The greatest thing about living as a minimalist is that I can, and do, exist beyond the limits of the mainstream [see photo].
First and foremost... I define the mainstream as a narrative. It is a narrative that is accepted as reality by the collective in government, media, arts, corporations, etc.
For my sins I spent a great deal of my early life working as a political professional adviser and that is where I learnt to respect the power of the narrative. Over time I created narratives that led to public policy changes which survive today. I created a narrative that won a national election. I created a narrative that ran through all government policy positions. But the difference then was the narrative was based on reality not fantasy.
A feature of a narrative is a tale supported by lies [reporting on Ukraine War], untruths [vaccine halt the spread of Covid-19], or mandated truths [face masks protect individuals while jogging through a vacant park]. Once an individual, group, electorate, nation, or collection of nations accept a political narrative based on mandated truths then group think spreads faster than any coronavirus. There are many examples of narrative spread occurring around the globe today; however, you will not be aware of this fact if your mind has already been captured by any contemporary narrative sets. Many contemporary narratives can best be described as fanciful or purely wishful thinking.
The narrative that I created for minimalism works and works well today because it is based on reality not fantasy. It is grounded by individual needs. It is kept real by disciplined habits. And it is the needs-based belief sets that define the boundaries for minimalism narratives.
Richard.
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