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    The 'democracy problem' posts

    The role of the state and the market in building the new economy: interview with Hilary Wainwright of Red Pepper

    Today, we’re talking with Hilary Wainwright – an academic, activist, editor of Red Pepper magazine, and a fellow of the Transnational Institute (TNI). Read more

    What do we do about the coming ecological crash?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 01-Jan-2019 | 7

    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

    How the EU is causing problems for the ‘Preston Model’ of local, non-corporate procurement

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 18-Nov-2018 | 1

    I’ve often suggested that Western states are beginning to resemble an admin department for the corporate sector. Read more

    Of watermelons and apples: climate breakdown, growth, trade, state and money (an open letter to George Monbiot)

    Eloise Sentito of These Isles | 25-Oct-2018 | 0

    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

    Are you ‘radical’, and if not, why not?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 21-Oct-2018 | 0

    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

    Is technology the problem? Conversation with Dave King of Breaking the Frame and the New Lucas Plan

    Dave King of Breaking the Frame | 14-Oct-2018 | 16

    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

    ‘Homegrown well-being’ and alternatives to corporate drug companies: interview with GP Simon Lennane

    Another of our interviews, first posted on NonCorporate.org, with people working on providing alternatives to multinational corporations – this time in the health sector. Read more

    How the corporate banking system transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy, without anyone noticing

    Herman Daly of CASSE | 24-Jun-2018 | 0

    Herman Daly has been one of my heroes since I read Steady State Economics as a young man. I’m re-posting a blog article of his, originally posted on the website of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) in the US, because it’s a simple description of how it concentrates wealth… Continue reading How the corporate banking system transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy, without anyone noticing Read more

    Jordan Peterson talks some sense, but he’s wrong about two very important things

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 29-May-2018 | 7

    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

    Public debate on capitalism: what happened and what I learnt

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 22-May-2018 | 9

    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

    The two roads to serfdom: how neoliberals misrepresent Hayek

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 17-May-2018 | 1

    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

    Public debate featuring yours truly: is capitalism the best system for a sustainable future?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 08-Apr-2018 | 3

    If you’re in London on April 18th, there’s a public debate you might be interested in, upstairs in a pub in Tooting. I’ve been asked to put the case against capitalism. There will be initial presentations, rebuttals, questions from the audience, and then a summing up. Read more

    Democrats, Donald Trump and the dark underbelly of economic growth

    Brian Czech of CASSE | 06-Feb-2018 | 6

    Where is real ‘opposition’ in the West when all major parties support cancerous, perpetual growth? Surely it’s time for major political figures to stand up and say that the quest for perpetual economic growth is the engine behind the destruction of the biosphere, and will eventually kill us unless we stop. Read more

    Joy in enough: awakening to a new economics

    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

    ‘Investor protection’ in trade deals: why can’t multinational corporations take out insurance rather than have taxpayers underwrite them?

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP | 10-Dec-2017 | 2

    First some background: the Investor-state Dispute Settlement, or ISDS (new name – Investment Court System, or ICS) is a mechanism whereby corporations can sue governments that introduce legislation that they claim reduces their potential to make profit Read more

    GM is about corporate control of our food, not ‘feeding the world’: learn more at an event this saturday

    Are you eating GM food? The fact that you are mostly* not is down to 20 years of inspiring direct action and pressure by anti-GM activists. Read more

    Can you offer your IT skills to help build a website to challenge the pro-corporate bias in UK trade deals?

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP | 24-Oct-2017 | 2

    Website help needed: with Brexit, the UK will be heading into international ‘trade’ deals, which are likely to be as much about establishing corporate rights and diminishing democracy as the EU/US TTIP – a deal that is now on the back-burner. Read more

    Post-Brexit trade deals explained: how they will hand more power to multinational corporations – at our expense

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP | 10-Oct-2017 | 0

    With Brexit the main aim seems to be to have trade agreements with as many countries as possible and as soon as possible. Little attention is paid (none?) to the content or purpose of those post-Brexit trade deals – and for whose benefit they would be. Read more

    Why the banks have so much power and how we can take it away from them

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 17-Sep-2017 | 9

    I mentioned a while ago that I’m enrolled on a MOOC (massive, open, online course) about banking and the money system. As promised, I’m blogging about some of the things that I’ve learnt (we’ve covered the definition and history of money so far). Read more

    The Trump administration is going to attack us if we try to restrict the imports of US genetically-modified food in any way

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP | 14-Sep-2017 | 20

    Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP UK recently alerted us to the fact that the US government is determined to go into battle with any country that tries to restrict imports of its genetically-modified food. Read more

    There’s a crash coming – a slap from Mother Nature. This isn’t pessimistic; it’s realistic.

    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.

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