Modernity is passing us by

There’s always something new. A new update on our smartphone, a new trend on tiktok, something new to buy because everyone else has it. Capitalism is moving at such a pace that we can’t keep up, but I’m not teaching you anything new.

It can feel overwhelming sometimes to see the pace at which things develop, which is why some people have chosen slow living as the next big thing. But is it just another trend?

Slow living is when people approach their daily tasks at a slower pace and don’t overbook themselves the way capitalism wants. It has its origins in Italy back in the 80s/90s with the Italian slow food movement, which emphasized slow traditional food production techniques in response to the rise of fast food in the country.

This is all on Wikipedia, by the way, you can look it up yourself, but the Italians got it right, slow living is the only way to pursue in this capitalistic hellscape we live in. But I have an issue with slow living.

I see so many people's slow living in Europe, usually Americans who have no idea how we actually live. I see so many aesthetized videos of slow living on my feed, sharing the perfect reading nook, the perfect bedroom, the perfect living room with an angled couch.

My issue with slow living doesn’t have to do with the fact that it’s slow; I’m from the south of France, so all I’ve known my entire life is slow living. My issue lies with its aesthetisation, which goes against the movement in the first place.

An aesthetic is inherently capitalistic, as it implies buying things to get into that aesthetic, whether it’d be coquette, clean girl, whatever aesthetic you have in mind, which is most likely racist and focuses on white people a bit too much.

Turning slow living into an aesthetic is the biggest mistake you could make for the movement and doesn’t want to make people join in, because now you’re selling them another fantasy instead of the reality that ‘hey, you can slow down and breathe you know, spend time with your friends or by yourself with a good book.’

Another massive draw to slow living is the phone-less life. When you’re slow living, your phone isn’t always clutched in your hand. You keep it in your bag undisturbed as you do your thing. I’m on my phone for less than one hour every day, and that’s just because I’m texting my friends about when and where we’re meeting. So having your phone, and aesthetizing slow living is nothing short but the biggest fucking irony.

I believe in slow living for myself. I don’t like hustling; when I hustle, it usually means I’m in a manic episode. If others wanna slow down and have a coffee on a terrace, instead of working on another draft of their book or on sending emails I say fuck yeah, spend your free time however you want to.

Slow living to Americans is just a trend, but to us Europeans, southern Europeans specifically, it’s a way of life. We don’t wake up before 9 am, then it’s coffee on a terrace either with a book or a friend, then some work. Life doesn’t have to be about hustling, as American Gen Z is learning, because the world is rigged against you anyway. So why not have some, un-aesthetic, no phone fun?

From Marseille with Love,

*vapes away*