by John Tracey

“That there should be a massive housing problem in an
affluent society is surely an immense and intolerable
paradox.”

-E.F. Schumacher
August 16th, 1911-Sept 4th, 1977

Palm Island housing report
- kalkadoon.org

E.F. Shumacher wrote a book entitled “Small is Beautiful” As a short person, I took particular interest in his ideas. Unfortunately I didn’t find a political analysis of hight-ism. But “Small is Beautiful” did provide a profound analysis of poverty, affluence, the environment and the deep interconnectedness of them all. In today’s globally warmed political climate such things are not new ideas; However Schumacher was considered a fringe fruitcake, along with all the other flower power hippies of the era, his analysis became a landmark of the alternative movement but remained at that until his death.
Schumacher’s vision did not only “analyse”, it also had an in - built strategy for global social and economic change. Basically his story was that the poor are so poor because the rich are so rich. If the rich were not so rich, the poor would not be so poor. “Live simply so all may simply live” became the slogan that made the “Small is Beautiful” concept into a political strategy - through activity in your own back yard - literally. Schumacher was the global visionary that laid the groundwork for the permaculture and sustainability movements in western society.

However since Schumacher’s passing the affluent world has found some spiritual value in his words and embraced many of them. The affluent adherents of a spiritual lifestyle seemed to have forgotten about the poor though. Too often “live simply so all may simply live” has degenerated into “live simply because it feels nice” and unfortunately some now even try to sell this simple life as a real estate and tourism asset.
Until recently this site proudly presented the “Gondwana Statement” which was a statement drawn up and endorsed at a conference that kalkadoon.org were presenters at. This statement was a concise and clear articulation of the Schumacher vision as relevant to Australia. Unbeknown to kalkadoon.org at the time this conference was part of developing a community interface for a real estate development trying to sell spiritually uplifting lifestyles to the affluent. So we have removed the statement and disassociate ourselves from it.

However the essence of the statement, Schumacher’s vision and Aboriginal disadvantage continues. kalkadoon.org is a part of working out the relationship between them into the future. Thats one way of describing the whole idea, as I understand it anyway.

“Perhaps we cannot raise the winds. But each of us can put up the sail, so that when the wind comes we can catch it.”

-E. F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful

Posted by kurityityin in HOME - current news, Sustainability