We want more balance, calm, control. We want less chaos, clutter, and competition for the cultural brass rings of fame and fortune. Some statistics validate a yearning for the simple life. Demographer John P. Robinson reported in the June 1996 issue of American Demographics that 45 percent of Americans would trade a day's pay for a day off. Almost 20 percent have, this decade, made a voluntary lifestyle change that entailed earning less money.
Advertising confirms what the demographers say.
You name it, Americans want an easier way to manage it. Five years ago demographers such as Gerald Celente of Trends Research Insititute were saying voluntary simplicity was one of the strongest trends of the 1990s. But now, some say things have changed. From time to time I do a phone survey of my favorite trend trackers and futurists. My own analysis tells me no.