Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– The American ‘allergy’ to global warming: Why?
– Jeremy Rifkin: The Third Industrial Revolution: Toward A New Economic Paradigm (excerpt)
– Fred Magdoff and John Bellamy Foster: A `realistic’ answer to the ecological crisis (socialist view)
Bill McKibben’s latest book is a well-chosen and arranged collection of climate-related writings by the likes of James Hansen, Al Gore and George Monbiot, which McKibben edits and introduces. Significantly, the book contains writings by Inhofe and his ilk as well, the better to understand “the lines of attack climate deniers have used over and over,” in McKibben’s words,
Decision taking is not an easy task, unless you are forced by finding yourself staring at a cave bear in the eyes. That must be the reason why we are not reacting to major threats such as peak oil and global warming
– Rob Hopkins talks about Transition
– Top 5 Ways Hippies Can Make You Rich ($ advantages of intentional communities)
– Interview with Slow Money Founder Woody Tasch
(Social-democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt was just elected Denmark’s first female prime minister.)
Often visitors to Denmark express respect for our wind mills and green initiatives. Our country is mentioned in documentaries and international news for our sustainable solutions and bicyclists. The truth is, for the past ten years we have been showing off efforts of the Social Democratic 1990s. Since then Denmark has been left behind by other Scandinavian and European countries on being green.
But with the new elections Denmark is now back among the most ambitious of nations. And the first half of 2012 the new Danish government will hold Presidency of the Council of the European Union. So, see you in a second, green Europe.
– Divided we fall (coalition politics)
– Gender and the city (“Peak Male”)
– What is resilience?
– Peter Singer: Can We Increase Gross National Happiness?
– NYT: Vegetable Gardens Are Booming in a Fallow Economy
– Frances Moore Lappé: The Food Movement: Its Power and Possibilities
– Peak Phosphate
– Eric Schlosser: It’s Not Just About Food
Social-democracy had its apogee in the period 1945 to the late 1960s. At that time, it represented an ideology and a movement that stood for the use of state resources to ensure some redistribution to the majority of the population in various concrete ways: expansion of educational and health facilities; guarantees of lifelong income levels by programs to support the needs of the non-“wage-employed” groups, particularly children and seniors; and programs to minimize unemployment. Social-democracy promised an ever-better future for future generations, a sort of permanent rising level of national and family incomes. This was called the welfare state. It was an ideology that reflected the view that capitalism could be “reformed” and acquire a more human face. … The social-democratic solution has become an illusion. The question is what will replace it for the vast majority of the world’s populations.
In Food Insecurity and Violent Conflict: Causes, Consequences and Addressing the Challenges, uthors Henk-Jan Brinkman and Cullen S. Hendrix illustrate clearly that food insecurity is a “threat and multiplier for violent conflict”. Based on their fairly broad review of the research, in which more than 100 sources were referenced, “[f]ood insecurity, especially when caused by higher food prices, heightens the risk of democratic breakdown, civil conflict, protest, rioting, and communal conflict.”
The sooner we can admit that a large portion of the loans now outstanding will never be paid back in full and move on, the sooner we will be able to invest in the steps we need to prepare ourselves for a future marked by limits on resources. However, if no acknowledgement is forthcoming, then we are likely to face a long-term stagnation that will starve society of the capital it needs to make important investments in a more sustainable world.
The war in Libya entered the endgame this week: fighting continues, and fierce pockets of resistance remain, but oil companies are already queuing up to get back into action. Estimates vary on how quickly, and indeed whether Libya can return to its 2010 production capacity.
Europe’s crisis is a crisis of democracy. The ‘democracy of the experts’ cannot deliver: representative democracy is incapable of channelling demands in the political system. More participatory and deliberative democracy is needed, as argued in Europe’s public spaces by the movements of ‘ indignados’.
