Social Credit is not the answer

There are plenty of valid criticisms to be made of developed-economy monetary and banking systems. Finance capital seems to exert too much influence on our economies. Banks seem to make excessive profits. Excessive debt oppresses, and drives individuals, firms, and economies into a frantic search for income growth. The growth obession drives us into dysfunctional [...]

Update on dairy: More on the environmental consequences of the dairy boom

In a previous article I outlined the basic facts of New Zealand’s current dairy boom: the enormous financial returns on dairy production, the growth in the national dairy herd that have been spurred by these returns, and the consequent environmental impact of the ever-expanding numbers of dairy cattle. There is plenty to add to that [...]

An alarming development: the dominance of the sustainability discourse in the green movement

What are the various discourses that circulate in the green movement? Geographer Andrew McGregor explored this question in discussions with five different groups from a variety of backgrounds within the green movement in Australia: The Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Sydney-based Earthworks programme, a second-year university course in environmental geography, and the Byron [...]

Indigenous peoples, environmentalism and ‘wilderness.’ Part one – North America and Australia

‘Wilderness’ is a word that features very strongly in the vocabulary of environmentalists and conservationists around the world. In the United States the Wilderness Society, which currently has over 300,000 members, was founded in 1935 by Aldo Leopold and others to “bring to bear our scientific expertise, analysis and bold advocacy at the highest levels [...]

Meat, biofuels, and world hunger.

More from the “Welcome to our future” files:
George Monbiot suggests that the best thing the world’s wealthy could do to ease world hunger (while reducing climate change impacts) is to eat less meat.
James Hamilton picks up on another big factor affecting food prices at the moment: diversion of food crops, especially corn in the United [...]

In search of quality of life: progress, virtue and happiness

The vision of a ‘green’ society often focuses on quality of life and well-being for all its citizens. These ideas are evoked by way of a contrast with the quantity-oriented objectives of present day western consumer society: increasing personal financial wealth and individual consumption, economic growth and expanding business profitability. But just what is ‘quality [...]