by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

It's time to reconsider your involvement in the consumerist mob-ocracy, according to author Mark Burch, who's rolling into town with his voluntary simplicity message. It's one that he insists is entirely unoriginal. "Simple living starts in the west in Greek philosophy and in the east in Chinese philosophy 3000 years ago, so how far back you wanna go?" he asks before belting out a laugh that might've shaken every phone pole between here and his Winnipeg home. "I think the message is resonating now because we're reaching the limits of consumer culture's ability to provide well. We've pursued this 100-year experiment of more-is-better and we're starting to see the downside of that."

Burch, 57, suggests a slower-paced, frugal existence of simple pleasures less concentrated on pleasing grumpy bosses and scoring the material fruits of cubicle culture. It's a life he's practiced "with varying levels of intensity since the '60s," he says.

"I feel the more simply I live the more secure I am. The more peaceful I feel, the more I enjoy life. If there is a downside it's that it depends on who you spend time with. If you spend it with people who can't have a good time unless they're spending lots of money then you can feel left out."

His slackeristic solution isn't all about renouncing wealth. "It's important to have a level of financial security, it's all about balance and moderation. I call it extreme moderation."

The author of three books sees the simple life as beneficial for families. "Consumer culture teaches that providing for your children means providing activities, playthings, vacations and stuff. But in my workshops I ask people to think of their best times as a kid. What people remember wasn't all the toys they owned or the costly vacations, it's very simple things that had to do with the time the parents spent on them and the attention focused on their needs: baking cookies, jarring jelly and making leaf collections, stuff like that."

Burch says the movement is apolitical, for now anyway. "It's for cultural transformation. We're not seeking election to political office, although that may change as membership starts to grow."

And yes, skeptics do pop up. "There's a lot of sympathy about this but occasionally individuals react with anger and scorn and think you're just a complete utopian and idealist," he says. "What I pick up is insecurity that it's resonating at a moral or spiritual level."

Those who indulge in his non-indulgent lifestyle aren't required to renounce technology, live on the farm or buy clothing at the Salvation Army. "There's no particular way of living that is supposed to be universally applied. It's custom-fashioning the way of life to suit your age and life and circumstance."

Burch shares an old Toyota with his wife but usually walks 45 minutes or buses to the university where he teaches a half-course load. He confesses only to the occasional trip on a friend's yacht. "We plough around and eat barbecue and drink expensive wines, and I say ‘I'm sure glad all of this belongs to you,'" he says before shaking the phone with another monster laugh.

Mark Burch will speak to members of the Réseau québécois pour la simplicité volontaire (RQSV) and those who wish to join the organization on Tuesday, April 5 at 1710 Beaudry, 7 p.m. Cost for new members is $25. For more info see www.simplicitevolontaire.org