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One insidious norm is "standard of living." You have to be able to live alone and in a big enough space, and buy enough physical goods, otherwise we consider it intolerable. But it's possible to be really happy on very little money, or in a tiny house, or dumpster diving.

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Raising the bar on the kinds of standards people are allowed to have for their own life makes it really hard for people who'd otherwise have an optimal life with less consumerism, and leads to them requiring jobs that pay more money.

4:59 PM · Sep 20, 2019

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1) consumerism is good :P 2) I don't think anyone is actually prosecuting people for willingly living in conditions outside typically defined standards 3) most standards of living I have encountered are, if anything, unacceptably frugal as far as I'm concerned

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1) I don't actually disagree with this one 2) Unclear? Like, tiny houses just don't get built because of the laws around it. Not prosecution, but prevention. 3. Whether a standard is frugal - and the happiness with that standard - is super relative

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It feels like an implicit assumption is people don’t have autonomy over their own decisions.

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I think "can you afford to keep the place you live in OR afford to move to a cheaper place" is the real question. If not, you have legit money troubles, whether your current place is cheap or expensive.

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youtube.com/watch?v=9Gorqr #thestoryofstuff

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This is one of the things I hate the most. I need less space than a typical dorm room, but I can never find an apartment that isn't at least one bedroom. And to find a really small house is impossible. Sure they have some, but they are as expensive as full size ones.