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The Capacity to Enjoy Less
(sh.itjust.works)
"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." - Socrates
Yeah, no. Let's not romanticize poverty.
Yeah and they aren’t spending most of their money on electricity. Likely it’s spent on food and water, and unless they own that land, they’re either precariously squatting or going to be constantly moving around, or that’s where the majority of their money will be going toward renting the woods.
I dont see it as romanticising poverty, just trying to be happy with what you have. Looking on the bright side of everything.
There is a difference between choosing minimalism and being forced into it by lack of options. If these two characters had steady income or a safety net, and chose to live like this, then good for them. But they don't; they are unemployed with a leaky roof and inadequate heat and presumably do not have the means to address those issues. This is an unstable situation to which nobody should aspire.
...until one of them gets a toothache
The difference is that here the characters appear to have chosen poverty in order to embrace a simple, ascetic lifestyle; they are not forced into it by circumistances outside their control, or at least the artist makes no effort to imply so.
Where is the poverty? The author explicitly stated that they "get by".
This comic is condemning consumerism, not romanticizing poverty.
Or drug addiction.