Green Social Thought

Produce less. Distribute it fairly. Create a greener world for all.

Subscribe
Donate

Topic: Less of What We Don’t Need

  • After Peak Oil, Are We Heading Toward Social Collapse?

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    Several years ago, Glen Sweetnam, director of the International, Economic and Greenhouse Gas division of the Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy (DOE), announced that worldwide oil availability had reached a “plateau.” However, his statement was not made known through a major US mainstream media outlet. Instead, it was covered in France’s Le…

  • The Myth of Drug Expiration Dates

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    Hospitals and pharmacies are required to toss expired drugs, no matter how expensive or vital. Meanwhile the FDA has long known that many remain safe and potent for years longer. The box of prescription drugs had been forgotten in a back closet of a retail pharmacy for so long that some of the pills predated…

  • From Growth to Degrowth: A Brief History

    —

    by

    henryr874

    With economic and financial globalization, the integration of the world markets is said to be what will achieve development, which often involves countries assuming massive debts and making huge payments to service them. These, in turn, drive forced growth to guarantee repayment. It is thus no longer about balancing the three pillars of sustainable development…

  • How Local, Grassroots Organizing Drove El Salvador’s Mining Ban

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    Amid a natural gas boom, could U.S. activists ever dream of a national ban on fracking? If it seems impossible, they should look to the south for inspiration. On March 29, the small Central American nation of El Salvador passed a total ban on metal mining. The historic vote on the law was unanimous, bridging…

  • Planting the Seeds of Degrowth in Times of Crisis

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    We must look for man wherever we can find him. When on his way to Thebes Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: ‘Man’. That simple word destroyed the monster. We have many monsters to destroy. Let us think of the answer of Oedipus. These words are from the Greek Poet Giorgos Seferis’…

  • How Do You Degrow An Economy, Without Causing Chaos?

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    ‘Houston, we have a problem’. On the one hand, there is growing acceptance among environmentally conscious people that rich nations and affluent regions of the global economy must dramatically reduce overall resource and energy consumption levels – that is, undergo a process of ‘degrowth’ – if humanity is to bring about a sustainable world order.…

  • And The Minds of Children Closed

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    Schools are still shills for our collective addiction to belief in technological fixes as a decent approach to addressing climate change issues. That’s one reason to home school, among many. But my informal survey of home schooling parents nationwide has revealed that virtually no one is teaching youth that only a no-growth vision of economics…

  • The Fallacy of Endless Economic Growth

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    The idea that economic growth can continue forever on a finite planet is the unifying faith of industrial civilization. That it is nonsensical in the extreme, a deluded fantasy, doesn't appear to bother us. We hear the holy truth in the decrees of elected officials, in the laments of economists about flagging GDP, in the…

  • “Peak Hats.” Social Change And The Coming Demise of Private Cars

    —

    by

    fitzdon

    For a long time, hats were oversized and expensive status symbols more than tools for protecting people’s heads. During the past half century or so, they have nearly disappeared. A similar destiny may befall on private cars, also oversized and expensive status symbols rather than tools for transporting people. With the disappearance of cars, we…

  • Our Obsolescent Economy

    —

    by

    rsburke

    Steven Gorelick contemplates the role that planned obsolescence plays in the promotion of consumerism, and it's ecological effects.