the rise of creative capitalism
i don’t generally have a lot of faith in human nature. why this is true is a whole complex topic for another time, but in general, i find humans to be illogical, quirky, and selfish. this includes myself. i realize that this is a really broad statement, and it’s a topic i would actually really like to discuss with people some time.
this, more than anything, is why i am not a true capitalist, because i see the choices that consumers and industry make. i see poisoned rivers and heaping landfills. i see resources exploited, and precious things destroyed. i see starving children and obese children. i see the gap between the rich and the poor getting wider and wider, and the power balance shifting in such a way that it seems it will never be narrowed without a truly bloody revolution. i therefore have little faith that human-controlled market forces are going to right any wrongs on this planet. although i do see a shift in terms of the economics regarding some aspects of the environment, i chalk that up to the fact that we all live on earth and have no choice but to care. but do we have to care about other issues – other injustices? will an american ever be forced to compassionately care about those negatively affected by our consumer choices in other parts of the world?
as such a pessimist, i was quite relieved and uplifted to read this “creative capitalism” speech from Bill Gates.
he discusses the causes of inequity and inequality in market-driven terms, but also offers an answer – simply:
If we can spend the early decades of the 21st century finding approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits and recognition for business, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the world.
much like the texas billionaire who wants to build the largest wind energy development in the world not because he’s an environmentalist, but because he’d make a hefty profit, if we can make capitalism both profitable AND equitable – or at least not totally unfair like it is now – we’d be getting somewhere. the question is – is it really just human will that’s needed to shift in this direction, and if so, are we willing to do it? it seems a lot of people on this planet believe in group based social dominance, and that equality is not in their best interest. can i be optimistic enough and have enough faith in humanity to believe that those who are currently benefiting from the system actually WANT this change?
and for the record, i still find things like this repulsive, and not the kind of creative capitalism i think bill gates was talking about.
Filed in culture and random linkage, environment, things you can do | Tagged with capitalism, economics, optimism/pessimism | Comments (2)locavore economics
freakonomics has a great discussion of the economics and efficiencies of the ‘locavore’ movement. while i agree on the personal cost analysis – we eat almost exclusively out at restaurants because i find we waste too much food trying to cook diverse meals at home, and if you’re trying to cook organic, it’s not cheap either – i’m not sure i agree entirely with the analyses; supporting a local economy and building community seem more important parts of the locavore movement to me than the 4 factors they dissect: 1) more delicious; 2) more nutritious; 3) cheaper; and 4) better for the environment. and then there’s this:
“Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local.” Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.”
obviously, as a vegetarian for almost 10 years, i would like to see everyone switch to a more sustainable diet. but what doesn’t make sense to me about this quote is how many people eat read meat and dairy every day and never switch to chicken/fish/eggs “less than one day per week” anyway? is this an even valuable calculation, or just more fun with freakonomics?
Filed in food, health & vegetarianism | Tagged with economics | Comment (1)Bridging the Green Divide
An interview with Van Jones On Jobs, Jails, And Environmental Justice
by David Kupfer
The Sun Magazine
EXCERPT:
Filed in bay area gems, environment | Tagged with economics, oakland, poverty | Comment (0)looking ahead
as a commentary on the recent battle between CA and the USEPA about what auto emissions standards the State can set, this link, citing a recent report by UC professor Michael Hanemann in the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, talks about how California’s economy has grown and thrived despite the State’s legislation restricting greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and other pollution controls that the US government said (with help from much lobbying by the US auto industry) would be too economically devastating to implement nationwide.
the fight about the economy between environmentalists and industry seems to be slowing, partially, as mentioned, due to market forces, and partially due to emerging research on the economics of “greening” our world, and partly because i think people are just plain realizing we don’t have a choice and the pressure on corporations to “do the right thing” is mounting. there doesn’t have to be a loser in the economy vs. the environment: it can totally be a win-win.
it’s great to see this shift, as the entrenched position of so many US industries for the past decade has been that changing their operations, upgrading their machinery, etc. would “hurt the economy”. recent economics show this excuse is no longer valid and that in fact organizations NEED to start greening or they won’t be profitable due to the changing economy, and while many US industries are way behind the curve, i think at least they are starting to catch up. as many have predicted, market forces are having much more of a current effect on this shift than government regulation, but hopefully with a new administration in 2009, the government will start catching up to the market.
