Population: The multiplier of everything else
When it comes to controversial issues, population is in a class by itself.
Culture & Behavior
Message from from a devastated Ladakh
Early in the morning of August 6th an unusually strong thunderstorm hit Ladakh, a remote Himalayan region in the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau. Ladakh is normally one of the driest inhabited areas in the world – a region unaccustomed to heavy rains. When the intense cloudburst hit early on the morning of the 6th, the impact was especially severe. The storm caused massive flash flooding that left over one hundred dead and many more missing.
The dilemma of poverty in the South: equity or transformation
The Transition Movement in the ‘West’ (and therefore North) has for the most part been unable to conceptualise a response to the human development and social justice needs of the South. Much of this lack has to do with the very formidable inertness which western societies inherited from the transformations wrought by the Industrial Revolution, and the apparently incontrovertible ideas of ‘progress’ and ‘growth.’
Confessions of a recovering environmentalist
“Environmentalism, which in its raw, early form had no time for the encrusted, seized-up politics of left and right, has been sucked into the yawning, bottomless chasm of the ‘progressive’ left.” A personal, twenty-year journey through the world’s wild places and the movements to protect them is also, for Paul Kingsnorth, an education in the limits of a project that has forgotten nature and lost its soul.
Simple solutions – Aug 16
– Juliet Schor’s new book “Plenitude”
– But will it make you happy?
– Ted Trainer’s ‘Abandon affluence’ — 25 years on
– The self-storage self
– The solution to jobless growth
Did consumers cause the BP oil disaster?
Liberal journalists, pale greens and others are trivializing the BP/Deepwater oil spill and distracting attention from the social roots of environmental destruction. It’s time to dump the myth of “consumer sovereignty.”
Opportunity cost of growth
Economics is about counting costs, and the cost to be counted is “opportunity cost,” arguably the most basic concept in economics. It is defined as the next best alternative to the one chosen, in other words, as the best of the sacrificed alternatives. You chose the best alternative, the opportunity cost is the second best, the alternative that you would choose if the best were unavailable. If there were no scarcity, choice would not be necessary, there would be no opportunity cost, and economics would not exist.
Agroinnovations #99: Ecological Imperialism
This episode focuses on the arguments in the book Ecological Imperialism, written by Alfred W. Crosby. Alfred Crosby joined me briefly to talk about this book. I have added to his comments by reading key passages from his book. Topics of discussion include the success of Europeans in the New World, the significance of Pangaea and the Neolithic Revolution, the definition and explanation of terms like Neo-Europe and portmanteau biota, the failure of the Norse explorers in North America, European Imperialism in the Canary Islands, the role of weeds, animals, and disease in European successes overseas, and a biogeographical explanation for European conquest.
Contradictions in the Latin American Left
The leftist parties seek economic growth, arguing that only in this way will the standard of living of their citizens be enhanced and greater world equality achieved. The indigenista movements say their objective is not economic growth but coming to terms with PachaMama, or mother earth. They say they do not seek a larger use of the earth’s resources, but a saner one that respects ecological equilibrium. They seek buen vivir – to live well.
Rethinking scale and growth for a more sustainable world
Both for households and firms, shifting to sustainability opens up new possibilities, and intersects with ongoing changes in the economy. In Plenitude, I lay out a number of principles that should inform our thinking about how to solve the climate and eco-crises. These include re-thinking the question of scale, knowledge transmission, the role of informal economies and social capital, new consumer patterns, and the relation among productivity growth, output and hours of work.
Less work life, more home life, the new normal? – Aug 12
-Shorter, cheaper vacations the new normal
-The Work-Sharing Boom: Exit Ramp to a New Economy?
-Work-Life Balance Reconsidered
-It’s official: We’re all burnt out
Peak Moment 177: Hooked on growth – meet the filmmaker
Dave Gardner’s upcoming documentary looks at modern society and asks, why are we behaving irrationally? There’s overwhelming evidence we’ve reached the limits to growth, yet we continue in our addiction. In searching for a cure, Dave starts with the need to tell different stories and shares examples from several folks he’s interviewed. He highlights an amusing segment which depicts a family’s impacts remaining in their yard! This “crowd-produced” film will also show activities at the community level which could make a huge positive difference. (www.growthbusters.org).
