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 Schumacher's ideas were many and varied but closely interrelated. For ease of access they have been categorised as follows - Energy Economics Work Size Technology Development Organisation and Ownership Education Traditional Wisdom and Religions What should we do? Schumacher's ideas are contained in his two books - 'Small is Beautiful' and 'A Guide for the Perplexed'. Since his death in 1977 further articles and speeches have been published, notably 'Schumacher on Energy', 'Good Work' and 'This I Believe' Below are some quotes from Schumacher together with comments and related texts. To read more about his thoughts on each subject and get involved in the debate, check out our forum and blog discussions in 'Discuss the Ideas' Energy “It might be said that energy is for the mechanical world what consciousness is for the human world. If energy fails, everything fails.” Small is Beautiful p99 "The modern economy is propelled by a frenzy of greed and indulges in an orgy of envy … The question is whether such causes can be effective for long or whether they carry within themselves the seeds of destruction." Small is Beautiful p18 "There is no substitute for energy. The whole edifice of modern life is built upon it. Although energy can be bought and sold like any other commodity, it is not just another commodity but the precondition of all commodities, a basic factor equally with air, water and earth" Schumacher on Energy p 1-2 Economic growth depends on increasing consumption of energy, but fossil fuels – oil, gas, coal – are not renewable or recyclable resources: once used they are gone for ever. Poor countries cannot hope to equal the consumption rate of the rich countries because of the energy this would require. This is a major threat to peace. How can the energy gap be filled? Not by nuclear energy which is too dangerous and not viable economically. Renewable energy must be developed but the real answer lies in a change in lifestyle and a new kind of economics. Economics “Modern economics …considers consumption to be the soul end and purpose of all economic activity, taking the factors of production – land, labour, and capital – as the means”. Small is Beautiful p42 “Technology recognizes no self-limiting principle – in terms, for instance, of size, speed or violence. It therefore does not possess the virtues of being self-balancing, self-adjusting and self-cleansing.” Small is Beautiful p120 "Economists themselves, like most specialists, normally suffer from a kind of metaphysical blindness, assuming that theirs is a science of absolute and invariable truths, without any presuppositions" Small is Beautiful p38 "Nature, it has been said, abhors a vacuum, and when the available 'spiritual space' is not filled by some higher motivation, then it will necessarily be filled with something lower - by the small, mean, calculating attitude to life which is rationalised by the economic calculus" Small is Beautiful p94 The problem with Western economics is that it sees itself as a science with the goal of unlimited economic growth. The idea of unlimited economic growth is based on three illusions:
This attitude – a kind of religion of economics – has resulted in a number of crises in the modern world:
Schumacher contrasts Western economics with Buddhist Economics. A Buddhist Economics would regard people as more important that goods, creative activity more important than consumption, and the aim of all activity, including economic activity, to be liberation rather than maximising consumption and wealth. Work Work from the Buddhist perspective is not solely about earning a living; it has a three fold purpose: to develop one’s gifts and abilities, to overcome one’s egocentricity by learning to co-operate with others, and to bring forth the goods and services necessary for a becoming existence. A becoming existence means a lifestyle in which the whole human being can flourish and which is simple and non-violent. Key ideas for a proper sustainable lifestyle in which people and the living environment can flourish are: local production, reverence and care towards the living world, distinguishing between non-renewable and renewable resources as one would between capital and income, human dignity in work, values such as beauty and permanence held to be more important than maximising production and consumption. In short a new economics ‘as if people mattered.’ Size “What is needed in all these matters is to discriminate …what scale is appropriate? It depends on what we are trying to do What is the meaning of democracy. freedom and human dignity, standard of living, fulfilment? … Is it a matter of goods, or of people? Of course it is a matter of people. But people can be themselves only in small comprehensible groups. Therefore we have to learn to think in terms of an articulated structure that can cope with the multiplicity of small scale units. If economic thinking cannot grasp this, it is useless. ”Small is Beautiful p57 " At the right scale tiy can introduce the TLC factor. Now TLC is the best fertiliser ever discovered and you can't buy it. It means Tender Loving Care.....Huge modern bureacracies never achieve anything....if we think that we can solve things by monster size, we are just mistaken. Our problems today will be solved when we realise we have to structure our organisations so that TLC, this most wonderful thing, which is also as satisfying to the giver as it is to the recipient, can again come into action" Talk to the Iona Community. This I Believe p31 "Technology recognizes no self-limiting principle - in terms, for instance, of size, speed or violence. It therefore does not possess the virtues of being self-balancing, self adjusting and self-cleansing." Small is Beautiful p120 Size is a crucial element in such a new economics. The modern world suffers from the idolatry of giantism – the bigger the better. Schumacher challenges this assumption with ‘Small is Beautiful’. By small he means a scale appropriate to allow human flourishing. Technology and size are interrelated. Our technology has shaped the modern world. Schumacher calls for a technology that is more appropriate to the needs of wholesome human development as well as healthy economic development for a sustainable world. Key words would be more simple and non-violent, promoting health, beauty and permanence, enhancing skills. Modern technology makes human beings into slaves of machines, and rots hearts and minds. A healthy technology enables the worker to develop his skills and creative gifts. Development Third World development can only take place with the right kind of technology. The most pressing problem in poor countries is mass unemployment. Modern technology is designed for mass production when what is needed is production by the masses. ‘The system of production by the masses mobilises the priceless resources which are possessed by all human beings, their clever brains and skilful hands, and supports them with first class tools. The technology of mass production is inherently violent, ecologically damaging, self-defeating in terms of non-renewable resources and stultifying for the human person. The technology of production by the masses, making use of the best of modern knowledge and experience, is conducive to decentralisation, compatible with the laws of ecology, gentle in its use of scarce resources, and designed to serve the human person instead of making him the servant of machines.’ Small is Beautiful p126-127 Schumacher called this kind of technology intermediate technology. Such technology is appropriate for the needs of the people who use it. It is simple and inexpensive, can be made and repaired locally using local skills and locally available resources. It enables production of an appropriate amount of goods to fit local demand and beyond depending on available transport and infrastructure. Fundamental to overcoming mass unemployment is the cost per workplace. Western technology is hugely expensive and geared to mass production and minimising the need for expensive labour. In countries where labour is plentiful and cheap such an approach does not make sense. “Development does not start with goods; it starts with people and their education, organisation and discipline.” Small is Beautiful p138 Organisation and ownership ‘Systems are never more or less than incarnations of man’s most basic attitudes… General evidence of material progress would suggest that the modern private enterprise system is – or has been – the most perfect instrument for the pursuit of personal enrichment. The modern private enterprise system ingeniously employs the human urges of greed and envy as its motive power, but manages to overcome the most blatant deficiencies of laissez faire by means of Keynesian economic management, a bit of redistributive taxation, and the ‘countervailing power’ of the trade unions.’ Is this the appropriate system for today’s problems? ‘The answer is self-evident: greed and envy demand continuous and limitless Economic growth of a material kind, without regard for conservation, and this kind of growth cannot possibly fit into a finite environment.’ Small is Beautiful p222 There is nothing wrong with private enterprise as such but size is important to whether it is healthy or not.
