We asked our readers how they feel about downshifting and the fact that it is wildly gaining popularity in our area. We received 50 answers to this question — someone answered in a very detailed way, and someone just expressed his opinion.
It turned out to be very interesting, since the opinions are very polar, and therefore we offer you excerpts from the comments with a breakdown of "what is good" and "what is bad". Looking ahead, I will say that our readers are delighted with downshifting, but there are also negative opinions.
Alexey Rubtsov
Downshifting is a whim and fiction. In fact, there is no phenomenon as such, there is only noise around it.
Such a change in life is not a new phenomenon at all, and a little later I will show it with examples, but for now I will note that in Russia there are very few people who could at least formally be called candidates for the role of downshifter. Most people live on the verge of poverty and it is possible to shift only into outright poverty, which somehow does not look attractive in our climate.
The second point is that people have already sunk and are happy with little: snacks and vodka, if older. Drugs and beer, if younger. Do they have somewhere to shift?
The third is a "middle manager" who declares his intention to be encrypted, almost boasting about it, is ridiculous: he refuses a car on credit and an apartment on credit, in other words, he simply has nothing to give up — he most often lives in debt… It's just harder to work than on Goa juice drink…
Fourth, I will return to the statement about permanent downshifting, and real. I don't know how over the hill, but educated people sometimes found the courage to give up their careers, went to "remote" places and became rural teachers or doctors. That is, a clear rejection of their goods in the name of the public good, this is a shift, and lazy people who allegedly save the Earth by consuming less should be flogged. You work, give work to others, no one forces you to consume. Go to the village, raise the children. Arrange a commune of the Makarenko type (editor's note: we are talking about Solonitsevka — a village-commune for difficult children organized by the teacher Makarenko), or already become a schemer, if people are disgusted.
And smoking drugs and arguing that you refused something is ridiculous, really.
liketaurus
I have a very positive attitude towards dainshifting.:-) That's why some time ago I switched to freelance. This gives me the opportunity to work and devote time to my family.
And in corporations (including one of the world's largest companies) I've already done some work. By the way, the idea to work « when I want » I learned from my experience in a large company…
wicked
People don't seem to understand what downshifting is. There are extremes in every comment. You don't have to go anywhere to live in a tent, you don't have to sell anything to then run naked through the jungle.
Haven't you ever wanted to stay in bed and get some more sleep to wake up when you've had enough sleep, and not when the alarm goes off again? Or maybe you had to deceive someone, and then you were tormented by remorse?
Someone thinks, someone wants something, and someone just does and lives. Everyone sets their priorities. And if you squeeze the juices out of yourself, then this is only your choice. And do not console yourself with the fact that you have a family or something else.
You don't have to throw anything, you need to adjust to what you really want, but as life shows, all people eventually want the same thing.
Banji
After all, people are simple creatures in the plane of instincts. Regarding the awareness of the problem- this is not yet a solution to it and doubts are the baggage of consciousness, no more and their presence is sometimes useful :)
You are absolutely right about the fact that it is easier to leave than to improve yourself. But after all, a person needs time and effort for this, and it's not so easy. I have not been (and will not be) in a situation where, for example, because of the problem of the hopelessness of civilized existence or because of the resentment of an employee, I will give up everything and go to the ocean - this is stupid and yes, this is the extreme. I will do this if I ever realize the meaninglessness of such an existence in society and I just want to go to nature. And it won't be about the noise, but about self-awareness as part of something independent of pounds per barrel.And if a person realizes this and tries, he doesn't care about the noise. And there will be no single meaning in this, everyone will have their own and it will be more weighty than any of our arguments. In general, I tend more to philosophy than to practical application. And we perceive it a little bit from different sides. But it's good :)
Lion2Greatcats
I'm thinking about something like that. I noticed that I can work remotely, so why not take the opportunity to see the world. Maybe in a year I will work for 2 months from one country and come to the office for a month.
For money, I think everything will be the same, only I will see the world and get those charms like sea fishing, warmth and colors of the world that are not available here =)
Yes, I just got back from Thailand. I saw some downshifters on Koh Phangan… Some neglected people. They drink, they're addicted, they look scary. But they don't really work either. Well, that is, they take tourists somewhere there, but I don't consider this a serious job =)
Denis Danilov
from the point of view of the downshifter, the organization is evil. they divide people into cogs of different levels there. and they turn them 24/7. at the same time, when people begin to identify their happiness with the success of the company, the personality disappears altogether. she's gone. but there is a little money with which you can escape for a week to where the downshifters live. sunbathe and fight again. and on the grave of a strong human material, it will be possible to draw a graph. the effective pier was a cog.
Boris Egorov
From the point of view of the organization, downshifting is a wonderful social phenomenon, because it washes potentially weak human material out of the corporate structure. It is better that the path is falling now than it will break at a crucial moment.
The funds spent on hiring a downshifter are lost, but if the phenomenon has not taken on a large scale (compared to other reasons for dismissal), it is not terrible.
By the way, Leonardo DiCaprio played a great downshifter in the movie "The Beach", which is worth watching :)
