Reply #14: You are not truly educated at all, or you would not scoff at people with a positive [View All]

[Joe Chi Minh]

vision of man's capabilities and destiny.

You seem to be a sad sort of a soul, who appears to have ignored the fascinating insights Schumacher affords us in his book, some of which are currently being realised before our eyes. I remember Aldous Huxley quoting an insight of an oriental spiritual writer, to the effect that when a pig eats an acorn, it neither considers its origin or its fate. I don't think it's a smart idea for us to follow suit, do you? And what do you counsel for the betterment of mankind. Nothing? Just more of the same? While mocking people who try to make a difference?

How could anyone who read that book at that time, not now be struck by, indeed in awe of, his prescience concerning the finite nature of the world's resources; and how it is not a good idea to send a commodity or an article to Australia from the UK, to be processed there and then returned 12,000 to 15,000 miles across the globe as the finished article.

Or how it was all but futile sending money as foreign aid to third-world countries for use in a capital-intensive fashion, i.e on capital equipment, more or less advanced machinery and technology, returning maybe large profits to the owners of the factories, but ensuring minmal employment of the people of that country.

Thankfully, perhaps inspired by Schumacher, I believe there is at least one charitable organisation endeavouring to support the general population of the poorest countries, by funneling funds into labour-intensive kinds of work. As he further pointed out, quite apart from the indispensable livelihood it provides, work, is in itself a very necessary function for the well-being of human beings.

One need only reflect on the literally "idle rich", who have inherited large fortunes, and the sorry state many often tend to sink into in terms of alcoholism, drug-addiction, and just plain unhappiness; even when as young adults, with their life before them.