Any talk of economics is nil without mentioning production, a problem believed to have been solved because after all, to paraphrase Schumacher, aren’t we better fed, better clothed, better housed, better educated than ever before? Most of us, he says, but only in the rich countries.
It is in this context that he debunked the problem of production: capital, as we know it, does not include the most important element it needs to survive — nature. Of which is limited, of which is not permanent. Sure, there are machineries. And yes, there is labor. What the capitalist does not take into account is the limitation of resources around us, that it is finite and is being used up at alarming rates.
Modern man does not experience himself as a part of nature but as an outside force destined to dominate and conquer it.
We find…that the idea of unlimited economic growth, more and more until everybody is saturated with wealth, needs to be seriously questioned on at least two counts: the availability of basic resources and, alternatively or additionally, the capacity of the environment to cope with the degree of interference implied.
He goes straight to the core of the human condition, and I am vaguely reminded of a political philosopher whose name I have forgotten but whose words have been embedded in my mind: that we are all caged monsters inside.
I’ve long been haunted by the idea of man’s insatiability, something that all spirituality tackles. And as much as I understand the beauty of creating and adhering to alternative realities where justice and equality are possible, I am terribly suspicious of man’s inherent nature.
Schumacher is much more forgiving, much more hopeful.
How could we even begin to disarm greed and envy? Perhaps by being much less greedy and envious ourselves; perhaps by resisting the temptation of letting our luxuries become needs; and perhaps by even scrutinizing our needs to see if they cannot be simplified and reduced.
He brings a more humane approach and a way of thinking about every aspect that touches and influences our lives, challenging the reader to see economics as a system up close.
All illustrations are created by illustrator Mike McQuade.