Simplicity, which means having little, makes room for what is essential and essential, such as human values, psychological comfort, beauty and freedom. In other words: for everything that is alive.
Why would a rich person decide to end his life, either by committing suicide or withdrawing from the facade of fame and status?
It may seem understandable that an ordinary person would decide to end his life with a rope or a pistol bullet. The fatigue and misery of life, and the shattering of hopes on the rock of bitter reality, add to that dissatisfaction with the distribution of livelihood among people, and the inability to bear the burden of poverty in the face of the manifestations of arrogance and wealth that a small group enjoys; All of these are reasons that encourage one to withdraw from an unbearable scene. As for the departure of the rich and famous, it raises confusion and astonishment, especially among those who believe that a person’s happiness lies in his credit, his watch, and his yacht that he takes around the world.
Leo Tolstoy was not only one of Russia’s greatest writers and thinkers, but he was also one of its wealthy people, for whom life provided all the pleasures available in his era. Despite this, he did not hide his constant anxiety and torment that life was just a big hoax. The question remained, “What next?” It arouses in himself causes of confusion and anxiety, and pushes him into depression and the desire to isolate. He used to repeat: “Well, you will have six thousand acres in the most luxurious area, and three hundred horses. What then? Well, you will be more famous than Gogol, Pushkin, Shakespeare, Molière, and even all the writers in the world. What then?”
Tolstoy searched for the answer for a long time in books and people’s ways of living, and he found that true comfort was in living among the simple peasants of Russia at that time, with a kind of knowledge that could only be found in faith: knowledge of man’s unity with God, not in the sense of the unity of existence that extremist Sufis call for, but in the sense of unity with God’s commands, teachings, revelations, and saints.
Tolstoy’s biography reveals that his revolt against luxurious life was caused by artificiality and complexity that made it lose its beauty, not to mention its disavowal of the values and morals that should govern the relationships within it. Today, this issue of artificiality is a valid reason behind a number of celebrities in art and cinema committing suicide, as hidden behind the bright image of these people are manifestations of psychological fragility and a constant fear of being unable to continue appearing as ideal as the cameras and media portray them.
In the summer of 2012, American movie star Robin Williams published a book entitled “12 Steps,” and placed on its cover a note indicating what the situation would become after just two years: “I want to help people be less afraid,” but it seems that he could not bear this fear, so he put an end to a life full of fame, wealth, and huge cinematic achievement. When his wife spoke to the media, a completely different personality appeared from the cheerful actor who for years put a smile on people’s faces, to the point that international newspapers called him “the funniest man who ever lived.”
His final years were consumed by bouts of anxiety and paranoia, and his career was affected when he began to lose his abilities as an accomplished actor, especially in his last work, “Night at the Museum.” It appears, according to the director of the documentary “Robin’s Desire,” that the latter had signs of “Lewy body dementia,” which affects brain cells, so he avoided public meetings and even meeting friends. However, the last stage of his life was not without initiatives that sent good messages about the meaning of life, including his secret donation of $50,000 to the Food Bank in the American city of Seattle.
Rich people who consider life a deal commit suicide when they cannot bear the consequences of that deal on their lives and their career in the world of finance and business. Despite the prior certainty that such adventures involve profit and loss, the pleasure of achieving wealth and attaining a decent social status does not negate the fact that the specter of loss is present and lurking, and that a person must prepare himself for all possibilities so that he can continue living and rise again after every setback.
German businessman Adolf Merkel lived a life that some described as the way of life of the Protestant ethic. The man is austere in his life. He rides a bicycle when he goes to work, and travels in the second class of the train because he believes that you will not arrive faster if you ride in the first class. Thus, Merkel was able, with his determination and a clear and wise business vision, to transform the pharmaceutical business that he inherited from his family into the second largest pharmaceutical company in Europe.
Over four decades, Adolf built an empire that included 120 companies, with annual revenues of about 38 billion euros. But when the credit crisis happened, Merkel was rich in assets and poor in cash flow, as stated by the family advisor. Therefore, in the face of the collapse of stock prices, the banks asked him for additional guarantees, and the man who was described as a stubborn negotiator began taking doses of medicine during his talks with more than 30 creditors.
Merkel lost his position among the 100 richest men in the world, and had to escape gloating looks just as he escaped prosecution from banks demanding that he repay their loans. The specter of loss moved from his place to push the man to commit suicide, lying on the railway tracks, in one of the painful stories of fall that declares that happiness is not just a mere transaction.
If you are simple in your life, this is a good thing, and if you are not, you should try. This simplicity is not an invitation to experience poverty and deprivation, nor is it a return to nomadism and meager living, because civilization is a natural degree of human advancement. But, Ahmed Amin wonders, can’t we be civilized and be happy together?
It seems possible, in the opinion of the Egyptian writer, as long as simplicity does not conflict with benefiting from the products of science and technology. What modern man needs is to alleviate the burdens of material life, and to believe that there is a sublime and beautiful spiritual life, worthy of which one devotes a share of his time and thought.
Of course, it is not that easy, as there are those who consider the call for simplicity a threat to the economy and consumer society. Therefore, our culture, which finds it difficult to accept simplicity, needs review and decision-making to determine what is useful and what is not useful. In the opinion of Dominique Loro, simplicity is only achieved through freedom from preconceptions, fears and pressures that burden us.
Simplicity, which means having little, makes room for what is essential and essential, such as human values, psychological comfort, beauty and freedom. In other words: for everything that is alive.