Is Bigger Better, Small Beautiful, or What?

Today's people in the know have concluded that bigger isn't better, and that small is beautiful.   From as diverse a panel of experts as Proctor & Gamble's new product development staff to the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security, we are learning that bigger is not better, less is more and small is beautiful.  Forget about those AT&T commercials that tap the wisdom of the very young and conclude that "Bigger is Better."  

Look at Proctor and Gamble.  They have seized a huge share of the laundry detergent market by creating pods for use in washers of all kinds.  These pods limit the amount of detergent used by the consumer to just enough to clean their clothes, dishes, etc.  By limiting the quantity consumed, they have gained share in the markets worldwide.  Even now, P&G is poised to enter the $2 a day market in the third world ($2 a day refers to the amount that most can earn in a day).  P&G is trying to be first to provide innovative smaller scale products to this market to meet the needs of the very poor.  It seems that even the poor want what we have, cell phones, cosmetics, and more.  

The National Intelligence Council has concluded that climate change is a threat to our national security.  Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of critical natural resources, such as food, water and energy.  As consumption patterns expand, and the world's population grows, it will contribute to food and water scarcity, increase the spread of disease and may spur mass migration.  

The national debt, which will soon require the first trillion dollars of every year's federal budget will result in a shrinking global presence and embolden our adversaries when competition for scarce resources is becoming more fierce.  

There is a continuing susceptibility to economic bubbles caused by greed, fraud, or overheated demand.  There are drug wars creating pockets of lawlessness where terrorism can breed.  Continued reliance on fossil fuels leads us to entanglement in unstable part of the world.  

At the root of all this?  Our unending appetite for consumption--from food (obesity), drugs, cheap fossil fuels, to greed in the inner workings of our world economy that leads to schemes of ever-increasing risk, like the kind that nearly brought down the world's economy in 2008.   Most of the world's civilizations, up to now, espoused moderation in some form and set boundaries on our appetites.  Today, we seem bent on following the proposition that there should be no limits to our indulgence of appetites.  

The FIrst Lady, Michelle Obama, was only slightly exaggerating when she called obesity a "threat to our national security."  Our appetites are straining our everything.  It seems we see the greatest threat to our future in the mirror each morning.  Do you have a message for that face next time you see it?  Like, "slow down," perhaps?

Ah, but not so fast there, even Proctor & Gamble are facing criticism in selling the smaller laundry pods and reducing wasted detergents.  It seems that their new product is actually reducing world consumption of soap.  Already there are leaders in the industry asking "What kind of a new product is good when it's hurting the total category?"  James Chaigle, CEO of a major supplier to Arm & Hammer says "The pod is killing the detergent category."  So, I guess small is not so beautiful after all?  I'm confused.