WebSeitz/wikilog
Small Is Beautiful
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

(backlinks off) (map off)
(search off)
last edited by 192.168.1.15 on Jul 30, 2008 8:42 am

, "Economics as if People Mattered"

I read it in college and thought it was fuzzy-headed crap.

But perhaps it's time to read it again... maybe I can see it as a model for individual action, rather than recommendation for imposed Solution.

http://www.sfu.ca/cedc/resources/print/books/schumacher.htm : Schumacher challenges the doctrine of economic, technological, and scientific specialization and proposes a system for Intermediate Technology, based on smaller working units, co-operative ownership, and regional workplaces using local labor and resources. With the emphasis on the person not the product, Small is Beautiful points the way to a world in which Capital serves People instead of People serving Capital.

Hi Bill Seitz, There's a core to Economics as if... and some similar work which is quite soundly based on a more thorough analysis of systems with economic parts than is found in Western or [MarxIst] economic theories. Economics is a form of brain damage said [Hazel Henderson].

But I agree that it would be a horrible imposed solution, as would most any: imposition implies neglecting the intellegence of the imposed, the opposite of what [EF] Schumacher suggested. Indeed, these insights may well guide individual action; they may have their greatest benefit in guiding small, committed groups. To learn more I suggest you peruse: http://www.schumachersociety.org/frameset_about.html http://www.rmi.org/ http://www.hazelhenderson.com/ ...and especially Hazel Henderson's book Creating Alternative Futures

In many ways the core insight here is contained in the old english parable, The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg. --[Brian Cady] briancady413@yahoo.com

Schumacher 31 years later --2003/11/15 19:22 [GMT]
Schumacher is still relevant. One of his major insights, that capitalism's foundations are deeply flawed: namely, natural resources are wrongly treated as income. Therefore our civilization will come to a wrenching conclusion, I believe sooner rather than later. Admittedly, the rich will last longer than the poor, and I suppose, for the self-centered and ignorant human being - that is all that counts. Schumacher wrote about Wisdom, and I think that is what he was getting at. I think it is a heart a spiritual, non-material message that is lost in the get/consume - get more/consume more world economy we lived in then and which continues with increasing velocity and violence today.

See : | | | | | | | | |


 



Bill Seitz, fluxent at gmail dot com, Weblog