Walden by Thoreau and Ancient Futures by Norberg-Hodge are both categorized as books that describe pre-WWII simple life where industrialization has not taken place. The authors of both books appreciate human beings who live harmoniously with nature and balance their leisure and working time. On the other hand, Americans described in Schor’s books The Overworked American and The Overspent American live an entirely different so-called “good life”, which destroy nature and environment drastically. The author criticizes what have consumerism and industrialization done to Americans. Although people in simple life and “good life” both emphasize on getting personal pleasure, they satisfy it in a completely different way. Whereas the “authentic happiness”
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In the simple life, people are happy because they benefit by living together like a great community. For example, Ladakhis help their neighbors by harvesting grains and building houses for them and they do not ask for a return. They live like a big family so they see their neighbors’ business as their own business. This is a healthy and mutual relationship since if a person has an emergency, the person does not have to worry about his work because he/she knows that others would not hesitate to help. The selflessness creates a sense of security, which is one of the components making people blissful. When people are aiding each other, people who are being assisted can do work faster and relieve some burden. At the same time, people who are helping feel a sense of satisfaction because they are being useful. Additionally, when …show more content…
In Schor’s book, she states, “work is implicated in the dramatic rise of ‘stress.’ Thirty percent of adults say that they experience high stress nearly every day...” to prove that people are not actually happy (The Overworked American 11). Stress contradicts happiness since stress means that things are overwhelming and cannot be dealt with. Happy people are not supposed to worry about anything and they are happy because they have the capability to finish things on time. Nonetheless, these post-World War II Americans are stressful and sleep deprived. They get illness including, “heart disease, hypertension, gastric problems, depression, exhaustion and a variety of other ailments” from work (The Overworked American 11). How can a happy person be carrying around stress and compelling workload? How can a person be in pain but happy at the same time? Since they are focusing too much on attaining their personal achievements, which is to earn more money, they “have too little time for their families” (The Overworked American 11). Most of the time they are working alone and their relationship with others gets further and further apart. They do not have the mental support and physical help as Ladakhis have in their society, yet at the same time, they have tons of work to complete, including domestic work
In the simple life, people are happy because they benefit by living together like a great community. For example, Ladakhis help their neighbors by harvesting grains and building houses for them and they do not ask for a return. They live like a big family so they see their neighbors’ business as their own business. This is a healthy and mutual relationship since if a person has an emergency, the person does not have to worry about his work because he/she knows that others would not hesitate to help. The selflessness creates a sense of security, which is one of the components making people blissful. When people are aiding each other, people who are being assisted can do work faster and relieve some burden. At the same time, people who are helping feel a sense of satisfaction because they are being useful. Additionally, when …show more content…
In Schor’s book, she states, “work is implicated in the dramatic rise of ‘stress.’ Thirty percent of adults say that they experience high stress nearly every day...” to prove that people are not actually happy (The Overworked American 11). Stress contradicts happiness since stress means that things are overwhelming and cannot be dealt with. Happy people are not supposed to worry about anything and they are happy because they have the capability to finish things on time. Nonetheless, these post-World War II Americans are stressful and sleep deprived. They get illness including, “heart disease, hypertension, gastric problems, depression, exhaustion and a variety of other ailments” from work (The Overworked American 11). How can a happy person be carrying around stress and compelling workload? How can a person be in pain but happy at the same time? Since they are focusing too much on attaining their personal achievements, which is to earn more money, they “have too little time for their families” (The Overworked American 11). Most of the time they are working alone and their relationship with others gets further and further apart. They do not have the mental support and physical help as Ladakhis have in their society, yet at the same time, they have tons of work to complete, including domestic work