I identify with Greta Thunberg. I’m also aspergic, and I understand why she’s so motivated. I talked with several people over the Christmas period who don’t like her, for various reasons – her voice; her team fly even though she doesn’t; her parents are manipulating her; she’s too angry; she once used a plastic bottle,… Continue reading Is Greta Thunberg right, and if so, what do we do about it? Read more

In the summer of 2018 I went along to Open2018 to see Matthew Slater talk about how we might shake up the money system with a global Credit Commons. After his presentation, Matthew and I met with Oliver Sylvester-Bradley of the Open Co-op, who organised the event, and decided to build a mutual credit network… Continue reading What I’ve discovered about the money system and how the world is run, since working with the Open Credit Network Read more

At a dinner party on Saturday evening, I had a discussion about a) the efficacy of elections for bringing about meaningful change, and b) the desirability of the quest for perpetual economic growth (I didn’t feel positively about either of those things). Our hosts’ 10-year-old son was listening carefully, after which he expressed his intention… Continue reading 26 questions from a 10-year-old to his parents about the election Read more

Can elections really change anything? Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org shares his views on the question in the run-up to the general election. Read more

We’d love to know what you think about this debate, between David, treasurer of Transition Town Tooting, and Dave of Lowimpact.org about whether giving up flying has any effect on climate change. Read more

People usually conflate the two, but I want to try to persuade (mainly the right) that capitalism is nothing like a free market, and (mainly the left) that there’s nothing wrong with a truly free market. Read more

Looking ahead to a future post-capitalism, Dil Green of NonCorporate.org shares how and why he’s working on mutual credit as one of its core pillars. This piece was originally published on the blog ‘Digital Anthropology‘. Read more

So let’s start the year with a bit of optimism. Our last post was about the fact that there is a general lack of understanding of the implications of biodiversity loss, and the contribution of climate change to it. This post is for people who do understand what’s happening to nature, but can see no… Continue reading What do we do about the coming ecological crash? Read more

A few years ago, I was having a beer in the bar at King’s Cross narrowboat marina, when someone called Fred asked me what I did. When I said that I worked for an environmental organisation, he came up with a classic line that I’ve quoted many times since. Read more

Dear George, Congratulations on your contribution to the Moral Maze last week – I switched on the radio just as your volley articulating the ideological differentiation between fiscal and legal rationing fairly seared the waves. Read more

What was it about European cultural development that led to the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, capitalism and environmental destruction? Why didn’t it happen in the apparently much more fertile ground of China, India or the Arab world? Read more

I’m using the original definition of the word, not its bastardisation that over the years has come to be used as a kind of insult in some circles. I’ve been called ‘too radical’, and I want to show why that’s an absurdity. Read more

This is a conversation between Dave Darby of NonCorporate.org and Dave King of Breaking the Frame and the New Lucas Plan. Dave (K) is opposed to the ‘technocracy’ that he describes as the root cause of environmental destruction and lack of democracy. Read more

The starting point for a generative discussion of the deep adaptation agenda is a difficult one. Because to begin to rigorously and imaginatively discuss this topic first requires us to accept the likelihood of near term societal collapse. Read more

I often trawl the web just speculatively looking for new people or new ideas, clicking on links from interesting sites. TEDx talks are a favourite. A few years ago I came across an intriguing TEDx talk by Professor Jem Bendell called ‘the Money Myth’. Read more

Jordan Peterson is provocative, interesting and a formidable opponent in debates and interviews. He doesn’t interrupt, he thinks carefully about people’s points, he doesn’t run away from difficult arguments (or difficult people) and he’s helped a lot of people to rescue their damaged lives. Read more

You may remember that I was invited to take part in a public debate in London recently (see here) about whether capitalism is ‘the best system for a sustainable future’. I was asked to deliver the ‘no’ position. Read more

I recently went to visit a friend in Germany by train, and as I packed my bag, I looked around for a book to throw in, to read on the way. The one I plumped for was the Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek, Mrs. Thatcher’s (and Ronald Reagan’s) guru. Read more

I think I am unusual. I can find a confidence inside that allows me to take risks. This confidence allows me to initiate things that I feel passionate about and because I see their worth in the world. I can do this even if I think I don’t know what I’m doing. Read more

On 18th November last year there was a one-day workshop in Sheffield called “Joy in Enough – Awakening to a New Economics”. It was delivered by Green Christian who are a multi-denominational charity that have been operating for over thirty years. Read more