To get started with philosophy, I think you need three things: a) some idea of where we are – to know what solar systems and galaxies are, and to have a vague idea of how many there are Read more

Are you tired of the lazy assumption on Newsnight, the Today programme and in the news media that economic growth is what’s required to solve all of our problems? It’s the Holy Grail, that-which-cannot-be-questioned, from Evan Davies to Jeremy Paxman. Read more

Here’s the incomparably wonderful Bill Hicks on marketing. If you don’t know him, just put his name into YouTube. You’re in for a treat. Read more

Hi all, Lowimpact.org has been all about re-skilling since we started in 2001, and we’ve gained a big audience through that. I was sitting on a bus in London last year, looking down at people in the street in Brixton Read more

Here’s an idea that I’d like to see gain some ground in 2014 – it’s called distributism. It’s a practical rather than a spiritual idea, but really, I think that some sort of distributism has to happen before we can think about developing spiritually as a species. Read more

You may have seen a sensationalist video called ‘the End of Britain’ that’s been doing the rounds throughout 2013. It’s a flashy, authoritative-looking video, and well it should be, as it’s produced by MoneyWeek Magazine Read more

This is how ‘development’ works. NB: you can substitute any rich country for Germany, and any poor country for Zambia. In the boardroom of a global corporation in Germany, the following conversation takes place: Read more

I believe that it’s important, but in a positive rather than a negative way. Let me explain. Would you prefer to live in a vibrant community or a dull one? If you’d prefer to live in a dull one, then don’t bother reading any further. Read more

Here’s my cat – Keith. He looks cute, doesn’t he? But actually, he’s a killer. I’ve seen him torture things for his amusement – he wasn’t hungry and he didn’t want them to die quickly (less fun). Read more

Owen Paterson, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, said today that environmentalists who oppose GM food are ‘wicked’. This is why he is wrong. Read more

You can’t change anything by voting. Or, as Emma Goldman put it: ‘if voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal’. Politicians can rearrange deckchairs but they can’t steer the ship away from the iceberg Read more

Here’s a blog I recently came across, by the ‘Archdruid’ – his argument is that the concept of ‘progress’ is now defunct and that science is just another story – a myth amongst many others that attempt to explain the universe. Read more

The lease has come up for renewal for a very popular pub called the Wheatsheaf in Tooting, south London, in a prime location opposite Tooting Bec tube station. Read more

Review of Why Marx Was Right, by Terry Eagleton. Yes, we’re all looking for alternatives to capitalism – it destroys democracy, it eats nature and it’s vacuous – but you don’t have to have read any philosophy or economics Read more

We’ve had a bit of a heads-up from a Lowimpact.org partner (who wants to remain anonymous) and family who have been looking for land to start a smallholding for years, and are finally buying a bit of Scotland on the Cowal peninsula in Argyllshire. Read more

Here’s a story. Some of you may know it, but I’m guessing that most people don’t, which is surprising because it has enormous importance for the way we live today, and how our children might live in the future. Read more

I’m writing this listening to a blackbird singing. Short bursts of song, a different tune every time. The blackbird occasionally drops down to the lawn, pecks around, pulls out a worm and flies off to eat it. Read more

Dear friends, How many times have we asked you to write to your MP, European or otherwise? Never, that’s how many. So this is a first. It’s a plea to take 5 minutes out of your bank holiday weekend Read more

How many people do you know these days whose work involves traditional craft skills? For every craftsperson in the UK, there must be a couple of thousand working in telesales. Read more

On the day of Mrs Thatcher’s funeral she will receive many plaudits and much abuse. I don’t think that there is any merit in rejoicing in the death of a woman who believed that she was doing the right thing Read more