Education Education is like being given a map with which to navigate through life. ‘If western civilisation is in a state of permanent crisis, it is not far fetched to suggest that there may be something wrong with its education.’ Small is Beautiful p62 ‘The essence of education … is the transmission of values …When we think we do not just think: we think with ideas… When we begin to think we can only do so because our mind is already filled with all sorts of ideas with which to think.’ Small is Beautiful p63 ‘The first principle of the philosophical map-makers seem[s] to be ‘If in doubt, leave it out’, or put it into a museum… Would it not be wiser to turn the principle into its opposite and say ‘If in doubt, show it prominently’? After all. matters that are beyond doubt are, in a sense, dead; they do not constitute a challenge to the living.’ A Guide for the Perplexed p12-13 ‘The maps produced by modern materialistic scientism leave all the questions that really matter unanswered. More than that, they do not even show a way to a possible answer: they deny the validity of the questions.’ A Guide for the Perplexed p14 To ask and answer the really important questions in life we need to see the world as it really is, that it does not consist of just what is materially visible, scientifically verifiable, measurable or utilitarian but that there is a hierarchy of levels of being: the higher the level of being, the greater the invisible aspect of its being. These higher forces, in ascending order, might be called life, consciousness and self-awareness. ‘If something is there, if it has any kind of existence, if people notice it and are interested in it, it must be indicated on the map, in its proper place.’ Traditional Wisdom and Religions Traditional wisdom and religions teach the questions and values that provide a map that can guide us through life. To solve any kind of problem it is first necessary to ask the right questions about what kind of problem it really is and to see the world as it really is. There are two types of problem. A convergent problem is one in which - ’the answers suggested for its solution tend to converge, to become increasingly precise; they can be finalised and written down in the form of an instruction. Once the answer has been found, the problem ceases to be interesting: a solved problem is a dead problem. Convergent problems relate to the dead aspect of the Universe, where manipulation can proceed without let or hindrance and where man can make himself ‘master and possessor’, because the subtle, higher forces, which we have labelled life, consciousness and self-awareness, are not there to complicate matters….’ A Guide for the Perplexed p139-140 Divergent problems are ones in which the suggested solutions do not converge. They increasingly seem to contradict each other. They are human problems like how should we educate our children, what kind of society do we want? What is better freedom or order, liberty or equality, justice or mercy? Divergent problems …cannot be solved in the sense of establishing a ‘correct formula’. They can however be transcended…opposites are transcended when ‘higher forces’ – like love and compassion – intervene’ A Guide for the Perplexed p141 ‘It is hardly likely that twentieth-century man is called upon to discover truth that has never been discovered before. In the Christian tradition, as in all genuine traditions of mankind, the truth has been stated in religious terms, a language which has become well-nigh incomprehensible to the majority of modern men.’ Small is Beautiful p250. Professor Walter G Moss - emeritus professor at East Michigan University in the USA has written a comprehensive 'Wisdom Profile' on Schumacher. It can be found at http://www.wisdompage.com/SchumacherEssay.pdf More information on work by Professor Moss can be found on http://www.ef-schumacher.org/view.asp?id=746 What we should do ‘Everywhere people ask: ‘What can I actually do?’ The answer is as simple as it is disconcerting: we can, each of us, work to put our own inner house in order. The guidance we need for this work cannot be found in science or technology, the value of which utterly depends on the ends they serve; but it can still be found in the traditional wisdom of mankind.’ Small is Beautiful p252 ‘There is no economic problem and, in a sense, there never has been. But there is a moral problem, and moral problems are not convergent, capable of being solved so that future generations can live without effort; no, they are divergent problems, which have to be understood and transcended. Can we rely on it that a ‘turning around’ will be accomplished by enough people quickly enough to save the modern world? This question is often asked, but whatever answer is given it will mislead. The answer ’Yes’ would lead to complacency; the answer ‘No’ to despair. It is desirable to leave these perplexities behind us and get down to work’. A Guide for the Perplexed p154 |
