Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Paul Gilding COVID 19 is not a ‘black swan’ – a singular, unexpected event. It is the first in a series of what NYT’s Tom Friedman referred to as a ‘herd of stampeding black elephants’ – multiple, predictable and economically catastrophic events.
Yes, neoliberal globalization is crashing hard. Despite the bailouts and the unorthodox policies of central banks the current world order seems to be coming to an end, but the battle is unlikely to be over and may be in fact entering its most contentious stage. It is still the case that the neoliberal beast has been wounded.
One of the best ways to source dairy in an ethical and sustainable way, for those of us who choose to consume it, is to buy it directly from farms. Instead of shelves of unfairly-priced milk from faceless farmers and uncertainty around production methods, consumers can get to know both farmer and their animals, and the animal welfare and environmental standards of the farm.
Access to education is a basic human right, yet across the world, girls continue to face multiple barriers based on their gender and its intersections with other factors such as age, ethnicity, poverty and disability. However research shows that for each intake of students, educating girls has multiple benefits that go far beyond the individual and any particular society.
Animism, the enactment and culture of interspecies reciprocity, cannot teach us how to better manage “natural objects”, but shows how to sustain a cosmos giving life to all its members. This will require us to rethink traditional sustainable practices.
The four-week run of climbing crude prices continued through Wednesday, but prices fell on Thursday and Friday as doubts arose over the prospects for China’s economy and rising tensions with the US over the virus, the trade deal, and Hong Kong.
These are scary and uncertain times, but there may be lessons to heed as we move forward: let this redouble our commitment to eating and cooking together, practicing mindfulness, supporting local producers, and enjoying every last bite.
Our years of leisurely critique of neoliberal capitalism are over. Now we need to take action to escape from its pathologies and develop new types of governance, provisioning, and social forms.
But the big question for all of us working in this area is how we harness this new energy and markets once the crisis is over. How do we keep the energy of this moment alive? What will it take to keep citizens loyal to buying direct?
Once the pandemic has ended, there will need to be a drastic restructuring to ensure the survival of many businesses and food systems, both large commercial organisations and small independents alike. Going forward, equitable availability of good quality food will also have to be ensured, to provide adequate healthy options to all communities.
It’s clear that telework can have significant societal benefits, including less global warming pollution and cleaner skies. But significant benefits are only possible if everyone whose job could plausibly be done from home has that opportunity.
Alberta’s oil patch regulator made history of a sort last week by saying the word no. The reasons it did pitted a crusty cowboy against a wealthy ballet aficionado, and exposed a gambit by one of the world’s oil giants to offload its responsibilities in a way, the ruling said, that would have defied provincial law.
