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    Commons economy posts

    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

    Help set up eco-settlements by moving your money and getting a better return than from a bank savings account

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 08-Jul-2015 | 6

    If we want to: help set up organic smallholdings; allow people to build natural homes on their land; preserve rural skills and livelihoods; and develop a sustainable, non-corporate food supply, we have to do more than just talk about it. Read more

    Good luck to Greece, and why you won’t find the real reasons for their crisis in the mainstream media

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 06-Jul-2015 | 21

    It’s so ironic that the biggest lesson in how to destroy democracy is being delivered to the world in the birthplace of democracy. Read more

    How to get George Osborne to buy you shares in a wind turbine

    Jon Halle of Sharenergy | 06-Jul-2015 | 0

    No, this isn’t a scam – you can get tax relief on shares in community energy. But it’s not charity – you don’t have to part with your money. It’s an investment, and one that is projected to give you a 7% return – much more than a bank savings account. Read more

    Why we need to stop TTIP if we care about the national health services of European countries

    As negotiations continue between Europe and the US on the Transatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership (TTIP), concerns are mounting among civil society groups over the implications for public healthcare. Read more

    I’ve joined the board of the Ecological Land Co-operative because I want to change the way land is owned and farmed

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 19-Jun-2015 | 3

    On Wednesday evening I attended the AGM of the Ecological Land Co-op at Freightliners City Farm in London. I was standing for election to the board after being invited to apply by Shaun Chamberlin of Dark Optimism Read more

    City bans fracking; legislators overturn it and receive $25k each from oil and gas industry. Is this democracy?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 03-Jun-2015 | 0

    A city in Texas voted to ban fracking within its city limits. The ban in Denton passed with around 60% of the vote. Read more

    Announcing Sharenergy’s largest ever community energy share offer

    Jon Halle of Sharenergy | 29-Apr-2015 | 0

    Sharenergy is happy to announce the launch of its largest ever share offer. We’ll be raising £1.35m to add to the £450,000 already subscribed for Heartland Community Wind in Scotland. Shares will attract EIS tax relief under the extension to EIS recently announced. Read more

    Ecological Land Co-op plan 20 (!) new settlements, and you can get involved – new community share offer launches today

    We’re excited to announce an opportunity to invest in the development of ecological smallholdings in England. Our key aim is to widen the access to land for sustainable use through the creation of affordable low-impact smallholdings. We’d love you to join us in making this possible. Read more

    What’s the ‘next system’ going to look like?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 24-Apr-2015 | 28

    I want to bring your attention to this group, if you don’t know them already. They’re called ‘The Next System Project‘ – very slick, very American and very new (founded in March this year), but what they’re saying is rare and, I believe, essential. Read more

    Incredible ‘Frackogram 2015’ shows the many links of vested interest within the fracking industry and government

    In July 2013 I produced a very rudimentary ‘map’of the connections related to un/conventional fossil fuels at the heart of Government. Finally, after two years of research, I have now produced the final detailed version – the Frackogram 2015 Read more

    the Ecological Land Co-op have produced a much-needed, free overview of research on ecological agriculture in the UK

    The Ecological Land Co-operative recently produced an overview of research on ecological agriculture in the UK. We’ve used this to create a new online resource, freely accessible via our website. Read more

    Let’s stop subsidising giant, damaging agri-business – join the Landworkers’ Alliance on April 29th

    Join the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) as we celebrate Via Campesina’s International day of Peasant Struggle. Weds April 29th, British Sugar Factory, Bury St Edmunds, 1.30pm Read more

    Are schools just for preparing kids for a corporate world, and should home education be the norm in a future, non-corporate society?

    Paul Jennings of Criafolen | 07-Apr-2015 | 10

    There was a time when it was much easier for me to stumble into an argument over the choice to home educate than almost any other subject. People who would hesitate to call me a fool for being an anarchist or a vegetarian would wade in with all kinds of Read more

    Braziers Park community wants to set up a university completely independent from the corporate sector, and you can get involved

    ‘When a university becomes a business the whole of student life is transformed. When a university is more concerned with its image, its marketability and the ‘added value’ of its degrees, the student is no longer a student – they become a commodity and education becomes a service.’ Read more

    Ecological Land Co-op publishes its first annual report; feedback welcome

    NB: the Ecological Land Co-op set a precedent in England (following the success of Lammas Ecovillage in Wales) by gaining planning permission for homes on smallholdings outside the development zone (in Devon), by agreeing to abide by strict ecological criteria Read more

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