I don't mean this as a defense of the ideas of Ehrenreich as you describe them. But, it does seem to me that you ought not to ask this particular question in defense of your own position. After all, there is an awful lot of war on television and in the movies, and in video games, etc. Whatever the reasons, average people DO sit at home "fantasizing about. . ."
But, that's not important. I wanted more to say something about the idea, being expressed on this thread, that there is something impossible about approaching working people with ideas of economic simplicity. One person even suggested that the choice is between martyrdom and enjoyment. This is not how I have perceived most of the people I have met who tend in that direction. I think it's a profound misunderstanding of the psychology involved. Actually, living simply is an extremely liberating and enjoyable way to go. I don't deny that there are many people who deny themselves because they want to be "moral" beings. They might indeed put a glum face on a fast.
I'm old enough to remember what it was like to be a hippie. A lot of the time it was a drag, but a lot of the time it was a party. But, the main thing to understand about it is that people willingly, intentionally took on the life-style. It wasn't imposed by anybody.
I always remember my dear friend, Eduard Ingris, who not only composed a great many "hit" operettas during the 1930s, but later, as a refugee in South America had many extraordinary adventures. One was a movie-making trip up the Amazon. This was during the '50s. He took such joy in telling me about a tribe of folks who were being missionized by some reservation-happy Evangelicals. The short version is that one day the missionaries woke up and all the people had disappeared. And Eduard said, with beaming eyes, "And they leave all the pots and the pans, Daniel. They take nothing." (You'll have to imagine a very thick Czech brogue for that one.)
Quincy