It's not necessarily impoverishing and depressing. It can be, especially if enforced from outside, but many people find satisfaction in minimalism and frugality.
- caloric restriction is very often cited as global health improvement
- I personally biked everywhere in the last months and I don't miss my car, my muscle mass has been restored and cardiac health too
- less performant computing also means less addictive behavior, deeper use potentially
How about not letting the state and alarmist NGOs make that decision for me?