What’s the Mission?
I haven’t written about Future Economy for a while, but as I follow the Occupy movement, I do keep thinking about it. I do still believe that our economy needs fundamental changes; that an economy based on growth and consumerism is not sustainable. But what could take the place of our current economy? I saw [...]
The New York Times editorial page admitted on Monday that The Numbers Are Grim. Supposedly, we’re in recovery from a recession now, but unemployment is still high (indeed, unemployment is slightly up as of Friday, June 3), and the Times blames slow growth in consumer spending. More troubling in the latest figures, consumer spending — [...]
I’ve received two invitations to participate in a gas boycott day. I’ve declined both. Why? Because I don’t think a one-day boycott makes any difference, either to the price of gas or to an overall conservation effort. If you don’t buy gas on Wednesday (I’m just picking an arbitrary day), but you buy gas on [...]
People often say that organic and natural farming just isn’t profitable. Some farmers insist that conventional methods developed in the 20th century are necessary in order to make a living. But there are investors out there who see it differently. Yes, wealthy people who could be putting their money into Wall Street! In this OPB [...]
It all started with a piece on BikePortland about the Community Cycling Center’s findings on the lack of racial diversity in bicycling. I heard about it because BikePortland mentioned on Twitter that Jack Bogdanski of Jack Bog’s Blog had made note of the piece. He called the report “sad, funny, or both,” chastising the CCC [...]
I tried to read Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, but couldn’t get into it, and I don’t think I really agree with all of his philosophy anyway. However, the following passage caught my eye before I stopped reading. It’s about our growth-based economy: The unchecked striving for more, for endless growth, is a dysfunction and [...]
The current capitalist approach to business says that growth is good. Corporations and other businesses are supposed to grow every year, sell more products, provide more services, and earn more money. I say that’s not sustainable. How could it be? How can we possibly expect infinite growth? But aside from growth being unsustainable in the [...]
I’ve written before about Why I Really Don’t Do Walmart (and many people commented). Here’s another reason: poor sick leave policy. Walmart’s come under fire from the National Labor Committee (a nonprofit organization supporting human and worker rights) for penalizing workers, possibly to the point of termination, for staying home sick. Here’s the scoop from [...]
