I agree. There is a bit of a minimalist movement going on, but most of America still isn't paying attention. The bigger your home, the more you have to take care of. It has you, rather than you having it. Similar to the housing question, I far prefer to drive a simple manual transmission car. They are at least a thousand dollars cheaper than automatics or those even more complex cvt transmissions, and are that much less expensive to replace or repair. But whereas the majority of Europeans still drive manual transmission cars, it's becoming nearly impossible to buy one in the U.S., unless it's a performance sports car. I hate that about the American mindset.

@MikeInBatonRouge Well I'll admit I drive an Automatic but I drive a smart car.. I don't think it get's much simpler than that.

Josh, while we're on cars, I drive a Hyundai Accent. I hope to hand that down to my son, who is going to be 16 in just over a year. My next planned purchase, .....drum roll, an entry level, manual transmission Mitsubishi Mirage. New cars to not get any simpler. Crude, unsophisticated handling, barely enough power, but awesome fuel economy, killer warrantee, and all the basic latest amenities. Simple to work on mechanically. Even the tires are super cheap to replace. I did a lot of research and even rented one for a few days to get some firsthand experience. Professional car reviewers in the U.S. pan the car almost universally. This despite respectable reliability and standout economy and utility for its small footprint. But guess what! Go to Canadian, or European or southeast Asian reviews, and they range from respectful to glowingly positive about this little car. Same car, just different market expectations. Americans pick raw power over economy, and refinement over practicality, not to mention the magnetic pull toward cars that offer some promise of status. They will throw money away just to impress the neighbors. Okay, I am climbing off my soapbox now.

@MikeInBatonRouge Ya know I bought my smart car because I'm a single guy with no spouse.. With it being just me all the extra space doesn't really do much good for me... Now at the same time I recently bought an SUV for long distance travel,bad weather and if I need to tow my smart car any... However The SUV was as a pick up for the things the smart cars lack.. Other than that I drive my fuel efficient and simple smurf(My smart car is tiny and blue)

Yay Smurf! Yes, practical. Cars are so insanely expensive anymore that many cannot afford multiple vehicles. So they are inclined to lean toward one thing that covers a lot of uses. The result is countless excess tons of vehicles out on the road. 80% of cars on the road at a given time are said to have only one person in them. Bleh. Hummers transporting 1 person to work, for example. I was excited a couple years ago to learn about the Elio (Google it), a phenomenally economical and fuel efficient 2 seater still under development, slated to start production in Shreveport, LA, at, of all places, a defunct Hummer factory. Starting price around $7,000, cheap to insure, maintain, and repair, and gasoline consumption impressively around 80mpg hwy and 50 city. The ultimate commuter car, cheap enough not to even break a sweat for buying a second or third vehicle. The catch? Despite tens of thousands of would be customers clamoring for one, investors are not stepping up for the huge capital needed to launch a car company. I doubt it will happen, despite the company continuing to promote it. Very frustrating. Frugality just doesn't excite enough Americans.

@MikeInBatonRouge Sad isn't it? I donno about you partner but I grew up fairly poor and so I like to take care of what cash that I have... It's an odd mentality in America isn't it? The whole more mentality....

Josh, absolutely me too. Grew up in a working poor family. Even though now I have a stable professional income, life is seldom straight-forward, and for various reasons (mostly involving my 25 year marriage to someone who took literally over two decades to finish college, I still carry credit and student debt, never had proper chance to build home equity, and now am still subsidizing post-divorce (we have a child together.) I am anticipating retirement in 20 years. So now back on my own, I have sharply revised personal goals, which involve getting a little plot of land and setting up the most economical shelter I can, rather than trying to impress with a valuable or big home. I am also old enough to have been through a number of vehicles, and though I am intrigued by design and engineering, I see car ownership as just a giant income suck! A rat hole to pour money down. I happily, comfortabl y drive the most economical car I can live with. Status cars really don't impress me. If I had money to burn, sure, I might get a Feel a, but that is not my reality.

Couple of typos I can't edit there, sorry. Hopefully you can decifer.

@MikeInBatonRouge No worries partner I've spent many hours drunk so I can read typos just fine ... Ya know I went to a very rich high school where having already moved out of my parents home, well lets just say things were... Financially interesting...And it always amazed me, these kids would come to school in hummers, mustangs n what have you, they'd crash em and the next damn day they had a brand new fancy car.. And while some of em were ok I could never understand how these kids were going to function. And many of em now a days they do ok I guess but whew I can't spend 5 minutes talking to em.

I can relate to that. Too. Attended fancy college on full financial aid, student work study, no car, all that. Surrounded by kids who were living off mom and dad's credit cards and driving status cars. Ivwas acutely aware to the vital importance of not screwing up my shot at education, whereas I saw so mnany other students just partying, crashing their cars with seemingly no consequences, buying whgatever thry wanted. I felt jealous at first, but by my junior year I realized that, not only was I going to make it through, but I was actually the independent grown up, and they were still children in some ways. I gave me some perspective, to be sure.

Ha! Again, typos. Not drunk; just in a hurry and pecked out on a little touch screen. I have a bad habit of not proof reading before hitting "send," especially late at night.

@MikeInBatonRouge Typos, drunk typing...Same difference..lol

How do you know?

Good thing we don't live in the long run. We live now.

I think you're at least dipping into the same ideas I subscribe to. The biggest problem that we have yet to address is our dichotomy nature. The black and white. Right and Left. Democrat or Republican. Can we not agree with one side without rejecting the other? Great video to sum it all up here

I totally agree

@Rudy1962
Glad to hear you agree! Let's start a SPECIAL ELECTIONS ONLY movement. It may save the Republic.

Great thought you have There! It could also apply to our ridiculously complicated healthcare system, which is, I guess, also an extension of politics in action.