I wrote this piece for a graduate school course on “Revolutionary Technologies” @ Cornell Tech.
Though much of E.F. Schumacher’s writing in his book “Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered” paints a dark picture of today’s society of “gigantism” — one that’s on a collision course of ecological disaster which is quickly using up “nature’s tolerance margins,” an irreplaceable capital asset; one in which humans don’t live in nature and therefore feel ok wasting minerals and natural resources because they don’t actually feel as though they live in an ecosystem; one that is destructively ballooning in size– I feel his tone overall is one of romantic idealism and techno-optimism. His interpretation of Adam Smith’s pin factory is not one where ordinary over-specialization results in mindless work, but rather one in which everyone works together seamlessly to infuse efficiency and ease in an otherwise somewhat complex process. He writes that we can combat the widening wealth gap and support rural areas by introducing “intermediate” technology to “open up avenues of constructive action.”
He also proposes specific ideas and remedies for some of the ills he describes throughout these chapters:
- Biologically sound production methods
- Non violent “intermediate” technology “with a human face” that helps solve economic and social problems (though he’s quite vague about what this could look like)
- Buddhist economist-endorsed production from local resources for local needs as a rational way of economic life & the minimization of dependency on foreign imports
- “Nourishing and enlivening” work for all humans, which cannot be replaced
Mohandas Gandhi similarly advocated for the elimination of the reliance on external factors, insurance against famines, and relief from poverty on a national scale with the propagation of the spinning wheel — a mode of liberation, and a supplementary (and not a replacement or revolutionary foil) industry to agriculture, to account for idle months in between seasons of planting and harvest. This video goes into a bit of technical detail about the various forms in which yarn can be spun, and the devices that have made the process more efficient.
Gandhi’s conviction that spinning yarn is a true vehicle of national liberation, and Schumacher’s rhetorical query to his readers “Do we not want people to stand on their own feet, as free and self-reliant men?” seem to fit quite nicely into the entire Transcendentalist movement of the 19th century, and specifically Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance,” which calls for authenticity, individuality, and nature-based, biologically sound production as a means of sustenance. All 3 men are calling for the end of endless consumption, and urge a deep, empathetic connection with the natural world.
Schumacher’s line “amazingly small means leading to extraordinarily satisfactory results” sums up his message quite nicely– with a small collective ecological footprint, and a transition into more sustainable means of production, we can achieve a satisfactory result– the survival of humanity.
