He exhorted all to rely on ‘people power’ and their own mental and physical inventiveness, rather than basing their futures on imported capital and energy-intensive technologies which reduce need for the human workforce. The message still flies in the face of most prevailing political and economic policies today, but has had a profound influence on very many organisations and institutions including those represented in this Briefing.Fritz Schumacher’s second book, A Guide for the Perplexed,9 followed in 1977. In it he outlined his deepest spiritual beliefs, and it was the distillation of his lifelong search for truth. Other publications such as Good Work,10Schumacher on Energy11 and This I Believe 12 were produced posthumously and were based on his earlier writings in different publications and journals, including Resurgence magazine.The strength of Schumacher’s arguments still lies in the timeless spiritual wisdom they represent, and in his exceptional ability to address problems at the systems level and to communicate solutions simply and practically. His message was an inclusive one: “Do not break down problems into isolated components, but look at the world and see it whole”. It is only a complete metanoia in all departments of life, rather than engaging in an ‘over-extending battle with symptoms’, which will educate us to change sufficiently fundamentally so that we can avoid the universal breakdown which we face in today’s society.