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Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered Paperback – August, 1975
Broad in scope, pithily weaving together threads from Galbraith and Gandhi, capitalism and Buddhism, science and psychology.
Unknown Binding
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July 11, 2024
A PROPOSAL FOR TURNING ECONOMICS AWAY FROM MASS PRODUCTION
Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher (1911-1977) was an English economist best known for his proposals for decentralized and appropriate technologies. This 1973 book was judged by The Times Literary Supplement as among the 100 most influential books published since World War II. Schumacher also wrote A Guide for the Perplexed.
He begins by saying that it is an "absurd and suicidal error to believe... that the problem of production has been solved." (Pg. 15) Our current methods of production "are already eating into the very substance of industrial man... The substance of man cannot measured by the Gross National Product." (Pg. 20)
He asks the question, What is wisdom? He asserts that "it can be FOUND only inside oneself. To be able to find it, one has first to liberate oneself from such masters as greed and envy," which will produce "insights of wisdom which are obtainable in no other way." (Pg. 38) He criticizes economists for whom the idea that there could be unhealthy, disruptive or destructive growth is "a perverse idea which must not be allowed to surface." (Pg. 48)
He argues that it is man, not nature, who provides the primary resource, and that "the key factor of all economic development comes out of the mind of man." In fact, education is the "most vital of all resources." (Pg. 79) He proposes a change in the DIRECTION of research: "towards nonviolence rather than violence; towards a harmonious cooperation with nature rather than a warfare against nature"; toward the low-energy solutions rather than "brutal, wasteful, and clumsy solutions of our present-day sciences." (Pg. 142-143)
He strongly criticizes nuclear energy, since it requires the accumulation of highly toxic substances which nobody knows how to make "safe"; "The idea that a civilization could sustain itself on the basis of such a transgression is an ethical, spiritual, and metaphysical monstrosity. It means conducting the economic affairs of man as if people really did not matter at all." (Pg. 145)
He proposes replacing the "inherently violent, ecologically damaging, self-defeating" technology of mass production with "intermediate technology," which is more conducive to decentralization, compatible with ecology, "gentle" in its use of scarce resources, etc. (Pg. 154) Such a movement would lead back to the real needs of man: "Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful." (Pg. 159)
Although some may view this book as exclusively a product of its time (e.g., Governor Jerry Brown's first term), I would suggest that it may still have something to offer we technologically sophisticated moderns.
Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher (1911-1977) was an English economist best known for his proposals for decentralized and appropriate technologies. This 1973 book was judged by The Times Literary Supplement as among the 100 most influential books published since World War II. Schumacher also wrote A Guide for the Perplexed.
He begins by saying that it is an "absurd and suicidal error to believe... that the problem of production has been solved." (Pg. 15) Our current methods of production "are already eating into the very substance of industrial man... The substance of man cannot measured by the Gross National Product." (Pg. 20)
He asks the question, What is wisdom? He asserts that "it can be FOUND only inside oneself. To be able to find it, one has first to liberate oneself from such masters as greed and envy," which will produce "insights of wisdom which are obtainable in no other way." (Pg. 38) He criticizes economists for whom the idea that there could be unhealthy, disruptive or destructive growth is "a perverse idea which must not be allowed to surface." (Pg. 48)
He argues that it is man, not nature, who provides the primary resource, and that "the key factor of all economic development comes out of the mind of man." In fact, education is the "most vital of all resources." (Pg. 79) He proposes a change in the DIRECTION of research: "towards nonviolence rather than violence; towards a harmonious cooperation with nature rather than a warfare against nature"; toward the low-energy solutions rather than "brutal, wasteful, and clumsy solutions of our present-day sciences." (Pg. 142-143)
He strongly criticizes nuclear energy, since it requires the accumulation of highly toxic substances which nobody knows how to make "safe"; "The idea that a civilization could sustain itself on the basis of such a transgression is an ethical, spiritual, and metaphysical monstrosity. It means conducting the economic affairs of man as if people really did not matter at all." (Pg. 145)
He proposes replacing the "inherently violent, ecologically damaging, self-defeating" technology of mass production with "intermediate technology," which is more conducive to decentralization, compatible with ecology, "gentle" in its use of scarce resources, etc. (Pg. 154) Such a movement would lead back to the real needs of man: "Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful." (Pg. 159)
Although some may view this book as exclusively a product of its time (e.g., Governor Jerry Brown's first term), I would suggest that it may still have something to offer we technologically sophisticated moderns.
Displaying 1 of 1 review