ethical Consumption
A path to sustainable living, economic security, personal contentment & strong mutually supportive social bonds
Initially, many perceive adopting LIVING SIMPLY as restrictive – an approach that limits joy, reduces contentment, and curtails the richness of life. However, for those deeply immersed in the practice of ONE CLOAK TENETS, LIVING SIMPLY and ethical consumption are not about deprivation, rather it is about unlocking the true potential for abundance, freedom, and purpose.
At the heart of COMMUNITARIAN evolved socio-economic and ecological principles and practices is the idea that ethical consumption – the practice of limiting unnecessary material wants – leads to significant gains in time, space, energy, and economic security. These resources, once freed from the cycle of excessive consumption, can be redirected toward what really matters – PERSONAL PROGRESSION, DEEP UNION, CONTRIBUTION to the betterment of people and planet, along with commitment to RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP & CONSERVATION OF THE EARTH’S RESOURCES.
Reclaiming time for social connection & practical socio-economic & ecological activism through Ethical consumption
The Communitarian Approach to Sustainable living
One of the major benefits of conscious consumption is gaining freedom over how we spend our days. By limiting the acquisition of unnecessary possessions while focusing on acquiring only sustainable quality durable goods that can be ‘shared’, communitarians aligning with collaborative living and loving can reduce the need for constant work to support materialistic lifestyles.
Within communitarian circles, this principle translates to collaborative provisioning that involves sharing resources and ‘many hands make light work’ – communal ‘toiling’; all of which reduce the pressure on individuals to overwork in an effort to gain personal economic security.
For example, members of the community contribute their time and skills toward projects that serve the collective, such as sustainable agriculture, developing shared living facilities, and collaborative provisioning endeavours. These practices enable individuals to focus less on earning money for personal consumption, and more on meaningful contributions to developing close bonds with those who share their values and missions, as well as, gaining more time for rest and recreation, creativity and personal development.
Clearing Clutter to Gain Clarity & Connection
Physical clutter often mirrors mental clutter. Within the communitarian union framework of evolved socio-economic and ecological principles, the practice of living with ONE CLOAK metaphorically means to possess only what is needed, which creates mental and physical space for more meaningful pursuits. Minimal possessions reduce the burden of storing, cleaning, maintaining, and organizing, which provides those aligning their lifestyle and love-style with the principles of LIVING SIMPLY with the freedom to invest their energy in activities that enrich their communal unions, local and regional communities as well as wider world relationships, along with their own personal life, liberty and happiness.
Living simply on both a personal and communal level, creates time and space for gatherings and celebrations that include participation and hosting of local and regional FRIENDSHIP CIRCLES, COMMUNAL SHARED MEALS, SUNDAY CELEBRATIONS, ON THE GROUND EVERYDAY PRACTICAL ACTIVISM, GESTALT GROUP DEVELOPMENT, and other informal social interactions, which are core practices of the communitarian union lifestyle and love-style that cultivate emotional well-being, solidarity, and belonging.
By consuming less and sharing more, those who intend to transition to living and loving in union, have the space to focus on what truly nurtures them; which in the main, consists of strong mutually supportive and stimulating relationships, connection to nature, and collective creativity.
Redirecting Energy Toward Collective Well-being & Purpose
Ethical consumption also frees up both physical and emotional energy for more impactful and enduring endeavors. In capitalist separatist societies where the norm is for everyone’s energy to be spent acquiring and managing exclusive use possessions, we reap what we sow. And what a bitter harvest it is – stress, anxiety, and exhaustion, burn-out, broken relationships – abandonment of children and the elderly, along with casualties of war and those unable to RISE ABOVE POVERTY inflicted by cycles of economic boom and bust born of greed and exploitation of people, animals and the planet.
By rejecting the normative cycle of earn – spend – throw-away, those aligning with ONE CLOAK TENETS are free to channel their time, talents and energies into activities that contribute to collective well-being. By transitioning to collaborative common purse union, communitarians are able to gain significant measures and means of economic security through participation in RICH BY ASSOCIATION, RIGHT LIVELIHOOD sustainable land restoration projects, clean-green organic food production and associated collaborative local, regional and globally-network provisioning enterprise endeavours.
