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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Small is Beautiful summary
E. F. Schumacher
A Study of Economics as if People Mattered
17 mins
Brief summary
Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher advocates for sustainable economics that prioritize people and the environment over profit. The book challenges traditional economic models and offers alternatives that prioritize human happiness rather than material wealth.
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Small is Beautiful
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Key idea 1 of 8
The modern economic system relies on depleting the Earth's natural resources.
Modern economic systems have brought great prosperity to the Western world; however, that prosperity came with a big price tag. Our lives are now so removed from nature that we constantly destroy it without compunction.
For instance, thanks to the global industrial system, we squander a great deal of our precious natural resources – such as fossil fuels. The modern economy treats fossil fuels as income, a constant stream of goods, rather than capital, a finite supply of goods. To thus regard them is a way of justifying waste.
If we viewed fossil fuels as capital rather than income we'd be much more concerned with their conservation. However, we use them as if they'll never run out – which, of course, they will.
It's not possible for humans to manufacture or recycle fossil fuels, so once they're gone, they're gone. And running out of them too quickly would threaten the very foundation of our modern economy, which requires a steady energy supply.
The modern economic system itself also threatens two types of natural capital: the tolerance margins of nature and the human substance.
Since World War II, the world has seen a dramatic increase in industrial production, which threatens the tolerance margins of nature. Our actions are harming the environment at a rate much greater than its natural rate of regeneration.
The economic system also devalues humans, who are reduced to little more than cogs in the economic machine. For instance, most people in the world don't find their work fulfilling and many spend their lives doing back-breaking labor.
Such problems threaten the foundation of the modern economy, too, because they threaten society as a whole. The economic machine can't sustain itself if the people who run it can't live.
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What is Small is Beautiful about?
Small is Beautiful (1973) is a collection of essays by renowned British economist E. F. Schumacher outlining his critique of the Western economic system. First published in 1973, this classic collection, which is now considered to be one of the most influential books published since World War II, is as relevant today as it was in the ‘70s.
Best quote from Small is Beautiful
Radioactive pollution is an evil of an incomparably greater dimension than anything mankind has known before.
—E. F. Schumacher
Who should read Small is Beautiful?
- People interested in politics and economics
- Mindful citizens who want to understand how our economic system affects the earth
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