Archive for January, 2007
Emperor finance’s new clothes
I can never quite take the high flying world of finance seriously, or worse, I somehow don’t quite believe it exists. I have a sneaking suspicion as I watch the parade of bankers, finance ministers, and industrialists in their beautifully tailored suits, that what I’m really seeing is a bunch of aged and overfed streakers. [...]
Incineration nation: Will the Philippines become Japan’s toxic waste dump?
Japan has little physical space for landfill sites, and seventy percent of incinerators worldwide are located there: Until recently Japan had one solution to waste: burn it. Over 1800 incinerators burned the country’s 50 million tonnes of solid waste each year. Recycling exists but even some of that ends up in the incinerators. Japan is [...]
History, hatred, and truth
Human beings are genetically predisposed to find patterns and to assume that events are linked in time by cause and effect, and it’s quite easy to see why. If you assume that a rustling in the bushes means that a tiger is about to pounce, then being wrong nine times out of ten is probably [...]
The myth of selfishness: Part 3 – A new gift economy
If society is in tune with human proclivities it works better, because people enjoy what they do. You only have to look at small boys playing “hunting”, or notice the difference between the incentives necessary to get people to sit in an office shuffling papers compared with those required to get people to dance and [...]
In: philosophy, society, theory
The myth of selfishness: Part 2 – The Rise of Capitalism
Much of this has a European focus, and I apologise for that, especially because colonialism and its devastating effect on the world are consequently not given proper attention. The focus of the article is narrow and designed as a contrast to the situation described in Part 1 – Ancient Economics. By the way, I’m no [...]
In: philosophy, society, theory
The myth of selfishness: Part 1 Ancient Economics
This article is the first in a series. I’m leading up to something and it takes quite a long time to get there, but it’s generally about my idea that people are far less self-interested than it appears. NB: In the following I have used the term “traditional culture” to refer to the ancient and [...]
In: philosophy, society, theory
US – Iranian tensions rise dramatically
The following roundup is from the Chinese People’s Daily: Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival –the United States. The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders “during [...]
In: observations, world
Laughing through clenched teeth
Half asleep this morning I was daydreaming about the psychological state of a Guantanamo inmate. No real idea why my life had suddenly changed, nor even a clear memory of the Pakistani soldiers taking me from my bed. Memory has become a series of tangible fragments, each a smooth greenish white like the concrete lit [...]
Cut and run from the “Surge”?
Ok, here’s a thought. The people who think the surge, as it’s called, is a good idea are the same people who think that what they call cut and run is a really bad idea. Pulling troops out of Iraq, they say, will give aid and comfort to terrorists. Iraq would fall like a domino, [...]
Who is the leisure class?
Vasco Pyjama has been on fire since coming back to Australia. Here she outlines the basis of the divide between the developing world and the west: Two years ago, I travelled through Mindanao, the war-torn southernmost island of the Philippines. Villages there were populated with modest wooden huts made with coco lumber and leaf roofing. [...]
In: observations, society, world
The Tao te ching
From Trace elements: Our culture is based on control, codification, and the application of force to achieve the ends we desire. We live in a world composed of resources and subject to analysis, and we’ve reached a point where the problems inherent in this approach are becoming clear, from global warming to the greed which [...]
In: observations, philosophy
Your Weld Is Being Destroyed
The Weld Valley remains one of the most diverse areas of native ecology in southern Tasmania. The Weld sits at the frontier of Europe’s “ecological empire”, between the ancient rhythms/landscapes of the western wilderness and the graduallty expanding radius of white settlement. Today indiustrial forestry pushes into the virgin forests of the lower Weld, while [...]
One world
Vasco Pyjama is an aid worker who has recently been in Afghanistan and Nias in Indonesia. She is now in Australia and suffering from culture shock. I asked her how she coped with being back in Australia. With the difference between the worlds she saw. She looked sad and shrugged. And said that she pretended [...]