This redirection of energy supplies the foundations for a lifestyle where work is less about individual survival and more about contributing to the health and vitality of associative unions that support the life, liberty and happiness of those united in the determination to live and love sharing all with all. In practical terms, transitioning from separatist living to collaborative living equates to diverting time, talent and energy away from acquiring and maintaining multiple personal exclusive use possessions, to combining forces to maintain shared resources such as communal kitchen gardens, shared living facilities, and renewable energy systems that benefit everyone.
This approach builds resilience and abundance that creates a stable foundation for both the individual and the collaborative unions.
Emotional Freedom
Communitarian evolved social, economic and ecological principles and practices emphasize personal growth, particularly ‘Know Thyself’ that propagates emotional stability and maturity, both of which are enhanced when individuals are freed from the relentless pursuit of material possessions. Ethical consumption cultivates a lifestyle that is not weighed down by vanity or the desire for social status by falling into the delusion that our value is determined by what we own. In this way, the practices of ONE CLOAK align with the principle of sustainable living that focuses on inner development, meaningful relationships, and connection to nature.
By avoiding the distractions of consumer-driven status symbols, those forging a path toward ushering in the era of perpetual peace through COMMUNAL LIVING & LOVING coupled to common purse collaborative provisioning, are sure to arrive at a place of emotional freedom and a deeper sense of contentment. Through investing time and attention in cultivating meaningful relationships with others, and with the natural world of animals, trees, land and seas, communitarians reaching the crescendo of 5th year association can foster a deeper sense of connection, purpose, and fulfillment by adopting consumption habits that truly enrich their lives and the well-being of the planet.
Through making a dedicated commitment to divorce the wastefulness of vanity and the superficial trappings of glamour, our lives and relationships can be richer and more authentic by being grounded in values that transcend materialism.
Material Abundance Through Moderation & Sharing
While some might mistakenly view LIVING SIMPLY as synonymous with poverty, those that live and love according to the evolved social, economic and ecological principles and practices of COMMUNITARIAN UNION experience it as a path to material security. This abundance, however, comes not through accumulation, rather it is bestowed upon us by willingness to share access to resources. By pooling assets, COMMUNAL UNIONS across the globe can collectively own high-quality, durable goods, rather than each individual acquiring and maintaining their own lessor-quality household appliances, vehicles, furniture and fittings, home maintenance and business tools and equipment.
This communal approach reduces waste and ensures that those living an associative life that involves “holding all things in common” have access to the resources they need to live comfortably.
In practice, this design of planned economy establishes the foundations of COLLABORATIVE COMMON PURSE PROVISIONING, where the community shares tools, equipment, communal living facilities, and even certain recreational and occasional clothing and footwear such as wetsuits, hiking boots, ski-wear etc. The principle of moderation ensures that these resources are used efficiently and sustainably, creating a system where everyone benefits from high standards of living without the need for excess or waste.
True Freedom Through Sustainable Living
Through the lens of ONE CLOAK TENETS, ethical consumption is not about restriction; rather this practice provides opportunities to live and love more fully, experience greater personal freedom as well as enduring happiness and contentment. Integrating this practice into our daily lives, provides the conduit to live purposefully, to direct time and energy toward meaningful work, to cultivate deep relationships, and to live in harmony with nature.
For those modifying their lifestyle and love-style to enter union, practicing simple living leads not to deprivation, instead, a bridge is built to a fuller, richer life where community, sustainability, and well-being are prioritized over the fleeting satisfaction of consumerism.
By consciously choosing the path of moderation and unity in relation to what we consume and how much we reserve for our own exclusive use, and what we contribute to the collective pool to be utilized and accessed by many, individual communitarians and communal unions alike, gain control over their lives, their environments, and their future, creating a world that is both materially abundant and relationally fulfilling.
