The Society of Smallness

An invisible cluster of DNA has given us a clearer view of life and what is to be valued in a good life.

For much of history, but especially since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution when mass production effectively alienated workers from their rightful products, societies have ignored and undervalued the work of everyday people. The daily labor of mothers, farmers, artisans, food and sanitation workers, early childhood teachers, factory employees, (and on and on), has not simply been unappreciated but systematically dismissed within a system where the implacable production of largely useless commodities is given preference over the wellbeing of people and their environment. Gender and class stereotypes have buttressed a great ideological wall that keeps the plight and daily struggles of common workers out of sight and out of consciousness.

Now a tiny cluster of DNA, a virus imperceptible to the naked eye, is laying bare much that was invisible: gross inequalities in pay, lack of the most basic benefits for the most vulnerable sectors of society, and contempt for or just plain ignorance about the work ordinary people perform. The invisible is now visible and the small is augmented.

The Society of Smallness is a playful space, but also a serious space to provoke dialogue and forge ideas. Who and what matters? How big is too big? What small gestures if practiced rigorously by many could bring about the transformation of our daily lives, our society, and our consciousness? Do you have any ideas, stories, artwork or poetry on the above questions? Let us know.

In the coming weeks we will bring to our small readership voices, perspectives, and ideas that illuminate the meaning of a society of smallness—one where no life form or matter is too small or insignificant to be considered, one where life unfolds at a pace in harmony with nature, one where we might become humble in the understanding that we humans are but tiny specks of star dust in a vast and mysterious universe.