Info, news & debate
Economy
Cycle lanes bring more revenue to local businesses than car parking spaces – so why do so many businesses think they don’t?
Here’s the story – Enfield borough has received £30 million in funding from Transport for London to install dedicated cycle lanes on some of its main roads, removing on-street parking, adding zebra crossings and trees.
How much should a loaf of bread cost?
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?
Career change: how I left software development to become a natural builder
When I was young I wanted to do a lot of different things, but the core ambition was always to do something that would help our environment, not make it worse.
Class War vs Cereal Killer: is this the way to promote anarchism?
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?
‘Restart’ parties: prolong the life of your electrical goods and pick up some useful skills in the process
On Saturday I dropped into a ‘Restart’ party near to where I live in Tooting. If you don’t know what a Restart party is – they’re a group of techies who raise funds to be able to hold events in various locations where the public can turn up with broken electrical goods and be trained …
If Corbyn became PM, what would he really be able to achieve in this system?
First, to reiterate something that has been pointed out on this site many times – the corporate empire is global and governments are national, and that fact alone means that national governments are in no position to challenge the corporate sector.
Wanted: new members for a co-operative farm – you are invited to an exploratory weekend
You are invited to Ffynnon Teilo Farm Activity Weekend, to explore creating a co-operative farm – Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th of September. Activities will include: pond clearing, footpath and step renovation, fire making, campsite cooking and farm tour. Camping space available Saturday night.
EU Trade Commission suggests removal of corporations’ right to sue governments from TTIP negotiations; US very unhappy
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.
This is what ‘transparency’ means when it comes to TTIP
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
Get inspired to grow your own food: visit gardens producing food in cities
Edible Gardens Open Day is an annual event for Londoners to explore secret gardens, embark on an edible walking tour, or venture further afield to discover people growing in novel places. It’s now happening in other cities too.
Want to experience what life is like in an intentional community?
I joined Redfield Community in Buckinghamshire in 1996 and lived there for 13 years. It’s a Victorian mansion in 18 acres of woodland, fields, gardens and orchards – a registered housing co-op with around 15 adults and 8 kids on average, although people come and go.
Conversation with the ‘Moneyless Man’: our problems are way beyond policy changes – we need a new system
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.
Economists: listen to this man and if you are intellectually honest you will begin to question the basic assumptions of your discipline
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.
10 reasons you should care about TTIP, and what you can do about it
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.
What were your ‘light bulb moments’ in understanding the way the world works? Here are mine
Here’s a rash statement, but I believe it to be true. Most people these days know, either rationally or intuitively, that humanity is heading in the wrong direction. If you ask people whether we’ve seen the back of ecological calamaties, financial collapses, corruption, poverty or war
Suggested campaign to remove unnecessary regulations from independent businesses
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.
More details of the ujamaa collective village system in Tanzania (from first-hand experience)
This is an account of my visit to two ujamaa villages in Tanzania in the early 1990s, plus a lot more background information on the system itself. The ujamaa system has since been dismantled after pressure from the World Bank, but at its height, 20 million people out of a total population of 24 million …
10 reasons we need a non-corporate system as well as a sustainable one (and there are many more)
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?
How you can help cottage industries provide solar in African villages (not for cheap electricity – just for electricity)
We had a solar electric system installed on our house in London last year by Norman Phipps of Assured Solar. We’ve had the system for a year now, and its output was almost exactly what Norman predicted, which means we’re headed for a 9-year payback time.
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
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