Weekend Edition: What would the Native Americans Do?
One of my secret tricks to figure out what activities are really worthwhile in life, is to look back to the Original and Ultimate Mustachians of this continent – the Native Americans.
These were a people who lived together in a very rich culture which was based entirely on their natural environment. The animals and plants and the weather became gods and spirits to them, and their religion served as a guide to practical living in a way that kept everyone healthy, including the surrounding ecosystem.
They felt respect for the animals they killed and used every available part for food, clothing, housing, and tools. This common understanding of their Earth gave the people something healthy to focus on, and allowed them to prosper for thousands of years while leaving a very light footprint.
While I rarely wear a loincloth myself these days, I still think there is much to be learned from the original way of life. These people were BAD ASS, for starters. Imagine being physically fit and with extreme physical skills you put into use every day. Like running for eight hours while tracking prey, shooting an arrow from a bow you made yourself to fatally hit a moving bear in the EYE and bring it down before it escapes or eats you. Or inventing ways to get you and your tribe through a Rocky Mountain winter using only things you harvested from the land with your own hands.
And then there was the music and dancing. This was an actual part of the community – men, women, and kids ALL singing and making some truly funky beats around the fire, way more often than we get to do it these days, unless you’re lucky enough to be in a band.
Badassity has its own rewards – becoming truly great at something difficult brings a deep happiness that Cable TV can never match. When you cultivate a real physical or mental skill, it becomes one of the burning coals in your soul, or a glowing golden strand in your Mustache, one of the things that defines who you are and gives you confidence that you can accomplish other difficult things. Instead of running from challenge, or spending money to avoid it, you actually enjoy and embrace challenge more and more. This becomes a virtuous circle and you gain even more confidence. Thus, it can be said that Badassity is Happiness itself. And Happiness is the real point of Mr. Money Mustache himself.
The Natives knew how to have a rich and healthy life while buying Nothing for thousands of years. So while you and I are pretty much stuck buying things these days, we can still embrace our inner Badass Native Spirit when making decisions, and start to become a bit more Naked and Muscular about everything we do.
Yes you CAN ride a bike to work, even when it’s winter, because that makes you more Native and thus more happy. You CAN find a new job that’s closer to home, or a new home that’s closer to work. Because that’s effort that makes you stronger and happier – both the effort itself and the rewards that it brings. You can also clean your own house, mow your own lawn with a non-gasoline mower, and lift olympic barbells with your own hands and using knowledge you learned by reading a book with your own eyes. You can trade and barter with other real humans in your community by buying and selling things used, instead of just driving to a store every time you need something. All of this is simply an expression of becoming a more Native-like and Badass person, and to become rich and retire early, you MUST become BADASS.
It takes effort, but the good news is this effort itself is a gift that makes you become happier and sleep more soundly And the Canyon-Filling Money Mustache it brings, as awesome as it is, is only a side benefit.
As you kick more ass over time, tell us all of your accomplishments in the comments!
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Mr. Money Mustache is a family man living in the United States who retired from work, relatively wealthy, at about age 30. After several years of retirement, he noticed that his still-working peers were envious of his lifestyle. They were making more money than he ever had, yet they were somehow still broke. So he decided to write this blog to educate the world on how it is done.
My understanding is that the trope of the Native Americans living in harmony with the land is part of the Noble Savage stereotype and only partly true. It’s worth doing some research into that. Their impact on the environment was much less than ours because there were fewer of them around and they didn’t have our tech, but they weren’t totally green, either. Natives in many parts of the world have driven species to extinction and slash-and-burned massive amounts of forest.
Plus, of course, there was such enormous variation in tribes’ cultures and beliefs that writing pretty much anything about “Native Americans” other than very wide generalizations is a fool’s errand. :)
Well, that’s all true if you want to get all fancy and academic about it, but my point remains the same – we can all take the inspiration of Badassity from Mr. Money Mustache’s Native American Stereotype, and use it to our advantage. This blog is not actually a detailed Native History Studies forum. It’s more of a forum for me to write silly and inspirational shit every day, that gets us all riled up to save our money.
I love the silly and inspirational shit on this blog! I’ve been riled up for three days now as I read all this! I know from all my reading here that MMM is also a voracious reader and interested in Earth issues, so if you’re interested in whether or not Native Americans lived in harmony with the land, check out “Collapse” by Jared Diamond. It’s been a few years since I read it but the basic premise (if I remember correctly) is that climate change happens (doesn’t matter if it’s naturally ocurring or man-influenced), so we should probably live in a way that is sustainable because as climate changes we’ll screw ourselves if we don’t. That’s my two-second book report.
