Small Is Beautiful.

[cali]

Now that was a prescient book. Published in 1973 by economist E.F. Schumacher, I became aware of it because my Dad became an early supporter of Carter's almost solely because Carter praised the book.

We didn't take that road. I see the seventies as the place where the road forked and we took the road to, well, ruin- when we could have taken the road to a brighter and sustainable future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful

[marginlized]

1. It may sound dippy, but..

well, I was still pretty young at the time, and I had voted for him, though I was a bit pissed as his early declaration before the CA polls closed. Still a turning point for me regarding Carter was when he was interviewed by Fine Woodworking magazine about some of his projects, including an old fashioned porch swing. He was an artist as well as an engineer as well as a politician too far ahead of the curve.

[hfojvt]

2. I found it by accident in grad school

A book titled "Awakening from the American Dream" made many references to it, and I got that first book because somebody was cleaning out their office and had a pile of books in the hallway.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/124

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Quotes

Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful.

A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption.... The less toil there is, the more time and strength is left for artistic creativity. Modern economics, on the other hand, considers consumption to be the sole end and purpose of all economic activity.

It is clear, therefore, that Buddhist economics must be very different from the economics of modern materialism, since the Buddhist sees the essence of civilisation not in a multiplication of wants but in the purification of human character. Character, at the same time, is formed primarily by a man's work. And work, properly conducted in conditions of human dignity and freedom, blesses those who do it and equally their products.

The most striking thing about modern industry is that it requires so much and accomplishes so little. Modern industry seems to be inefficient to a degree that surpasses one's ordinary powers of imagination. Its inefficiency therefore remains unnoticed.

Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful.

The way in which we experience and interpret the world obviously depends very much indeed on the kind of ideas that fill our minds. If they are mainly small, weak, superficial, and incoherent, life will appear insipid, uninteresting, petty, and chaotic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful

Thanks for the thread, cali.