Small is Significant

Do not turn up your nose at things that are small.  They are significant.  There is a book written by E.F. Shumacher entitled, Small is Beautiful that lauds this concept.  For the positives that can be seen in smallness consider the following, e.g., village based ownership and production, ecological concerns, and compassionate living.

Village Based Ownership and Production

Like in a humongous society, a village is not swallowed up by an economic machine that literally eats people up.  Such operation is demanding, causes great stress and a person feels like a cog in a giant wheel.  This is very much unlike a village say in Kenya, where the population is small and involved in agrarian pursuits.  Everyone knows each other on a first name basis.  The only problem being, can the village produce enough to survive and sell to an export market?  Sometimes, they can only produce enough to feed and provide for themselves.  If that is the case, it is fine.

Considerations we often hear about in such economies are: “Do they have the necessary infra structure, e.g., clean drinking water, good health facilities, and adequate jobs for villagers to do?”  In such cultures the inhabitants are villagers that live with basic requirements.  Their demands are not high.  They take from their labors only that which they need.  Many such places are in Third World countries.  One thing should be said, as long as these basics are met, the population will fully enjoy the benefits of their land.

Ecological Concerns

Small nations contribute little to the pollution problems plaguing the larger countries like China, United States, and India.  There is a reason for this, they have subsistence economies.  There are no large factories and transportation systems to feed with fuel and coal.  They look at the fall out that they are getting from these nations and realize that they are not immune from the harm cause by them.  They question the notion concerning how much growth is good.  Many in the West point to some countries like the Sudan where the population is starving and its citizens being killed by despots, but still there are other small countries like Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, that are doing quite well.

Compassionate Living

Some small countries with their villages are doing well and are known for their compassion.  They have governments that endeavor to cater for the needs of their citizens.  We hardly hear about these countries.  Most are known for their tourism industry like Bahamas and St. Lucia.  Some persons may even find fault with such an industry because they may argue, that they tend to foster prostitution.  But in a global economy, every nation has to find its niche.  Tourism in itself is not bad.  Many travelers enjoy visiting other cultures to learn more about a different people way of life.  Some Hollywood stars in the United States have homes in some of these countries because they find these places fascinating.

Some notable writers in their works subscribe to the idea that small can be beautiful.  These include, e.g., Mark Boyle, Harlan Hubbard, Richard Gregg, and Duane Elgin. 

Cover via Amazon

Mass media portraying being small as significant are, e.g., Mother Earth News, Power of Half, and Good Life.

- – -

Although small is seen as significant, being small is known for having low technology. According to a country’s assets, it has to have a good work-life balance, be known for its agrarianism, and anti-consumerism. 

- – -