i ran a google trend labs search on the term ”minimalism” today and was surprised to find the top ten countries searching for information. here are the top ten:
- hong kong
- iran
- south korea
- united kingdom
- indonesia
- philippines
- australia
- singapore
- malaysia
- new zealand
i find two things interesting.
1) the variety of countries searching for the information. there doesn’t seem to be a ton of commonality between them. far east, middle east, western europe – all in the top 3. there aren’t any glaring religious ties that bind as well. just interesting, that’s all i’m saying.
2) no mention of the united states. it seems to be a movement that is gaining ground in america especially among the environmentally conscious younger generations, but still not enough to break the top ten. even with shockingly high energy and food prices, the capitalistic nature of america that is so ingrained in our souls continues to win out.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
As someone who lives in New Zealand I’m often frightened that we are following in America’s steps. Not because America’s a bad place but because there are simply some aspects of the American culture that a) do not work and b)have no hope of working in the future as scarce resources become even scarcer.
The amount of consumer debt is becoming more and more apparent in NZ. The media driven “because I’m worth it,” compaigns that induce as to spend more on stuff we don’t really want or need are also spreading their tentacles across our TVs and magazines.
sigh. when will people wake up?
The common thread between the countries is most likely that they have limited space. Like Japan. Japan is a cramped place, so they need to live minimalist lives to make up for their lack of space. While America has enough livable space for people to be happy with their clutter. It’s not right, but it’s how it is.