Beam Me Up Scarcity!

        

        The other day, Geoffrey, Ian and I were on a drive up to do a few site visits in North Carolina, and we got into a very interesting conversation about the ideas of scarcity. We discussed its role in Appalachian architecture, but we were more so intrigued by the concept’s impact on the individual life of each person and how it can shape the world as a whole. Ian had brought up how in the show “Star Trek”, there is no need to concern oneself with the concepts of making money or providing for yourself because it is all so technologically advanced that they’re only real purpose in life is the pursuit of knowledge, and that’s how their “wealth” is measured, in wisdom and experience. 

        This was particularly interesting to me because there are a number of ways in our current modern world that somebody could obtain this idealist situation where their main goal in life is to seek wisdom. Now it is relatively unrealistic to paint a picture where the entire world achieves this any time soon, but on an individual level there is certainly some hope for each of us, which could gradually shape the reality we live in.

        On one hand, with hard work and some smart investing, we could each achieve the kind of financial freedom that allows us all the comfort and needs of the world, and thus we can take our minds of the seemingly endless rat race that we are in and focus on the bigger picture items. While this may seem difficult, it isn’t impossible. I’ve seen it done a number of times now and it really just takes some intelligent decisions and a well-diversified financial portfolio that sets up a couple of passive income strategies.

        Ironically enough however, the other main option, and the more realistic one for the majority of us, would be the exact opposite of that and is what the three of us were more interested in with our discussion. The idea of scarcity in one’s life. This idea of abstaining from excess in the material world is not a new concept. For thousands of years now, people have been living in scarcity and finding wisdom, peace, and joy, whether intentionally or just by default of where they live. When we adjust our mentality to live in a way without the comfort level of the modern world, we open our minds to the possibilities of what lies beyond. We find that our material possessions really are just that, and a lot of our means of comfort are merely means of distraction from the problems of our world.

        I believe a touch of scarcity in each of our lives would radically shape the world we live in for the better, as it would allow us to focus our minds more on the people around us and the meaning of our existence. This would not only evolve the mentality of the reality we share but the physical world as well, as it would shape the way we view our built environment. This in turn changes the way we practice architecture.