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Episode 481(245) Small Things
"Small is Beautiful" by B. F. Schumacher is one of my favorite books. I read it over 45 years ago. Strange how some books stay with us. Just the title was enough for me. It summed up his main point. We don't have to have the biggest house, farm, car or anything else. They may not be the most desirable. In many instances small is much better - if not beautiful.
This is Retirement Talk. I'm Del Lowery.
Jar lids seem to be among the first toy of choice for most young kids. Parents and grandparents have all seen gifts opened at Christmas or birthdays and large expensive toys left in the middle of the room as a jar lid or simple ring occupies their child's interest. Smallness and simplicity; this natural preference seems to get lost in life.
My mother's last visit to us while we lived in Alaska came when she was 66 years old. I remember her enthusiasm for sitting in the winter early morning darkness and watching the world slowly fill with light. She was always talkative about something new she saw in the sky or in the woods at first light. You would have thought she had just discovered gold. She spent hours in our kitchen washing dishes and massaging the kitchen into gleaming sparkle. She loved the small things - the simple things.
Schumacher was an economist. He talked about the benefits of thinking small in terms of production and distribution of goods and services. Perhaps I am thinking about this because of our economic problems. We have all sorts of PhDs making all sorts of decision in this great land of wealth, power and knowledge. Yet we seem to have an economy that is always struggling. The middle classes rises no more. The distribution of wealth is way out of balance. Where have we gone wrong?
Everyone has a rational for our predicament; it's the banks, the politicians, the corporations, the lawyers, the supreme court, the Chinese or the weather. Take your pick.
Small gardens spring up in what use to be front yards, cars get smaller, and smaller houses are becoming fashionable. We have chickens in the back yard. We seem to be downsizing in many areas. We also have interest on loans and savings accounts getting smaller and smaller. I'm not sure that is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess it depends on weather you are a borrower or lender.
In "Small is Beautiful" Schumacher gives an example of what India did concerning full employment. I am not consulting any books on this one so my memory may be a bit hazy. Millions of people were out of work in India He used road building as an example of what made the best economic sense in relationship to creating jobs. Big equipment could be purchased and brought into the country and make quick work of it. Or they could use picks and shovels and employ tens of thousands of workers. They went with the shovels. It was very successful. People worked, earned money, bought clothing, food and other things. Business was stimulated. The pattern was followed in much of the country and the economy thrived.
We once saw condominiums being built in Mexico the same way. Big machines never visited the sit. Men swarmed over the place; chipping rock by hand, mixing and carrying
concrete, cutting and carrying steel. The building kept growing and it was all done through employing lots of people. We were amazed.
This idea may be of some value. Smaller banks. Smaller manufacturers. Smaller corporations. Lets face it, we have gone crazy with bigness when it comes to these things. Perhaps we should look in another direction.
Government has also gotten bigger. Don't get me wrong. I believe that government is created to help citizens do what they can not do for themselves; build roads, provide police and fire protection, insure health care and education, and provide for the national defense, etc. I am not a "big government is bad" kind of guy.
One thing individuals can't do is out compete corporations. We die. Corporations get absorbed one into another. They never die. They become everlasting - sort of like gods. They get bigger and bigger. "Leave the market alone" is their mantra. They want no rules or regulations: not be government nor citizens.
We all know that kids get greedy. Left to their own volition they will not consider others. We have to teach them to take no more than their share. Parents have to establish limits and enforce rules of conduct. One child cannot be given freedom to abuse others. Why should it be any different with corporations?
Government regulations are painted as enemies of the people. Yet corporations have been deregulated. They grow with very small limits placed upon them. They continually amass fortune and power. Corporate money pays for advertising, manipulates the press, pays for political campaigns, and in a large way makes the laws. One of our latest examples was the "bank bailouts". The stated reason, "They are too big to fail." People that orchestrated this massive theft were not prosecuted. If a rioters throws a brick through a window they go to jail. Corporations that steel billions are not prosecuted and their leaders receive bonuses by the millions.
And then there was the recent decision by the Supreme Court in the Citizen United case which opened the door wide for corporations to spend unlimited sums of money in political campaigns.
I keep thinking of jar lids and morning sunrises. Small cars and small houses. Small banks and small corporations. Perhaps Schumacher's book "Small is Beautiful" needs to be reread.
This is Retirement Talk.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions contact del@retirementtalk.org
A resource from a listener: Best Free Online Degrees for Seniors guide is designed to assist seniors who aspire to enhance their intellect or consider starting a new career path. It features an overview of the top online degrees for seniors, emphasizing their numerous advantages, and a broad range of subjects to choose from. A friend's website: Terra Firma Designs: Fine Furniture, Stained Glass and woodworking workshops. Copyright 2010 RetirementTalk.org |
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