Who do we care about?

Peter Staples believes small is not beautiful in the EU

Peter Staples asks who we care about. | Photo: Sarah Horrigan / flickr CC.

I am ashamed to say that I voted to stay in the EU at the recent referendum. Ashamed? Yes, because something deep inside me knew it was wrong but I did it anyway, betraying my inner voice. For many years I have supported the concept of ‘small is beautiful’, so passionately and eloquently expounded by Ernst Schumacher in his 1973 book of the same name. The book, according to one influential website: ‘brought Schumacher’s critiques of Western economics to a wider audience during the 1973 energy crisis and emergence of globalization.’ The Times Literary Supplement ranks Small Is Beautiful among the 100 most influential books published since world war two.

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