I think you're ignoring the complex dynamics that cause and compound poverty and to which a minimalist lifestyle is anything but an answer. Consider low educat

I think you're ignoring the complex dynamics that cause and compound poverty and to which a minimalist lifestyle is anything but an answer. Consider low education levels, unemployment, physical and mental health disabilities, having to to take care of live-in dependent family members, being a divorced parent with children straining your financial capabilities and so on and so on. A minimalist lifestyle is a conscious choice one makes, pursuing the idea that living with less "stuff" will help attain happiness. It is assumed that other important basic conditions - health, financial situation, education, access to employment,... - are already fulfilled as well in order to create the freedom to attain that goal. Minimalism as a golden hammer to dig yourself out of poverty is a proposition that doesn't even remotely begin to address the underlying causes of poverty. That broken microwave, for instance, might just work well enough to heat up frozen meals. If your household budget mostly goes to e.g. medical bills, rent, paying off student debt, childcare,... you'll hold on to that microwave for dear life.