Filed in environment | Tagged with economics | Comment (0)nobodies
Buy Some Stuff, Enslave Somebody: this AlterNet article is a discussion of the book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy
The book focuses on fruit pickers in South Florida; Indian welders in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Asian garment workers and sex slaves in the tiny U.S. commonwealth of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean. Employing a tone that’s both journalistic and crusading — heavy on facts and firsthand accounts but clear in its sense of moral indignation — Bowe aims to make explicit the connection between the rise of the global market — with its promises of cheap goods, high employment, and peace — and the growing number of people throughout the world living in poverty, doomed to spend their lives providing goods and services for people born into wealthier circumstances.
i know a lot of people who would use the incidents documented here as examples of why illegal immigrants should all be deported, but in my view, it’s not the illegals who should be punished, it’s the employers, and generally, they get a fine or two and are off the hook until the next time they get caught. punish the employers, not the workers.
the book and film Fast Food Nation also dealt with the abuse of illegals in dangerous working conditions and is highly recommended.
Filed in things you can do, tv, books and movies | Tagged with consumerism, economics, poverty | Comment (1)BND 2007
a friend of mine sent a link to this news story about a toy made in China that contains a chemical that turns into GHB when ingested (it’s not intended for ingestion, but kids eat things). she expressed concern that people are putting their consumer values ahead of their health and safety values. this news item is quite timely considering the holiday season is right around the corner, and so is BUY NOTHING DAY.
On November 23, we celebrate the fifteenth annual Buy Nothing Day. This year is going to be exceptional. The mainstream has finally woken up to the reality of the environmental crisis, and the responsibility that lies with us, the planet’s most affluent – the upper 20% that consume 80% of the world’s resources. Now’s our chance to do something about it.
i think that not only is buying american (or european, or canadian, or other places that have 1st world health and safety standards, not just for us but for them) is important, but more important than that i think is just plain NOT BUYING.
rampant consumerism is killing our environment, our children, our economy. it all just has to stop. whether it’s toxic toys from china or plastic disposable things made in the USA, we don’t need more crap – we need less. and the more people think they need, the more they’re willing to give up in terms of human rights and safety so that they can get cheaper and cheaper goods.
americans are so addicted to the instant-gratification response of consumerism (which is promoted and put into our brains by commercial marketing and the media) that we think it feels like “punishment” for american families to force themselves to stop buying toys and all kinds of cheap chintzy crap at Wal-Mart and instead save money for healthier, better things. WTF?
the money spent on material things we don’t need could be put to better use in our lives – better food, better homes, higher education, healthy activities, self-improvement, savings accounts for your kids … all kinds of things. for you AND your children. think about how much money you would save for your family if every time you went to the store you only bought things you really need, instead of things you think you WANT.
if we want to save our children’s futures, we need to stop feeding into a toxic economy NOW, and also be good role models to teach our children different and better consumer spending habits. there is just no way around it.
Filed in environment, things you can do | Tagged with adbusters, BND, economics, plastic | Comment (0)consumer disorder
The trade group anticipates an increase of 5 percent in sales to $457 billion during the holidays, compared with a 6.1 percent increase last year. — sfgate
$457 billion.
BILLION.
in toxic, disposable, unnecessary consumer crap, while at the same time citizens decry the government for not providing health care, education, and other necessary social services. sure, that $457B will produce a significant amount of sales tax which will hopefully (not) be (mis)used on these things that need funding, but what if that money were funneled directly to schools and hospitals and libraries and community projects instead of into Playstations and flat screen TVs and overpriced goods made in 3rd world countries? what kind of world would this be? and, dare i even say it? what would jesus think of that staggering figure? would he applaud the celebration of his birthday with reckless consumer spending, or storm into Wal-Mart and start throwing shit around, a la the moneychanger incident?
