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Tag Archives: consumerism
How Do We Design a DeGrowth Economy?
How Do We Design a DeGrowth Economy? The conventional objections to DeGrowth boil down to: it isn’t the status quo, so it can’t work. Actually, it’s the status quo that isn’t working. I’ve written about DeGrowth for many years, including Degrowth, Anti-Consumerism and Peak Consumption (May 9, 2013), Degrowth Solutions: Half-Farmer, Half-X (July 19, 2014) and And the Next Big Thing […]
Europe’s Circular-Economy Opportunity
EUROPE’S CIRCULAR-ECONOMY OPPORTUNITY A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy that uses the model of make, use, dispose of in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them while in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of […]
Voluntary Frugality
VOLUNTARY FRUGALITY This time, I’ve moved beyond dipping in here and there and really started to read David Holmgren’s Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, a book that goes in depth into realms of permaculture that I’ve not fully explored in my time involved with the movement. And, while I’m not yet through the book, […]
Bread, circuses and inequality – a dishonest bargain
Bread, circuses and inequality – a dishonest bargain How does consumerism undermine democracy? Flickr/dcmaster, CC BY-NC 2.0 China leads the way the Chinese people surrender democratic citizenship for the promise of individual gain through private consumptionOver the decade of the 2000s I visited China several times. At some point on each trip a Chinese acquaintance would assure me, […]
Pope’s climate push is ‘raving nonsense’ without population control, says top US scientist
Pope’s climate push is ‘raving nonsense’ without population control, says top US scientist Paul Ehrlich writes in Nature Climate Change that Francis is wrong to fight climate change without also addressing the strain from population growth on resources One of America’s leading scientists has dismissed as “raving nonsense” the pope’s call for action on climate […]
Are we prepared to change to prevent climate change?
Are we prepared to change to prevent climate change? What is needed to get us out of our comfort zone and fight for our children’s future? If you ask, let’s say, a seven year old, it’s all pretty clear. If it’s the way we live, consume and produce that causes climate change, why don’t we […]
Liberation Is Unprofitable
Liberation Is Unprofitable 12 examples of how liberation is not profitable and therefore it must be marginalized, outlawed, proscribed or ridiculed. If we had to summarize the sickness of our economy and society, we could start by noting that liberation is unprofitable, and whatever is not profitable to vested interests is marginalized, outlawed, proscribed or ridiculed. Examples […]
Preempting a Misleading Argument: Why Environmental Problems Will Stop Tracking with GDP
Preempting a Misleading Argument: Why Environmental Problems Will Stop Tracking with GDP I hate to say I told you so, and could be too dead to do so, so I’ll tell you in advance: One decade soon, environmental problems will stop tracking with GDP. But the reasons? Well, they probably aren’t what you think, especially […]
Change They Don’t Believe In
Change They Don’t Believe In The unfortunate consequence of not allowing the process of “creative destruction” to occur in banking and Big Business is that the historic forces behind it will seek expression elsewhere in the realm of politics and governance. The desperate antics of central banks to cover up financial failure can’t help […]
Money for Nothin’ and your Chicks for Free – and your Houses too!
Money for Nothin’ and your Chicks for Free – and your Houses too! Nothing Against the Old We would like to preface today’s Diary with a clarification: We don’t have anything against old people. We don’t have anything against high GDP growth rates either. But the two don’t go together. Some of this opinion comes from looking […]
We need a map out of the nightmare of consumerism
We need a map out of the nightmare of consumerism One of the most harrowing challenges of modern American life is navigating through the massive desert of our mindless, materialistic consumerism. It is within this landscape that a soul can become lost and drenched in despair. From the endless stream of vacant-eyed wraiths who glide down […]
The Tyranny of Convenience
The Tyranny of Convenience Our lives are ridiculously convenient in this day and age, and much of the consumer economy seems to be directed at making life ‘easier’ still. It seems that the more convenient life becomes, the more need there is for more convenience. Anything is possible in this technological age and if it can’t be […]
10 SHADY ORIGINS OF CONSUMERISM IN THE US
10 SHADY ORIGINS OF CONSUMERISM IN THE US Consumerism and the practice of flaunting one’s status through clothes, jewelry, and other things has existed since the dawn of civilization. Yet, the endless cycle of working to buy has never been more rampant than it is now. How did the United States, a nation founded on […]
Only Less Will Do
Only Less Will Do When I’m not writing books or essays on environmental issues, or sleeping or eating, you’re likely to find me playing the violin. This has been an obsessive activity for me since I was a boy, and seems to deliver ever more satisfaction as time passes. Making and operating the little wooden box that […]
Pulling the plug, part 1
Pulling the plug, part 1 We can refuse to participate in a dead society gone shopping. — Joe Bageant Once we understand what feeds it, it becomes possible to think of stopping the Machine. I puzzled over this one for a long time, only to suddenly grok the obvious: the fodder for the Machine is our […]
