I recently wrote an article about the concept of Minimalism and how we have strayed from it, where consumerism came from, my opinion about it, and why I choose to live as a minimalist.

To know how to live a minimalistic lifestyle, people should know what they’re up against.

In this article, I’ll look at the industry at work behind the scenes that discourage us from wanting to live this type of lifestyle, additional history about how the industry got to where it is today, and what we can do to break through all of the barriers within our control and embrace minimalism.

Equal Rights Movement

In the late 1960’s, and 1970’s, the trend moved from one income families to two incomes. Women went back to work. This was necessary due to folk’s need for more money to be able to do more things due to a bad economy. Our moms were working as hard as our dads. With the extra income available plus the transportation need for both men and women, car manufacturers marketed to families with the intent of selling another vehicle….and it worked.

Advertising Increases

As we’ve progressed through the years, we can now see that there are ads in schools, airport lounges, doctors offices, movie theaters, hospitals, gas stations, elevators, convenience stores, on the Internet, on fruit, on ATMs, on garbage cans and countless other places. There are ads on beach sand and restroom walls. All of these influence us in one way or another. The advertisements attached to watching sporting events has increased 100 fold. ….think about all of the commercials associated with NFL Football, the Super Bowl, World Series and NCAA Final Four.

All of this DOES influence us in what we want and desire whether we want to admit it or not. And there is a good reason why.

What started as a small way to get your business name to the people who live in your city or town, has turned into a worldwide multibillion dollar industry. As more competition for disposable income increases, so do the advertising tactics to get you to buy a product. Advertising is the key to whether a product takes off or fails.

According to the PBS news magazine Frontline series “The Persuaders”, these companies have a way of finding out ways to advertise to us…… psychological “codes”. One highly successful market researcher has become the “go to” source in finding out how to get into the base thinking subconscious that makes humans want to buy. This is an example of how he goes about getting the information.

Clotaire Rapaille via PBS interview at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/interviews/rapaille.html

“Because of the three brains - the cortex (the thinking, conscious brain), the limbic (emotional) and the reptilian (the unconscious) - I’ve designed a session where we started with the cortex, because people want to show how intelligent they are, so [we] give them a chance. We call that a purge or washout session. We don’t care what they say; we don’t believe what they say. And usually they give us all the clich. They tell us everything that we have told them already through advertising, communication, the media, the newspaper. “

“And then we have a break. They’re usually very happy with themselves. They say, “Oh, we did a good job,” and so on. And when they come back, now we’re going to the limbic, to the emotions. I tell them: “You’re going to tell me a little story like if I was a five-year-old from another planet. I’m five, which means I can only understand things that are very simple. I’m from another planet, which means I don’t know anything about your planet, so you’re free to tell me anything you want.” They don’t understand what they’re doing anymore. Good, that’s what I want. They get paid to do that, so they do it; they tell me little stories. The stories have to start with “Once upon a time.” Suddenly they are into a mind-set that is completely different. They don’t try to be logical or intelligent; they just try to please a five-year-old from another planet, and they tell little stories. “

“At the end of the second hour, when we go to the break, and my clients go with them to the bathroom, they say: “This guy is crazy. What is he doing?”; “I thought I understood what we were doing - now I don’t understand anything”; “I mean, I get paid to do that?”; “Wow, what is he going to do with that stuff?” This is excellent; this is what I want. I want to disconnect the cortex. The cortex is control, control, control, try to be intelligent, so on. But when you don’t know what I’m looking for, you can’t really influence anything. “

“Then when they come back for the third hour, then there are no more chairs. “Uh-oh, what is going on here? How come no chairs?” I explain to them that I would like them to try to go back to the very first time that they experienced what we’re trying to understand - could be coffee, a car, an insurance, anything. So we want your first experience, and I would like you to try to go back to this very first experience, which is usually when you are a child. In order to do that, I want you to be in a mind-set a little bit like the one you had when you wake up in the morning. Why? Because when we wake up in the morning, the cortex brain is the last one to come to work. When he’s not there yet, you still have access to a lot of things that happened in your unconscious during your sleep. But then when the cortex arrives, it cleans the place. If I recreate a situation that is very similar to the one you have when you wake up in the morning, you’ll be surprised to see that things come back to your mind that you forgot, sometimes for 20, 30 years. That’s what I’m explaining to these people. I say: “You know it’s on a voluntary basis. If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to do it. You get paid anyway.” They sign a waiver at the beginning; they know what we’re going to do. “

The idea is to connect with the consumer on an emotional level. If you’re emotionally attached to a brand, you’ll be more likely to buy.

This is what we as humans are up against. This is one reason why it’s hard to get started on a path to minimalism. Any time we turn on the TV, go to a sporting event, drive down the street, we’re bombarded with this industry. Our lives can be made to seem insignificant if we don’t use these products when, in reality, it doesn’t matter if we have an iPhone or drive a certain type of car. You can get to the same place with your Lexus that I can with my beater car.

We have the power within us to not subscribe to things we don’t need. All it takes is a little bit of self analysis.

Why we want it

When you want or desire a product or service, the first thing to ask yourself is “WHY DO I WANT IT?” The next question should be “DO I NEED IT?’ I know that ultimately, we all want to look cool and be accepted. Especially kids, but as grown adults, as we grow older and wiser, it’s not as important for us to “look cool”. It’s not an accident that the biggest spenders in any demographic are teens 14 - 18. Billions are spent to get inside the heads of these kids. They have the most disposable income and the strongest need to be accepted - hence the need to look cool. This is explained further in the Frontline episode “Merchants of Cool”. This explains why my ex’s 12 year old son needed to have the right kind of shoes, a Blackberry amongst other things that can cost you lots of money long term.

Check out Dave Ramsey - http://www.daveramsey.com/ This guy really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to financial matters.

Do I like nice things? Yes! But I’ve developed the discipline needed to not go into debt and live a simple life with less “stuff” to worry about. It takes some work on your part for sure, but I like to remember what The Dalai Lama said in his book “The Art of Happiness” - I don’t have the actual quote, but it was something along the lines of “why do I need a car? I’ll only be sad when I don’t have it any longer”.