I chose simple living in order to give myself maximum freedom. Having few obsessions and even fewer 'wants' allows me to earn or not earn in whatever activity I pursue.
That freedom is only possible and desirable to someone who can live with great ambiguity as well as complete comfort in one's own identity.
There are too few people who are comfortable with ambiguity and still fewer who are completely comfortable in their identity. That cannot be proselytized.
Since I do not know how to teach or guide other people in these directions, I certainly would not throw them into the briarpatch of simple living.
To me simple living is never pure austerity, deprivation or righteousness. Simple living means reducing possessions and wants to the level in which they minimize the time for maintenance, the worries about loss or the need to store them.
A simple liver can have expensive objects, art or highly specialized tools so long as everything meets the criteria in the previous sentence.