Small is Beautiful summary

An examination of the history of economics and political stability reveals an interesting pattern: the rich tend to be more peaceful than the poor. So it would follow that economic equality and prosperity could provide the foundations for a peaceful world, right?

Let's consider this idea by examining three points:

There are a lot of common misconceptions about economic growth. Most people assume that it's always good if the GDP rises – but there is such a thing as unhealthy growth.

Those who think that economic growth is always good would have it that anything uneconomic is negative. Something is uneconomic if it doesn't generate a profit – and unprofitability is generally regarded as bad.

History tells us that education is a key factor in economic development, that it's much more important than having access to natural resources. Furthermore, the belief in the power of education is deeply embedded in modern societies.

Today, a lot of people assume that societal progress relies on education. That's partly true, depending on what we teach. Education shouldn't just be about preparing young people to enter the job market – we have to instill in them the right values, too.

Fossil fuels are a limited resource, so we're soon going to need an alternative energy source. Many people felt that nuclear energy was the answer when it was first developed, especially because it seemed to have arrived just in time. Few understood, however, what nuclear energy could really do.

Nuclear radiation has become the greatest threat to life on earth, and the effects of nuclear radiation are well known. Radiation particles are like tiny bullets that tear into an organism; the damage they do depends on their nuclear dosage and the types of cells they hit.

We tend to assume that further technological advances will always make our lives better. But modern technology has caused a number of societal crises, forcing us to call the value of technological progress into question.

In many ways, technology has deprived humans of the joys of work. After all, the purpose of technology is to make our lives easier. We've developed tools to help us survive, ostensibly so we can focus on other, more enjoyable tasks, but a lot of our technology has taken away the work we enjoy the most, such as crafting.

Throughout the world, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. That's part of the reason that wealthier countries send developmental aid to poor countries. True economic development, however, is a major challenge.

Why?

The business world has seen a trend toward more huge companies of scale. The deeper these mega-corporations penetrate into our society, the more individual people are devalued and reduced to pawns.

All organizations need some degree of structure, whether they're big or small, but they also need to be unstructured enough to allow room for creative freedom. If an organization falls into disorder, it won't accomplish any of its goals; if the rules are too strict, however, it will also suffer.