Kirkpatrick Sale already wrote about the "Human Scale" in 1980. It has been a while since I read that book but I think it was concerned with things getting too scaled up for Humans to relate to them.
Great article as usual. I think the other deity next to scale is consistency. Cottage industries and small businesses are prone to a lack of consistency. The scale of modern industry produces the steady supply and the consistency of goods and services. I love supporting local business but for every new place that opens local consumers are subconsciously gauging whether or not this business will survive the next few months and modern consumers are terrible at being patient with teething problems because we have consistency and supply with large scale businesses and we come to expect that everywhere. You open a restaurant or bakery and you’re out of something the first day or a piece of equipment is down and that consumer is likely lost forever based on that one experience. Local produce is the same way in that we are not mentally ready to rely on a farmers market beyond the novelty of a few summer fruit purchases and we don’t plan our shopping in a routine way we just consume until we are out then head to the supermarket because it’s always there waiting ruthlessly efficient and stocked until eternity. But I do take your point that women can and should be able to develop these local goods and services if they have a strong marriage where a husband can bring in regular pay and health insurance to the family to serve as a financial base. Regulations are generally meant to serve as a price barrier to competition from small businesses or individuals that only larger organizations can afford to comply with. I think your right that women led cottage industries can make a comeback and enrich the middle class family and do so in a way that empowers woman lead their own business without having to submit to the borg of being a faceless employee in a large scale enterprise and if they are really successful they can hire their husband and family and free them from the borg as well!
This sounds like Distributism, and I like it! I agree that we need to become more self-sufficient, and I believe we’re coming to a point to achieve some of this. The Internet and the global economy has enabled this, ironically enough. People have access to training, to equipment, to networks, and all this can enable truly private enterprises. Whether it’s baking, schooling, healthcare, or anything else.
We often mourn the loss of this or that job, but really, it’s just another thing people can do for themselves. We just have to have the wherewithal and support to pursue what’s possible.
The author of "Better Off" also has a substack: https://aftertheapple.substack.com/
Kirkpatrick Sale already wrote about the "Human Scale" in 1980. It has been a while since I read that book but I think it was concerned with things getting too scaled up for Humans to relate to them.
Subscribed! Thanks for the link.
I read Better Off years ago - good read.
Seconding the recommendation to read Kirkpatrick Sale's "Human Scale"
Also check out "small is still beautiful" economics as if families mattered by Joseph Pearce on this topic
Great article as usual. I think the other deity next to scale is consistency. Cottage industries and small businesses are prone to a lack of consistency. The scale of modern industry produces the steady supply and the consistency of goods and services. I love supporting local business but for every new place that opens local consumers are subconsciously gauging whether or not this business will survive the next few months and modern consumers are terrible at being patient with teething problems because we have consistency and supply with large scale businesses and we come to expect that everywhere. You open a restaurant or bakery and you’re out of something the first day or a piece of equipment is down and that consumer is likely lost forever based on that one experience. Local produce is the same way in that we are not mentally ready to rely on a farmers market beyond the novelty of a few summer fruit purchases and we don’t plan our shopping in a routine way we just consume until we are out then head to the supermarket because it’s always there waiting ruthlessly efficient and stocked until eternity. But I do take your point that women can and should be able to develop these local goods and services if they have a strong marriage where a husband can bring in regular pay and health insurance to the family to serve as a financial base. Regulations are generally meant to serve as a price barrier to competition from small businesses or individuals that only larger organizations can afford to comply with. I think your right that women led cottage industries can make a comeback and enrich the middle class family and do so in a way that empowers woman lead their own business without having to submit to the borg of being a faceless employee in a large scale enterprise and if they are really successful they can hire their husband and family and free them from the borg as well!
This sounds like Distributism, and I like it! I agree that we need to become more self-sufficient, and I believe we’re coming to a point to achieve some of this. The Internet and the global economy has enabled this, ironically enough. People have access to training, to equipment, to networks, and all this can enable truly private enterprises. Whether it’s baking, schooling, healthcare, or anything else.
We often mourn the loss of this or that job, but really, it’s just another thing people can do for themselves. We just have to have the wherewithal and support to pursue what’s possible.
lol!