for letting that happen. And if I took them to Costa Rica, would they really look good in that setting.

So, while I love to be surrounded by artwork, it may be more realistic to replace what we currently have with something more suited to the locale. Besides, the kids are constantly creating artwork for us with their extremely creative minds.

We do have a prize piece that we got specifically because we had the perfect spot for it in our house in Ottawa. I can’t be certain that we would be able to find a place for it in Costa Rica. That piece is a pewter and lucite sculpture my world renowned marine artisit Wyland called Dolphin Tribe. If you or someone you know is interested in purchasing this piece, let me know.

What will you do to help make a difference?

What this story is about is the lies, deception and treachery that these three entities have created while creating the illusion that it is is all for the best for everyone involved. In fact, the benefits are significant in the economies where it takes place. Unfortunately, those benefits are very short lived and are designed to be that way. Their design is actually meant to bring these economies to their knees. Designed to put these economies under the control of these three big bullies. Once they are under the control of the bullies, these struggling economies can do nothing except what they are guided to do by the bullies.

What do these bullies want? Oh, nothing much. Just control of their land and resources, their votes at international arenas, the stage to grow their global empire. But it’s okay because there are those is those struggling economies that do really benefit. They just happen to the small group of people who knowingly align themselves with the bullies and the few richest groups at the top of the countries food chain. What about all the others? “Oh, they’ll be okay. It’s all for the best.”

The shortsightedness of the whole system is visible in The Story of Stuff by The Story of Stuff Project. This work is also available in a new book (The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change). Our world is failing all around us. We may not see if directly while driving in our new cars or watch our huge TVs in our bigger houses while drinking bottled water, but there are people who live it every single day of their lives. We have had a part in creating this failing system. We may not have dreamed it up, but we are contributors to it. It all hinges on our ability to stand up and do something about it.

John Perkins was a huge part of the design of this system. You could say he was one of its founding fathers. Thankfully, he could see the errors and atrocities that he was committing. While it was too late, he did finally step up to start making a difference.

What will you do to help make a difference?

In this book Goleman introduces a concept he calls Radical Transparency. Essentially, this concept would see our corporations give us complete visibility into the products that we buy. This transparency would cover not only the specific components or ingredients in a product, but also the environmental and social impacts of those components as they progress all the way from the extraction process to the final manufacturing stage. By having this radical transparency, we will be able to make more informed decisions about the products we buy. If we lean heavily towards a specific environmental issue, we might chosen a product that has a lower impact in that area. Alternatively, or addition, we may want to shy away from a company that has known child labour in their supply chain.

With access to this information, consumers will be able to speak to the issues that are important to them using their wallets. Companies that have better products from all angles will ultimately get a greater share of the revenue. As the money shifts towards the better companies, more and more average or poor companies will be forced to improve their products or their environmental and social impact. In time, this will lead to better products overall. There may be companies that chose not to improve or that simply cannot compete. As far as I see it, hopefully, these companies will slowly disappear. There is no reason that we should accept products that are unhealthy for us or the environment or that take advantage of the people in the factories or communities where the products are made. Radical transparency will work to improve the world for everyone.

Radical transparency is already happening and having an effect worldwide. Companies that once thought only of the bottom line as a fiscal concept are now thinking of environmental and social bottom lines as well. Several organizations have been created to create databases that provide ratings of individual products or companies and many allow the user to customize the ratings for the issues that are important to them. Combine this information with technology like the iPhone, Twitter or Facebook and consumers can disperse the information faster and farther than ever before, creating a much faster feedback loop for the companies that produce the products.

There is so much “green washing” our there today (companies marketing one good feature while ignoring the many negatives of a product) that it is about time that the information gap was closed and the consumer was given what their truly deserve – a real choice.

Check out these sites:

GoodGuide.com
Find safe, healthy and green products.

Earthster.org
Online collaboration where companies share LCA (life cycle assessment) data so that it is possible to gain greater visibility down the supply chain.

EnvironmentalHealthNews.org
Advancing the public’s understanding of environmental health issues.

CosmeticsDatabase.com
Cosmetic safety database.