I am reading Small is Beautiful . . . Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher, for the first time.

Steven Greisdorf

I was seven when Small is Beautiful was first published in 1973. At the time, living as a child in Daytona Beach, Florida, I was woefully unaware of the realities of the world. Life was filled with school, playing with friends, tormenting my younger brother, and enjoying the sun and the sand. My world was very small and very beautiful.

I am reading Small is Beautiful . . . Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher, for the first time right now. I have come to believe that God prepares us for the books that we choose to read at a given time and am certain that now is when I was meant to read this seminal work. Thirty years later, my world is no longer particularly small and is rapidly becoming less beautiful.

In passing, I have mentioned that I am reading this book and invariably the person to whom I mention this comes back that “Oh, it has been years since I read this.” The book seems to have been read by many, and on some occasions, more than once. What is striking, in this context, is how little progress has been made on the issues raised by Schumacher over these past thirty years. The radical thinking about economics and education, about technology and the environment, about man and nature, has all but evaporated in our culture of more, better, faster.

E.F. Schumacher speaking at Caux shortly before his untimely death.

Early on in the book, Schumacher gets to the heart of the matter: “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.” Understanding that the decisions that I make have an impact on the world around me is a revolutionary and dangerous concept. It means that I am responsible for my actions and that my actions matter. This idea, of course, forms the basis of the work of Initiatives of Change and Caux Initiatives for Business.

This summer, we will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Caux Conference for Business and Industry. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this conference and this book arrived on the scene at the same time. Both were seeking to address and redress emerging trends. As we reflect on the world thirty years later, have we made progress in the right direction? A small percentage of the global population that lives in relative luxury might say yes. For the 2+ billion people living on less than two dollars a day, including the 14+ million who will starve to death in southern Africa this year, the answer surely has to be no.

Paul Hawken, founder of the Smith and Hawken chain of garden/hardware stores and outspoken advocate for the environment, writes in his introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of Small is Beautiful, “. . . I find hope in the work of awakening citizens who are beginning to realize that they must now actively participate to create a world that is worth passing on to the next generation.” We often find ourselves stymied at the magnitude of the global problems that we are facing. “Active participation” does not mean that you need to have an answer to these global problems. It means that you are willing to take responsibility for your actions, one decision at a time.

I would encourage you to read Small is Beautiful. Again. Or for the first time. It may change your life.

Steven Greisdorf is the Director of Caux Initiatives for Business

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