by George Mobus -- What is wrong with the world is not a lack of intelligence or creativity, what I like to call 'cleverness'. What is wrong is a lack of wisdom. That is what most profoundly affects our lives and, in these times, the whole world. We need to have a better handle on how to use our cleverness, how to modulate and appropriately use our emotions and feelings, to make life sustaining decisions for humanity and the Ecos. (Full Article)
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Nine Ways Our World Changed During the '00s |
by Sarah van Gelder -- Dec. 30, 2009 -- Corporations get still more powerful. A middle-class living slips away from millions. Climate change becomes deadly. War, and more war. Looking back on the '00s (uh ohs) and the nine trends that changed our word. The following nine trends are a snapshot of some of the driving forces we're dealing with now at the turn of the decade. (Full Article)
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Redefining Progress -- The Genuine Progress Indicator |
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Redefining Progress -- We believe that if policymakers measure what really matters to people—health care, safety, a clean environment, and other indicators of well-being—economic policy would naturally shift towards sustainability. Redefining Progress created the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) in 1995 as an alternative to the gross domestic product (GDP). The GPI enables policymakers at the national, state, regional, or local level to measure how well their citizens are doing both economically and socially. (Full Article) |
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Introduction to Systems Thinking |
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by Daniel Aronson -- The approach of systems thinking is fundamentally different from that of traditional forms of analysis. Traditional analysis focuses on the separating the individual pieces of what is being studied. Systems thinking, in contrast, focuses on how the thing being studied interacts with the other constituents of the system—a set of elements that interact to produce behavior—of which it is a part. (Full Article) |
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Plan B 3.0 by Lester Brown -- Summary Presentation (Must See) |
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by Earth Policy Institute -- Mar. 25, 2009 -- This presentation provides a brief but engaging summary of Lester Brown's influential book Plan B 3.0. By helping interested parties spread the Plan B vision, we hope to encourage social and political involvement in critical environmental issues. It is designed to be shared, so feel free to pass along the link to others who might be interested. We ask only that you appropriately credit EPI and the photographers. (Download PowerPoint Presentation) |
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The Time for Change has Come |
Post Carbon Institute -- Spring 2009 -- All of the debts for society’s century-long industrial fiesta are coming due at the same time. We have no choice but to transition to a world no longer dependent on fossil fuels, a world made up of communities and economies that function within ecological bounds. Thus the most important question of our time: How do we manage the transition to a post-carbon world? (Full Article)
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Building a Sustainable Economy |
by Marcin Gerwin -- Spring 2009 -- A number one tool in the earth repair workshop is community-based democracy. It is a key for unlocking the potential for sustainability. In most cities in the world we choose our representatives, who then decide on our behalf what the taxes will be spent on or what new investments will be made. However, we can make these decisions directly together, as a community. We can meet, discuss, consult with experts and decide ourselves what the future of our city or village will be like. (Full Article)
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Participatory Democracy in Ecuador |
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by Leonardo Alvear -- Participatory democracy in Ecuador began in Cotacachi during the mid 1990's. It is changing the face of Ecuador politics. Other cantons and other countries come to Cotacachi to learn of our participatory democracy process. They can copy our health, education, tourism, women’s and production programs. Of the 215 cantons in Ecuador, 130 of them are beginning to use our process. (Full Article) |
by Tim Costello, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith -- Jan. 16, 2009 -- During the past several years, the Internet has evolved from its first generation as a static information portal (e.g. websites) to what is now referred to as Web 2.0, marked by the explosion of user-generated and interactive content. This communications revolution promises to be the "largest increase in human expressive capability in history." (Full Article)
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A Political System for a Good Society |
by Stephen Shalom -- Dec. 31, 2008 -- What sort of political institutions and practices would be appropriate for a good society? Let me exclude executive and judicial institutions, and narrow the question down to ask, What sorts of decision-making institutions and practices would be appropriate for a good society? (Full Article)
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Time to Build a New Civilization |
by Mitsuhei Murata -- Oct. 24, 2008 -- "The maximum happiness for the greatest number of people," which should be the essential objective of democracy, has been forgotten. Today's materialism is based on greed, which is now threatening the future of mankind and the globe. The current financial meltdown is one clear example. The deterioration of the environment is another. (Full Article)
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Change Everything Now -- Interview with James "Gustave" Speth |
by Jeff Goodall -- Oct. 2008 -- An interview with James "Gustave" Speth. His new book, The Bridge at the Edge of the World is nothing less than a call for an uprising that would reinvent modern capitalism and replace it with, well, a postmodern capitalism that values sustainability over growth, and doing good over making a quick buck. (Full Article)
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Sustainable Lifestyles 