b'Theres more than a little poetry in all of this, if only we allow ourselves to dance with Symbiosis and her friendswhose not-quite-divine smiles are so this-worldly and vivacious that the phrase lively serious barely does them justice.Now, I know Im really pushing things (hah!) by staying on the lively serious side of things just a wee bit longer, but I cant escape the idea that E.F. Schumachers Small Is Beautiful is the trustiest, never-dull-bladed reel mower in my intellectual tool shed. Sure, Ive tested newer models; these days, I use a Stihl battery-powered mower for most of my actual mowing, charging it from solar panels, which is pretty damned satisfying and a worthy reason, if ever there was one, to leave the old in favor of the new. But. . .this morning Im returning to Small Is Beautiful:We can say that mans management of the land must be primarily oriented towards three goalshealth, beauty, and permanence. . .A wider view sees agriculture as having to fulfill at least three tasks: To keep man in touch with living nature, of which he is and remains a highly vulnerable part; To humanize and ennoble mans wider habitat; and, To bring forth foodstuffs and other materials which are needed for a becoming life.I do not believe that a civilization which recognizes only the third of these tasks, and which pursues it with such ruthlessness and violence that the other two tasks are not merely neglected but systematically counteracted, has any chance of long-term survival. 2Even if the words ruthlessness and violence strike you as too extreme, there is no question that the narrative of industrial productivity has 2 Small Is Beautiful, by E.F. Schumacher (Blond & Briggs, 1976), p. 1039'