Is Degrowth an Academic Field or a Mass Movement? Taking Degrowth to the People!
By Phil Wilson, originally published by Resilience.org May 7, 2024
"...Tens of millions will either be mobilized to act, or not. The climate emergency cannot be mitigated...via private acts of conscience, nor...without a program of action and a massive base, expect to meaningfully oppose corporate reflexes. Intellectual virtuosity has limits – we would all do well to read Thoreau, but also, we must understand that his literary brilliance did not slow down the robber barons.
...degrowth, cannot be titrated in order to make it palatable to either profiteers or addicted consumers. It is inherently radical and based on the assumption that any alternative will be catastrophic...many...articles rather casually assumed that degrowth might be employed within the context of reform rather than revolution. There are no historical events that support such optimism..."
What Liberal Elites Don’t Know About Rural Americans Can Hurt Us
By Wendell Berry, originally published by Barn Raiser May 7, 2024
"...There is no interest in remedies for the bad ecological and human effects of mining, or in a farm bill that would make agriculture less destructive of land and people, or in ways to preserve the ecological integrity of our forests, or in ways to prevent the corporate destruction of the local economies necessary to support local communities—to name only a few rural needs.
...The space program is not the highest human accomplishment. All problems cannot be solved by science and technology. Good farmers are not mindless drudges who can be easily replicated from the “labor pool” or the Class of 2023..."
Seriously?? The Met Gala theme is all about "celebrating clothing and fashion so delicate it could never be worn again"?
How much more tone-deaf could one be, than to celebrate planned obsolescence and conspicuous consumption in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis (not to mention the climate crisis)? #MetGala#PlannedObsolescence#sustainability#ClimateCrisis#CostOfLiving
A world in crisis requires we recover the common good beginning in the places where we live
By Patrick Mazza, originally published by The Raven May 6, 2024
"...The first step is to understand the essence of the systemic transformation that is required. The common thread in our multiple global crises is the elevation of narrow interests over the common good. Certainly, the crisis of ecological overshoot reflects blindness towards our dependence on the planetary commons. For instance, making the atmosphere a dump for fossil fuel pollution while cutting down forests and tearing up soils are major drivers of climate disruption. Increasing global conflict & military expenditures reflect putting national interests over those of the world as a whole, despite the threat of nuclear extermination. The obscene and increasing concentration of the world’s wealth in so few hands screams out the prevalence of private interests over the common good..."
#VisibleMending is not only for #clothes. This #colourful#handbag with abstract roses helped me against dark winter days. Suddenly I discovered this terrible hole and decided to mend it. It was not easy to find the fabric (more in the Alt texts) but I saved my handbag! 😊 And now it's a unique piece of individual design! @visiblemending@sewing
Introducing the world's first steel produced without using fossil fuels. As a significant contributor to emissions, this breakthrough is critically important.
There are numerous solutions available to address the climate crisis. Let's implement them.
Das forcierte Spielen auf der Klaviatur der Ängste ersetzt praktikable Konzepte durch eine billige Politik des Dagegen. Merz, Söder und der ganze Tross hinter den Parteichefs arbeitet sich an der aggressiven Trumpisierung der Politik ab an deren Ende Menschen zu Gewalt als politischem Mittel greifen. Aber das wollen sie dann natürlich nie gewesen sein.
I see many posts of companies and their representatives stating that they work for a "greener and more sustainable future".
Are they insane or blunt ignorant and really think the present is already "green" and "sustainable" and they'll just make the future a bit more green and sustainable?
Will someone with more resources than I have please film a leafblower vs. rake contest for YouTube/TikTok? Compare not just how fast, but how much air pollution, dust to clean up after, noise pollution, GHGs, etc?
I think there are tons of people who would love a regular car, an EV or Hybrid, without all that other electronic junk. Purposefully making transitioning to cleaner options too expensive is a stupid policy.
Why societies grow more fragile and vulnerable to collapse as time passes
4.25.24 by Luke Kemp and BBC colleagues,Features correspondent
"...The ageing trend was there even when we excluded dynasties.
...Our findings are supported by promising studies on "critical slowing down". Before a complex system undergoes a large-scale shift in structure, or a "tipping point", it often begins to recover more slowly from disturbances. The ageing human body is similar: injuries can take a longer toll when you're older...
The next steps will be to investigate what fosters societal longevity, and what causes growing vulnerability. States could be losing resilience over time due to variety of factors. Growing inequality, extractive institutions, and conflict between elites could heighten social friction over time. Environmental degradation could undermine the ecosystems that polities depend on..."
How to unite local initiatives for a more sustainable global future
By Vasilis Kostakis, Nikiforos Tsiouris, originally published by ScienceDirect May 1, 2024
"...In a state of emergency, it is audacious to place all our hopes for tackling the ecological crisis and wealth inequality in technology –worse even, in technology that is yet to materialize... High-tech is not unsustainable in its essence, but its scale and mode of production in the capitalist realm are.
...the crux of the matter is profoundly political. The development and production of technology in the modern era are intricately interwoven with wealth inequality and environmental deterioration. Technology is not being produced in a vacuum, thus it is not neutral. On the contrary, it is highly influenced by the decisions of manufacturers, legislators, consultants, designers and everyone else involved –directly or indirectly– in the process..."
You'l find data features on: Publicly accessible
Free of charge, Social
Environmentally friendly production, Organic, Seasonal, Vegetarian
Environmentally friendly packed, Unpacked, Zero waste
Fair trade
Short transport distances, Regional
Sharing, Lending
Repair
Reuse
Recycling
Community, Participation
Podcast:
Crazy Town 86. Escaping Growthism: Wendigo Economics, Mystery Houses, and Becoming the Bear
By Asher Miller, Rob Dietz, Jason Bradford, originally published by Resilience.org May 1, 2024
"...Grow or die. It’s the governing principle of companies, investment portfolios, national economies, and even philanthropic foundations. Oh, and cancer. Asher, Jason, and Rob lay bare the stats on everything from human population, energy consumption, global GDP, greenhouse gas emissions, and the size of cars and cruise ships, before concluding that the global economy should be named after the Wendigo from Algonquian folklore. They turn to the natural world for examples of self-regulation, along with promising new economic frameworks and on-the-ground models, for how to end Wendigo economics before it ends us.
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language."
Among the ancestors - By Chris Smaje, originally published by Small Farm Future April 29, 2024
"...Those who say that radical changes are necessary to meet the challenges of our times but can only treat with scorn the possibility that part of those changes might involve reversing the breakneck capitalist urbanization of recent decades do not strike me as people who are genuinely wrestling with the enormity of the changes upon us. They strike me as people who are desperately trying to cling to the status quo. ...I think the body of our collective contemporary world political economy is manifestly dying, while its mind in the form of its public culture is largely in denial. But the denial can’t mask the frailty of old age in our political economy. ...I believe a major thing that lies behind this is a fear of individual death..."
Eco-Collapse Hasn’t Happened Yet, But You Can See It Coming
By Stan Cox, originally published by TomDispatch April 30, 2024
"...In short, this sort of indefinite expansion of the U.S. and global economy into the distant future is doomed to fail, but not before it’s crippled our ecological and social systems. In its 2024 Global Resources Outlook, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reported that humanity’s annual consumption of physical resources had grown more than threefold in the half-century since The Limits to Growth was published. Indeed, resource extraction is now rising faster than the Human Development Index, a standard measure of well-being. In other words, overextraction and overproduction while producing staggering wealth aren’t benefiting the rest of us..."