SMALL
IS
BEAUTIFUL
E.F.
SCHUMACHER
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
BASIC THEORIES
INTERMEDIATE SITE
INTERMEDIATE TECHNOLOGY
PRINCIPLES
BUDDHIST ECONOMICS
LINKS
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SECTION 1
SMALL
IS
BEAUTIFUL
In the first chapter of 'Small Is Beautiful',
"The Problem of Production", Schumacher
points out that our economy is unsustainable.
The natural resources (especially fossil fuels),
are treated as expendable income, when in fact
they should be treated as capital, since they
are not renewable and thus subject to eventual
depletion.
He further points out that similarly, the capacity
of nature to resist pollution is limited as well.
He concludes that government effort must be
concentrated on reaching sustainable development,
because relatively minor improvements like education
for leisure or technology transfer to the Third World
countries will not solve the underlying problem of
unsustainable economy.
Small is Beautiful
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_is_Beautiful
SECTION 2
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BASIC
THEORIES
Schumacher's basic development
theories can be summed up in
two catch-phrases:
Intermediate Size,
Intermediate Technology.
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SECTION 2A
INTERMEDIATE
SITE
INTERMEDIATE
SITE
A given political unity is not necessarily
of the right size as a unit for economic
development In this matter of appropriate
size it is not possible to give hard and
fast definitions.
Much depends on geography and the local
circumstances. A few thousand people, no
doubt, would be too few to constitute a
'district' for economic development.
But the community of a few hundred thousand
people, even if fairly widely scattered, may
well deserve to be created as a development
district.
AUTONOMOUS
DEVELOPMENT
DISTRICT
Autonomous, development district,
with the result that development
towards the formation of most vast
industrial concentration is minimized.
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SECTION 2B
INTERMEDIATE
TECHNOLOGY
Intermediate Technology is the direct
consequence of the first. For once
development district is 'appropriately'
reduced, it becomes possible to fulfill
a society's material requirements by
means of less expensive and simpler
equipment than the costly, computerized,
labour-saving machinery necessary for
satisfying the massive appetite for the
remedial transport and integration
commodities without which a far-flung
modern market community cannot exist.
E.F. Schumacher
http://www.schumacher.org.uk/
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SECTION 3
PRINCIPLES
A Study of Economics
as if People Mattered
and People Have a Say.
PRINCIPLES
The principle challenged the tradition
of large organizations, which Schumacher
claimed were inefficient and a danger to
the environment.
He proposed small working units, communal
ownership, and the use of local labor and
resources.
He placed the emphasis on people rather
than the product.
ECONOMY PROFESSOR
http://www.economyprofessor.com/
SMALL
PRINCIPLES
Small is good is a change of mindset.
A new way of approaching the problems
and opportunities the world presents.
• In social terms it means direct one
to one relationships matter your family,
your friends and your neighbours.
• In political terms it means communities
matter let the people closest to the
problem choose how to solve it.
It recognises that the man in Whitehall
(or Washington, or Jakarta…) doesn’t know
best.
• In economic terms it means small shopkeepers
and producers can deliver better overall value
to the consumer than giant chains.
This value might come through stories of
provenance (organic, free range, fairly traded),
better service (be known by name), reduced
environmental impact (seasonal vegetables), and
local appropriateness.
To choose small is good you have to let go of
your centralising instinct. You have to believe
in the potential of the empowered individual, the
resilient family and the vibrant community.
SOCIAL EDGE
http://www.socialedge.org/
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SECTION 4
BUDDHIST
ECONOMICS
"The Buddhist point of view takes
the function of work to be at least
threefold:
to give a man a chance to utilize
and develop his faculties;
to enable him to overcome his
ego-centeredness by joining with
other people in a common task;
to bring forth the goods and
services needed for a becoming
existence.
Again, the consequences that flow
from this view are endless.
To organize work in such a manner
that it becomes meaningless, boring,
stultifying, or nerveracking for the
worker would be little shortof criminal;
it would indicate a greater concern with
goods than with people, an evil lack of
compassion and a soul-destroying degree
of attachment to the most primitive side
of this worldly existence.
Equally, to strive for leisure as an
alternative to work would be considered
a complete misunderstanding of one of
the basic truths of human existence,
namely, that work and leisure are
complementary parts of the same living
process and cannot be separated without
destroying the joy of work and the bliss
of leisure.
Buddhist Economics
http://www.worldtrans.org/whole/buddecon.html/
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SECTION 5
SMALL
IS
BEAUTIFUL
E.F.
SCHUMACHER
LINKS
Earth Healing
http://www.earthhealing.info/
ECONOMY PROFESSOR
http://www.economyprofessor.com/
The E. F. Schumacher Society
http://www.schumachersociety.org/
The E. F. Schumacher Society
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/
Enterprise Web 2.0
http://www.enterpriseweb2.com/
Question Technology
http://www.questiontechnology.org/
Resurgence
http://www.resurgence.org/
SOCIAL EDGE
http://www.socialedge.org/
Small Business Loans
https://www.moneygeek.com/business-loans/small-business/
Small is Still Beautiful
http://www.smallisstillbeautiful.com/
Solutioneer
http://www.solutioneers.net/
Tree Hugger
http://www.treehugger.com/
WORLD TRANS
http://www.worldtrans.org/
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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
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