Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Kurt Cobb The recently passed federal tax cut seems perilous for the United States government and economy. But even as some financial commentators have for years predicted chaos in the U.S. financial system resulting from soaring federal deficits, the government and the economy move forward with little disturbance. Washington, it appears, has adopted a new set of financial assumptions and they seem to be working.
Are we wrong to believe that competitiveness must and always will be the central animating principle of human action? Media studies scholar Michael Karlberg thinks so. In fact, he believes that another animating principle, mutualism, is both central to human interaction and necessary to aid human society in meeting the myriad challenges it faces regarding climate change, inequality, governance, education and many other issues.
Some people claim that humans—called breatharians—can live on air alone. Others claim we can have economic growth without increasing our resource use, so-called decoupling. Neither claim withstands scrutiny though here I am only going to deal with the second one.
I’ve tried to imagine what the shape of an ecologically sound religion/worldview might be. My friend wisely offered the following humble beginning: “Be kind. It’s all connected.”
There is a notion afoot that our agricultural production can simply migrate toward the poles in the face of climate change as areas in lower latitudes overheat and dry up. Few people contemplate what such a move would entail and whether it would actually be feasible.
Within alternative movements there is much interest in introducing local currencies and they have been central elements in many Transition Towns and other initiatives. Unfortunately I think most of these have been quite misguided, failing to grasp the power a local currency can have, and not likely to make a significant contribution to goals such as town sustainability and resilience.
Our political, economic, and social culture encourages people to avoid the big picture, succumb to groupthink, and ignore history. It’s much easier to maintain our peace of mind if we simply conform our opinions with those around us and avoid a tedious examination of the facts. However, the price we potentially pay is that we will get blindsided by what in retrospect seems an obvious problem. That’s when most people finally adjust their worldview to new realities. But by then, any damage is generally already done.
The devolution of political power is once again front and center in the news as the citizens of Catalonia vote for independence from Spain. This development is just the latest in a series of devolution tremors that point to the limits of complexity as a strategy for organizing our societies.
From an ecological viewpoint President Donald Trump’s trade war takes on a deeper, more significant meaning, one that creates a window onto our troubled energy future.
The Italian government is doing something that challenges our ideas about the nature of government debt and taxation. What if governments don’t need to borrow or tax to pay their bills? In my blog post for this week read why a sovereign currency makes this possible and even desirable:
1. Oil and the Global Economy
2. The Middle East & North Africa
3. China
4. Venezuela
Focusing on some of the tactics of stabilizing population growth without offering an understanding of the urgency of the crisis we face undermines overall population efforts.
