All this talk of Trump getting revenge is puzzling, at least on the surface. What could have possibly befallen the presumed multi-billionaire that could cause him to seek political revenge? Could it be that he actually knows he lost the election and resents the fact so much that he wants to inflict revenge by destroying … More Resilience vs Resentment and Revenge
Lots of evidence from social science research makes it clear that we live much more by habit than by rational decisions about most things we do and say. We live in complex social, political, and economic systems that not only overlap but influence our lives in more ways than just about anyone could list. Our … More Priorities: Living Well vs. Predatory Extraction
HERE IS AN INSIGHTFUL HYPOTHETICAL DIALOG BETWEEN ECONOMISTS AND ECOLOGISTS OVER SEVERAL DECADES, WHICH EXEMPLIFIES THE CULTURAL STALEMATE BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND SCIENCE. THAT IS WHAT STIFLES PROGRESS IN FACING OUR CLIMATE/ECOLOGICAL/EXISTENTIAL CRISIS TODAY. (I inserted a few links for reference.) A completely made up story about the history of economics and ecology By Katy Shields … More Here is Why Economists Cannot Hear Ecologists
It is as sad as it is fascinating to observe the complete disconnect between the assumptions behind current emerging trade wars and those behind the current pretensions of nations to taking climate action. On the one hand, news reports of steps taken on either side in the escalation of Trump’s trade war with China assume … More Trade Wars and Climate Chaos
It is as sad as it is fascinating to observe the complete disconnect between the assumptions behind current emerging trade wars and those behind the current pretensions of nations to taking climate action. On the one hand, news reports of steps taken on either side in the escalation of Trump’s trade war with China assume … More Trade Wars and Climate Chaos
Can we do it ourselves? If we recycle everything and take shorter showers, install some solar panels, buy low-emissions products, etc., etc., can we avoid climate catastrophe? Sorry. Absolutely not. The problem runs much deeper than that – it involves the entire Earth System. The climate crisis is endemic to industrial civilization itself. That means, … More Individual Climate Ethics and Global Change
I just watched the condensed version of the award winning film, “The Economics of Happiness.” It is available on the Local Futures website. It confirms just about all the research findings on climate change, globalization, poverty, pollution, violence, and a host of other issues I have followed for the past decade while writing my forthcoming … More Economics of Happiness vs. Corporate Globalization
The idea that the financial markets are the essential force that drives economic growth and progress, has dominated political thinking for too long. The financial markets and their agents have dominated politics and the Congress over recent decades more than ever before. After all, it took several decades for the financial elite to accomplish the … More The Upside-Down Economy
We are known by the enemies we keep creating. Of course, one can point almost anywhere and find barbarism, now and in the past, there and also here. The dictionary definition of “Terrorism” is “government by intimidation.” It most recently devolved in the U.S. lexicon of endless war “on terror” – since 9/11– as any … More Creating Enemies, Defining Terror, and Justifying Anything
Globalization is widely touted in the mass media as both inevitable and good. But why? It is claimed that products are more efficiently produced, labor is more productive, technology is improved by greater innovation, and capital is more efficiently allocated. But wait, there’s less! According to Paul Hellyer, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, “Globalization … More The Happiness Factor: What’s the Point of Having an Economy anyway?
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 