• home
  • posts
  • category
  • commons economy
  • Info, news & debate

    Commons economy posts

    Why do giant corporations pretend to be small, local, craft businesses?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 09-Nov-2015 | 1

    Jack Daniel’s is a classic example of this. You must have seen their ads – on posters, in magazines, on TV? The ones where they try to disguise a massive corporate behemoth as a folksy, friendly, small, local business? Old men in dungarees play cards on upturned barrels Read more

    ‘Why?’ does consumer organisation ‘Which?’ support TTIP? (and what you can do about it)

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP | 07-Nov-2015 | 2

    Although the UK consumer organisation ‘Which?’ expresses some concerns about TTIP (the US/EU free trade agreement)  the organisation’s main message is that TTIP is likely to be good for consumers as it may possibly mean some lower prices. Read more

    Global Redesign Initiative: how banks and corporations are planning to become global governors

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 04-Nov-2015 | 2

    This report is really something that everyone in the world should understand, because it spells out precisely what the corporate sector intends to do.  Read more

    Why international investors (i.e. ‘the 1%’) couldn’t care less about politics

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 22-Oct-2015 | 0

    Bloomberg recently covered a Credit Suisse report on the concerns of international investors in the US, in Europe and in Asia. What they found was very interesting – that their concerns were entirely economic. They just couldn’t care less about politics – and especially who gets elected in which country. Read more

    Overview of TTIP, and why Europeans are very unhappy about it

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 20-Oct-2015 | 0

    I don’t know who slipped these anti-TTIP posters onto London Underground trains, but respect to them. If you don’t know about TTIP, here’s some basic information. Read more

    Communities in Scotland may soon be able to purchase land even if the landowner doesn’t want to sell; where do you stand?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 17-Oct-2015 | 18

    There are radical changes on the table when it comes to land ownership in Scotland. The Land Reform Scotland Bill is intended to address the huge disparity in land ownership in Scotland – but there is one clause that is making some people extremely hopeful, and other very worried. Read more

    Rebels vs the Empire: why real life is like Star Wars

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 11-Oct-2015 | 5

    My brother is not politically or philosophically motivated, not particularly well read, and doesn’t keep up with current affairs. Most people are like that. Let’s call them ‘the mainstream’, if that’s not disrespectful. I don’t think it is – he’s my brother, after all. Read more

    One Planet Development arrested: my attempts to build a home on a smallholding in Wales

    Paul Jennings of Criafolen | 08-Oct-2015 | 123

    We moved to Wales because of an extraordinary Welsh Government policy. I shan’t lie, despite all experience and political conviction to the contrary, we were optimistic. One Planet Development seemed to be the kind of advance for low impact living and sustainable land use that we had been hoping for Read more

    How much should a loaf of bread cost?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 04-Oct-2015 | 10

    You can now get white sliced bread in supermarkets for around 50p a loaf; or you can get hand-baked, organic loaves from independent bakers for around £3.50. We can also bake our own bread. What’s the best option, do you think? Read more

    Class War vs Cereal Killer: is this the way to promote anarchism?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 29-Sep-2015 | 19

    You must know by now about Class War‘s ‘attack’ on hipster cereal cafe ‘Cereal Killer‘. It wasn’t much of an attack, to be honest – no-one was hurt and they were open again the next day. But were they right to target Cereal Killer in their anger about the gentrification of Shoreditch? Read more

    EU Trade Commission suggests removal of corporations’ right to sue governments from TTIP negotiations; US very unhappy

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 20-Sep-2015 | 0

    The biggest objection from the European public to the proposed TTIP trade deal (see here if you don’t know about it) is that multinational corporations will be able to sue elected governments (national or local) if it can be shown that legislation reduces corporate profits in any way. Read more

    This is what ‘transparency’ means when it comes to TTIP

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 18-Sep-2015 | 0

    Hilarious infographic by SumOfUs on what ‘transparency’ means in TTIP negotiations. But of course it isn’t funny at all. We’d like to see an economy of small businesses Read more

    Conversation with the ‘Moneyless Man’: our problems are way beyond policy changes – we need a new system

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 12-Sep-2015 | 23

    Mark Boyle, the ‘Moneyless Man‘ came to visit last Wednesday. It was the first time we’d met, although we’ve exchanged emails for years. As I suspected I would, I found him to be an inspirational character. Read more

    Economists: listen to this man and if you are intellectually honest you will begin to question the basic assumptions of your discipline

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 08-Sep-2015 | 4

    This guy is a genius. His name is Miklos Antal – I’d never heard of him before, but his every word cuts through the nonsense that lies at the heart of classical economic theory. Read more

    10 reasons you should care about TTIP, and what you can do about it

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 02-Sep-2015 | 0

    TTIP (the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) is a trade deal between the US and the EU, being carried out right now, in secret, ostensibly to co-ordinate and standardise legislation and to provide clarity, stability and confidence for companies that would like to invest in other countries, and to stimulate growth. Read more

    Suggested campaign to remove unnecessary regulations from independent businesses

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 19-Aug-2015 | 14

    Three things have happened to me recently that have made me realise that local, independent and/or community-owned businesses have been put at a huge disadvantage as regards regulations that cover their activities, and the independent sector is being unnecessarily penalised for the damaging activities of the corporate sector. Read more

    10 reasons we need a non-corporate system as well as a sustainable one (and there are many more)

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 15-Aug-2015 | 0

    Like all environmental / social change organisations, we’d like humans to live in a sustainable system. But unlike many other organisations, we clearly state that we’d like that system to be non-corporate. What do we mean? Read more

    How to answer the question: ‘if you don’t like this system, what do you want to replace it with?’ – aka a review of The Democracy Project by David Graeber

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 30-Jul-2015 | 5

    Graeber was a leading light in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the book begins with a fascinating insider’s view of the goings-on in and around Zucotti Park in 2011. The most important point in the book for me though was the reminder that people always want a blueprint for a new society Read more

    If you’re not exactly ‘time-rich’, here’s how you can change society with your money as well as your actions

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 24-Jul-2015 | 0

    Since Lowimpact began as LILI in 2001, we’ve offered a constantly increasing bank of information, courses, products, services, books, magazines, links, videos and advice for people wanting to change their lives – to live in a more sustainable and less corporate way. Read more

    Greece v the Empire; how to understand what’s being done to the Greeks

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 16-Jul-2015 | 15

    I’ve been thinking about how to write articles about the fact that we live in a corporate empire – trying to work out a way to present the idea, thinking that it would sound rather silly or extreme to many ears. Then a former World Bank economist (Peter Koenig) says: Read more

    Subscribe to blog

    Enter Your Email Address:

    The human impact on nature and on each other is accelerating and needs systemic change to reverse.

    We’re not advocating poverty, or a hair-shirt existence. We advocate changes that will mean better lives for almost everyone.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Youtube icon

    All rights reserved © lowimpact 2023