1. Downshifting as a social factor.
Modern world changes very quickly. The society is always adjusted to these changes and so people use
different types of life and so the downshifting appeared. It is very spread cultural movement and it has
the folowers all over the world
According to the Oxford dictionary downshifting means change a financially rewarding but stressful
career or lifestyle for a less pressured and less highly paid but more fulfilling one. In Russia we can find
many people who support the idea of downshifting.
A married couple Svetlana and Artem had been young Muscovites. He had been a middle –level
manager, she had been an accountant in a small company and they had had a bachelor flat near
Taganka, had got the average salary on the labour-market, had taken credits for a car and for flat
repairing, had created the family budget. They had used overcrowded metro everyday. According to
this principle, hundreds and thousands people live today. It is a kind of life without perspectives at
all. Finally they decided to go abroad-to New Zealand. They sold the flat and all their belongings and
flew to this island country only with two suitecases. Today they have already lived there for five
years. Artem works as a guide. «I am not working at all» - Svetlana says. «We are not rich but their
quantity is enough for us and I am glad to say that we must nothing to everyone because we are
free.We lived in the hell of Moscow but now we are in the paradise on earth».
It is necessary to outline some statistics about downshifting in modern world. Although I don't
acquire official statistics, but I'm sure that the hugest population of downshifters is in Australia and
USA. For the downshifting propaganda the U.S. government made the decision about the week of
downshifting during which people leave their work places for a half of the day to spend this free time
with their relatives, to plant something beautiful in the garden or prepare good supper . The number
of downshifters in Europe is near 12 millions.
The most famous Russian downshifters is Sharik, Matroskin and Uncle Fedor. Matroskin is a
homeless cat who wanted to travel and live his individual life somewhere out of the city.
Among Russians it is necessary to note German Sterligov who was a Russian millionier but one day
he refused from all his wealth and went to the forest life with all his big family.
The roots of downshifting appear at the end of the 20th century. In the 1990s this new form of simple
living began appearing in the mainstream media and has continually grown in popularity among
populations living in industrial societies, especially the United States, the United Kingdom, New
Zealand, and Australia. The deterioration of the economic situation is the main cause for the
increasing number of downshifters.
On the one hand, downshifting has its advantages. It is good for health promotion because you can
go out every time you want. In the downshifting style of life you can dedicate all your time to the
disclosure creativity of self-actualization and reflection, reasoning about life
But, on the other hand, as any theory it also has disadvantages. When you live as a downshifter
outside the country somewhere in the forest you can forget about modern medicine an d so you need
to cure yourself without any help from the side. Your family won't be able to understand your style of
life how you are going to live without any social comfort such as television or radio.
In conclusion, everyone chooses their style of life for themselves and we can't justify them for the
decisions and each theory of life style has the right to the existence if it has the followers.