Without education and with little-to-no social safety net to fall back on, a person will view circumstances of lack in a very different way than one who has educational and marketplace advantages—not to mention the advantage of ethnic privilege, another issue often ignored within the VS movement. This difference in perspective is often seriously misunderstood or glossed over by VSers. In her scholarly exploration of the VS movement, Mary Grigsby put it this way:
This perception of all things being equal and that “starting from zero” is a matter of choice common to everyone, ignores genuine perceptual differences caused by institutional poverty. Although VSers often say that they recognize the difference between voluntary and involuntary simplicity, Grigsby’s interviews of VSers seem to indicate otherwise. 
Surviving and coping on the lower levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy creates psychological and sociological impediments to moving up toward the higher levels of self-actualization. Ironically, most VSers have moved far up the hierarchical ladder by the time they choose to begin downsizing.
As stated previously, broad definitions of the simplicity movement lend themselves to broad interpretation of how to pursue its tenets. At the web site quoted above, one may purchase calendars, bumper stickers, flags, note and post cards, posters, tee-shirts, books, CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes, all billed as “tools for simple living.” The ambiguity of the simplicity rules is paying off for some; simplicity has become big business. 
In 2000, a new magazine hit the stands. Each month Real Simple sports a peaceful color scheme—typically a lot of white and pale blue—and features cover shots of items like plain wooden tables or cupboards, simple bowls, perhaps a single flower or piece of fruit.  Time, Inc. owns Real Simple, and refers to it as “a leader in the category of women’s lifestyle publications.” It further promises “useful strategies, coupled with a clean, inspiring design. . . .”. The implication here is that the illusion of simplicity is tantamount to actual simplicity. So successful has the magazine become, there is now a television program by the same name, being broadcast on, of all places, public television. At the PBS Real Simple web site in October 2007, the photo is of a gift wrapped in plain white cloth, tied with string, and ornamented with what appears to be a camellia leaf. Under the heading “Episode 26” is a bullet list that includes the title, “Shopping Splurges.” Apparently, the cognoscenti watching PBS (undoubtedly a VS demographic) can buy things in order to keep it simple. Real Simple merchandise, such as organizers and notebooks, are available for purchase at that consumers’ paradise, Target.
Keying in “voluntary simplicity” at Amazon.com provides a book browser with nearly 900 book titles from which to choose. If these books are any indication, it is imperative that one simplify business, housecleaning, and home schooling. Simplicity is framed within the context of Buddhism, Christianity, and Zen. There is Quaker simplicity, Shaker simplicity, and Epicurean simplicity. 