Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better

“Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful.”

~ EF Schumacher ~

Schumacher wrote his book "Small is Beautiful" in 1973 and for us - it is still relevant today. 

We haven't had internet at home for nearly a month and it's interesting how we first saw it as a big issue and ventured out daily to get a signal to keep on top of messages, but as time's gone on - we find ourselves not bothering and instead embrace a gentle and quieter life...apart from when digging out old CDs for a bit of music now and again!

We realise how wonderful it is to have time away from the world and the little impact the fearmongering propaganda really makes to our lives. We have no interest in news, but unfortunately many people on social media are fully immersed in it's misery and like to shout out about it. Having time away from all this is great. 

While technology is moving faster and faster - with AI and the push to get us all in line; using various apps and self-checkouts in supermarkets. We are sold the lie that "Bigger is Better" and the speed in which everything is developing is all good, but it doesn't feel that way to us. We are not comfortable with this progress - it's intrusive with the need of ID for so much now. We see drones flying above us on a regular basis, mainly early in the mornings and probably from the military base nearby and there are cameras are all over the place...even in quiet areas of Cornwall. It does seem like the machines are taking over! 

It sounds like we are just an old couple harking back to the "good old days", but it's not really that - we are not frightened of change, but it's the way things are progressing which just don't feel right. There are more restrictions, penalties and time being frittered away with detail. We doubt we will ever embrace the need for a smart device and imagine that we will continue to live obliviously in this modern world.  

I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own. 

~ Patrick McGoohan ~

Is there anything good going on? Yes of course!

From the community run projects  - the food co-operatives, the buying groups, the growing groups, the free food stalls, to the small businesses who encourage customers to use cash or have supported a local currency. It's fantastic that these have been around for a long time and for many years, were classed as fringe or leftie alternative groups, but now there are more and more cropping up and folks are discovering that there is a more harmonious, collaborative way of living.

We hope that in our lifetime we will see the demise of supermarkets and big corporations and more support for small businesses and ventures; to witness the growth of ethical and grassroot projects would be wonderful. It can happen - the more aware people become of the evil that is big business; the possibility grows for us to take control of our food and wellbeing - just as we should be doing. We don't need to be labelled consumers and told what we can or cannot have, we are free to buy exactly what we want and with some careful consideration - we can support each other in starting up those ventures, we can spend our money on much needed local products from people who are choosing the right path. 

Anyway, we have the internet this weekend as we are pet sitting - an assignment which has come about through membership of our local buying group. 

The connections we make are pretty special and it is amazing how things flow when you're on the right track, so we do hope you are not missing out!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Lots of love,

Kay and Sime

xx