A classic. Selected Excerpts:
The argument here is not against work; it is against unnecessary work. People sometimes work more than they need to for the things that they desire, and some things that they desire they do not need. [p.xi]
I would add the work that we do as the result of unnecessary infrastructure. For example, we could live far better lives with but a fraction of the roads that we have. Maintaining these roads costs money and this means more work for the taxpayer.
And so one may ask why this truth has not spread. I think that one of the reasons is that the world has become so specialized that it has become impossible for people to grasp anything in its entirety. [p.22]
Before researchers become researchers they should become philosophers. They should consider what the human goal is, what it is that humanity should create. Doctors should first determine at the fundamental level what it is that human beings depend on for life. [p.74]
To the extent that the consciousness of everyone is not fundamentally transformed, pollution will not cease. [p.82]
When a decision is made to cope with the symptoms of a problem, it is generally assumed that the corrective measures will solve the problem itself. They seldom [never?] do. [p.84]
If 22 bushels (1300 pounds) of rice and 22 bushels of winter grain are harvested from a quarter acre field..., then the field will support five to ten people investing an average of less than one hour of labor per day. But if the field were turned over to pasturage, or if the grain were fed to cattle, only one person could be supported per quarter acre. Meat becomes a luxury food when its production requires land which could provide food directly for human consumption. [p.103]
People complacently view the world as a place where "progress" grows out of turmoil and confusion. But purposeless and destructive development invites confusion of thought, invites nothing less than the degeneration and collapse of humankind. If it is not clearly understood what the non-moving source of all this activity is -- what nature is -- it will be impossible to recover our health. [p.147]
