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.]
LAO TZU 34
PEACEFUL PROTEST TO BE ILLEGAL? - INTERESTING TIMES 27
MONARCHY: INSTITUTION & SOAP OPERA - INTERESTING TIMES 26
THE DRY TINDER OF RESENTMENT & OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMANCIPATION - INTERESTING TIMES 25
CORRUPTION, AUTHORITARIANISM, NUGATORY OPPOSITION - INTERESTING TIMES 24
FREUD'S INFLUENCE ON US GOVERNMENT & BUSINESS
REASON ON REASON 4 - MADNESS
EVENTS THAT DEMYSTIFY: BREXIT NOT DONE, GAMESTOP & A TRUTHFUL POLITICIAN - INTERESTING TIMES 23
PAIN, HOPE & THE STATE OF THE NATION - INTERESTING TIMES 22
REASON ON REASON 3 - QUESTIONING IN THE AGE OF REASON
TWITTER BANS AND FREE SPEECH - INTERESTING TIMES 21
INVASION OF US CAPITOL - INTERESTING TIMES 20
LOOKING BACK OVER 2020 AND FORWARD TO 2021 - INTERESTING TIMES 19
LAO TZU 33
MUTANTS, BORDERS AND PLAGUE ISLAND - INTERESTING TIMES 18
REASON ON REASON 2 - THE ANTECEDENTS TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT
LAO TZU 32
LABOUR'S CIVIL WAR, BREXIT, FRAGMENTATION - INTERESTING TIMES 17
LAO TZU 31
REASON ON REASON 1 - MAPPING THE TERRAIN
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