As an economist, EF Schumacher was more interested in determining how economics could be made to serve human needs than in detailing the adventurism of rapacious financial institutions and their pursuit of big profits. His work has had a profound influence on many who seek to restore the rhythms and capacities of an earth that has been sorely damaged by industrial civilisation and its destructive technologies. In his own words: âWe must thoroughly understand the problem and begin to see the possibility of evolving a new life-style, with new methods of production and new patterns of consumption: a life-style designed for permanence.â
This program is largely drawn from two lectures given by Schumacher in the 1970s, one at the Lindisfarne Conference in 1974, the other at the University of Michigan in 1977.
Voices: vincentd (Intro) E.F. Schumacher, "Decentralist Economics", Lindisfarne 1974 (Schumacher Society) E.F. Schumacher at Michigan State University 1977 (Youtube)
Music: Nico Di Stefano, "Slow March" SaReGaMa, "One Thousand and One Nights" (Jamendo) Endorphine, "Podroze:Kultura" (Jamendo) Esbjorn Svensson Trio, "Bound for the Beauty of the South" Dire Straits, "Telegraph Road" Cat Stevens, "Where do the Children Play?" John Butler Trio, "Treat Yo Mama"
EF Schumacher has served as a source of inspiration for many over the past half-century. His essential message is carried in two books published in the five years before he died, "Small is Beautiful. A Study of Economics as if People Mattered" (1973) and "A Guide for the Perplexed" (1977).
His ideas continue to be explored, developed and disseminated by such groups as the Schumacher Society in the UK and the New Economics Institute in the US as well as numerous individuals and groups in both the developed and developing world.