YES, definitely read Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Facts >>> bullshit stereotypes, any day. (I’m sure Diamond’s facts aren’t perfect, but still.)
Another book suggestion: 1491 by Charles Mann. Amazing book about life in the Americas prior to 1492. I was struck by your comment about riding your bike in winter b/c that makes you more native. My 2 kiddos (adopted) are Navajo. In the winter they always remind me that they are invulnerable to cold b/c their birth mom rolled them in snow when they were babies. I am not sure why my daughter is always turning up the thermostat…
Oh my gosh I can not agree with Heidi enough about recommending 1491. It’s terrific. It’s mostly about the many different cultures and technologies of the pre-columbian people, exploring a lot of new research about them, and it also touches on the environmental impact some of them had.
I, too, am new to this blog. Started reading last week and I’m loving it. We’re not in the financial situation Mr. MM and Mrs. MM were when they started – our combined take-home is about $55,000 per year – but we are minimalizing, cutting spending where we can, paying down our debt (everything but the mortgage will be paid off by April 2013), and working toward moving to the southwest where we can settle in and set ourselves up for retirement. Whether that retirement will come early remains to be seen, but we’re going for it!
A hearty thanks to MMM for bringing this fantastically entertaining financial blog to us. I really want to become a Senior Mustachian.
Its just past April- hope you made it and Congratulations!!!
“Well, that’s all true if you want to get all fancy and academic about it, but my point remains the same – we can all take the inspiration of Badassity from Mr. Money Mustache’s Native American Stereotype, and use it to our advantage. This blog is not actually a detailed Native History Studies forum. It’s more of a forum for me to write silly and inspirational shit every day, that gets us all riled up to save our money.”
Haha. The above quote cracked me up. Thanks for the laugh. You’re a funny guy, MMM.
another good read, thanks for re-posting MRS. MM :)
don’t forget the fighting between tribes. the singing and harmony was within tribe only. most tribal names translate to “the people” and all outsiders were seen as suspect at best. of course the tribe of Moustachians is clearly superior to all others in all regards so bring them on….Geronimo!
Us European transplants definitely have a way of idolizing and romanticizing Native Americans, though I appreciate the thrust of Mrs. Money Mustache’s post. Don’t forget that we too are descendant from “Native” populations, that is, the ancient cultures in Europe who lived in very similar communities to the Native Americans. I think we can learn valuable Mustachian lessons from those cultures as well. Mr. Money Mustache loves the BBC and so do I, if you want a great primer course on ice, stone, bronze and iron age Britain check out this 2011 series, which a kind soul (youtube user PIETRASZE) across the pond has uploaded to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rTqBjMn1w4
I would suggest watching it now, or downloading the whole series. Eventually the BBC has these things taken down. It’s divided into A History of Ancient Britain and A History of Celtic Britain. If you love history like I do its some of the most riveting stuff you will ever see, and shows North American descendants of these cultures what their own “Native” ancestors were up to across the pond, tens upon tens of thousands of years ago.
Completely off-topic, but Native Americans tended to have more reasonable views of gays as well, calling them “two-spirited”. Contrast that with all the nonsense going on now…
I love the native idea. I am committing to a lifelong mile challenge. I have been running at least a mile a day since March 31st 2012. I have run in sun and snow, boots and flipflops, while sick and even the day after being poisoned by undercooked beans (who knew). At the very least I am running an extra 365+ miles a year. My decreased overall medical/health expenses more than cover my shoe and fitness budget, so am am saving money and improving quality of life. Who said mustachian philosophy can’t buy happiness?
MMM, your comment about not getting to make music much these days struck a chord with me. If your schools are anything like our local school district, just wait until your little guy is old enough to begin music instruction. My kids are just music fanatics: orchestra, band, chorus, musicals, church contemporary group, the list goes on and on.
The more instruments they learn, the more they want to try, the more their sibs want to try also. So far, we’ve had: violin, viola, string bass, electric bass, electric guitar, piano/keyboard, trumpet, tuba, trombone, cello, and voice (one alto, one soprano). Kid number 5 is just selecting his first instrument for next school year. There is always a musical discussion going on when the kids are around, and they can’t seem to resist singing or humming at all times.
Over the years, we’ve employed many frugal avenues to allowing the kids to pursue their musical inclinations. We’ve rented small string instruments while the kids were growing and thus rapidly changing size of instruments. Some of the kids have bought used full size instruments off e-bay and Craiglist after researching good makers. The larger instruments were lent by the school district at no charge (bass, tuba, trombone).