This meander was stimulated by a recent repudiation by Zizek of the possible role of small communities in any future human flourishing. In this context, I revisit E. F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful (1973). I discuss some of the core ideas from that seminal work. In particular, I focus on the treatement of raw materials as [inexhaustible] income and the treatement of the environment as a free dump by capitalism and the economic theories that act as its ideological justification. I touch upon intermediate technology, the role of 'spirituality' in the good life, the way in which economic theories and political practice often treat people as numbers on a spreadsheet, the 1984-5 UK Miners' Strike and the persistence of alienation in nationalised industries. I do this by discerning Zizek's 'inner Schumacher' and Schumacher's 'inner Zizek' and recounting instances of their expression. In both cases these inner others are mostly repressed, but vigorous enough to surface now and then in brilliant insight. [Free. 47 minutes.]
RICHARD WOLFF ON THE ECONOMY - INTERESTING TIMES 7
BRITAIN-TRUMP, PORTLAND, YELLOW-HAMMER - INTERESTING TIMES 6
LAO TZU 25
LAO TZU 24
LAO TZU 23
LAO TZU 22
LAO TZU 21
EMPOWERMENT - INTERESTING TIMES 5
WEAPONISED HISTORY - INTERESTING TIMES 4
RACISTS EXPOSE THEMSELVES - INTERESTING TIMES 3
HOLLOW SYMBOLS - INTERESTING TIMES 2
A STATUE DIES - INTERESTING TIMES 1
STATE OF THE WORLD JUNE 2 2020
LAO TZU 20
ON DEMONIC SHORTCOMINGS: WHEN A SPAD BREAKS THE LAW WITH IMPUNITY
LOCK-DOWN PROTESTS AND LIBERTARIAN ABSOLUTISM
THE CONVERSATION OF HUMANKIND
CONSPIRACY THEORIES: EPISTEMOLOGY, POLITICS & SELF-CARE
LAOTZU 19
LAO TZU 18
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