We are not built to be frugal, for thousands of years of life
in hostile environments have encouraged humans to hoard resources, especially
in their relationship with nature. Frugality is often evoked in times of crisis,
almost as a euphemism in order to avoid mentioning poverty. But the author of
this book believes that thrift is an option, not a result of coercion. Our challenge
is to address it as an a priori choice, not as a rejection of a rich, consumption-oriented
lifestyle. This choice depends on the awareness that we cannot continue to use
up ourselves and the world that surrounds us at the rate at which we have done
so over the last few decades. Parsimony does not mean returning to the past
nor pursuing economic degrowth. On the contrary, it means throwing ourselves
into the future and making the right investments (in the fields of environment,
education, research, art, and science). Frugality means achievement and knowledge.
This book is part of a new series entitled "Forgotten Words":
silence, patience, frugality, perseverance, decency, prudence, courage... and,
finally, old age. This new series comprises brief essays by authors having different
intellectual backgrounds, who discuss these forgotten words, explore their contemporary
relevance, and identify their existential features.
Paolo Legrenzi is the co-ordinator of the Swiss
& Global Experimental Economics Laboratory at the Ca' Foscari University in
Venice.
- Premessa. Fascino e segreti
- Introduzione. Frugalità, una scelta da ricchi?
- I. Che cosa è la frugalità
- II. L'attacco alla frugalità
- III. La frugalità nel mondo contemporaneo
- IV. Naturalmente frugali?
- V. Una guida alla frugalità
- Conclusioni. Frugali quanto basta
Anteprima del testo delle prime cinque pagine a stampa del primo capitolo.
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