A piece in today’s Observer about EF Schumacher, a man with an economic vision, which appears to be coming into vogue. Schumacher is the author of ‘Small is Beautiful,’ a book which has been sitting on my shelf untouched for some time, but whose message already reverberates. The subtitle captures the essence of the text he poses: ‘a study of economics as if people mattered.’ In one of his earliest lectures, in March 1948, Schumacher suggested Man’s task was twofold: to ‘fully develop oneself,’ and second, ‘to form one’s relationship to other people – family, groups, one’s countrymen, mankind – sensibly, ethically, or expressed quite simply, with joy.’ Amen. The article is fascinating, charting his experiences as a German living in England during the Second World War, who was interned in camps and suffered various forms of hardship and abuse, but used this period to explore a way of Being and interaction with his fellow man which became instrumental in the ideas he was able to articulate. He espoused a questioning of belief in all forms, whilst tapping into the ancient wisdom of mankind. A life, well lived.
