The US is sinking into depression, and as the result of globalization much of the rest of the world is being dragged along. Most people have never seen anything like this in their lifetimes. What they are witnessing is secular upheaval that will bring great change to beliefs, values and lifestyles. A new word is needed to describe it, as it is something much more than an economic depression. Maybe reconstruction will serve as the descriptive term for now. [...more]
Most of environmentalists' time and creative energy is bent toward
policy. Books on climate, organizational manifestos, and blog posts
argue the finer points of carbon taxes versus cap-and-trade and other,
often arcane, details. Little of our thinking or resources goes into
social change theory, political strategy (aside from elections),
organizing and campaigning, applying lessons from U.S. history... [...more]
A lot of people come to the climate change issue as environmentalists. Environmentalism is diverse, but I would say that a common denominator for environmentalists is that they are concerned with the negative impact of human activity on the ecosystems that sustain life on the planet and want to make changes that reduce that negative impact — or have no impact or positive impact. But having agreed on this, there are many different views within environmentalism. [...more]
Free markets are often presented as the sole solution to poverty and human development. But the global market is inefficient and life-destructive, writes John McMurtry. [...more]
After experiencing first hand the beauty of the harp seal nursery, world-renowned photographer Nigel Barker joined The Humane Society of the United States in calling on the Canadian government to end the commercial slaughter of baby seals in favor of the more humane — and lucrative — eco-tourism industry. [...more]
At least 48 million Americans in working families lack the income needed to gain a toehold in the middle class, according to a new report released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
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As the markets are finally demonstrating today, the "economic good times" spurred by a runaway housing price boom (and powered by astonishingly fraudulent lending practices by dishonest banks) are over. A day of reckoning has arrived, and the unwinding of this false wealth that has been propping up the U.S. economy for so many years is about to be unleashed upon the American people. (Today's stock market meltdown is only the beginning...) [...more]
Strategies that can help reduce the number of children who die before their fifth birthday were highlighted today, at the launch of UNICEF’s flagship report - The State of the World’s Children 2008: Child Survival – in Geneva.
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A new study of worldwide technological competitiveness suggests China may soon rival the United States as the principal driver of the world’s economy — a position the U.S. has held since the end of World War II. If that happens, it will mark the first time in nearly a century that two nations have competed for leadership as equals. [...more]
The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations and costs them more than their combined foreign debt, according to a first-ever global accounting of the dollar costs of countries' ecological footprints. [...more]