this annual consumer madness is almost like a sickness. not almost – it is: affluenza. it defies logic to spend money you don’t have on things you don’t need while basic cultural and human services are struggling every day. while people are starving in our backyards, schools are shutting down, and the sick can’t afford their medications, the privileged are standing outside in line at 4:00am so they can buy a new cheap television. the fact that citizens have been taught to value commercial goods over improving their communities, that consumer culture is “the american way”, that one is entitled to these things despite their inherent toxicity and maleficence is killing us. it’s killing our planet and our society and our humanity. it’s absolutely debauched and sickening, and it makes me ill to see it celebrated on the front page of the paper like these people accomplished some kind of commendable feat.
way to go, america. stay the course.
i, on the otherhand, like last year, won’t be buying gifts and will instead make charitable contributions to local organizations that do good work. any gifts i receive i’ll just give to the goodwill, and i convinced my mom to give me cash instead of goods to a) enable me to visit my family for the holidays and b) pay off my debts, and i encourage others to do the same. if people insist on giving you things, ask them to give you cash, and then use that to do something good. who needs more crap, anyway?
BND 2006
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forget the jam-packed malls and streets
spend your friday cuddling at home with your loved ones
raking leaves
basking in sun or fog
reading a long lost book
taking care of yourself
remembering that in other parts of the world,
$100 buys 2 months of education
or a year’s worth of clean water
and be thankful that you are alive and well and loved
instead of wanting what glitters in the darkness.
friday, november 24th, is Buy Nothing Day. resist.
=http://www.adbusters.orgadbusters.org
blue collar blues
man robs bank, turns himself in at door:
A man who could not find steady work came up with a plan to make it through the next few years until he could collect Social Security: He robbed a bank, handed the money to a guard and waited for the police.
On Wednesday, the man, Timothy J. Bowers, told a judge that a three-year prison sentence would suit him, and the judge obliged.
“At my age, the jobs available to me are minimum-wage jobs,” Mr. Bowers, who will turn 63 in a few weeks, told the judge, Angela White. “There is age discrimination out there.”
Judge White told him: “It’s unfortunate you feel this is the only way to deal with the situation.”
a lot of the people at the wedding i was attending in minnesota last weekend live in OH, IL, and MI. many of them complained about the horrible job markets in the midwest, with all the auto plants closing down and everything else being outsourced and sent overseas, and i know quite a few people in my extended family have lost jobs recently too and are unable to find work. this guy is at least taking some (creative) initiative, and hopefully if more stories like these start popping up someone will do something to help a super depressed blue-collar economy in this country.
i know it’s nothing new – bruce springsteen’s been singing about it for years – but no one with any power seems to admit the connection between the dots of outsourcing, buying foreign products, “big box” proliferation, and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. globalization was the “promise of the future”, but it’s only making the rich richer and the poor poorer. if people are so desperate they’re willing to go to jail for a roof over their heads, how long before they’re willing to do other more dangerous things for food and shelter? where’s the breaking point when our government will stop taking money from big corporations and start putting limits in imports/exports so that jobs can stay at home?
meanwhile, on the other hand, even in the most blue collar parts of this country i see a lot of unnecessary spending on consumer goods – people racking up credit card debt so they can buy cheap crap at Wal-Mart and ridiculous amounts of toys and clothes for their gimme-gimme kids…so how much of this is self-perpetuated by obsessive consumer culture behavior….??
Filed in politics and news | Tagged with economics | Comment (0)you may say i’m a dreamer, but i’m not the only one.
No wait, not six. To hell with that. Make it 10. Ten bucks a gallon, no matter what the going rate for a barrel of light sweet crude. That would so completely, violently, brilliantly do it. Revolutionize the country. Firebomb our pungent stasis. Change everything. Don’t you agree?
Here’s what we could do: Give gas discounts to cab drivers (at least initially) and metro transit systems and low-income folks, those who have to drive their busted-up ’78 Honda Civics to their jobs scrubbing restaurant toilets and flipping burgers and vacuuming the residual cocaine from the seat cushions of numb SUV owners. Everyone else, 10 bucks a gallon, across the board. Eleven for premium.
It would take some finessing. Maybe also give a price break to some truckers and trucking companies (so vital to the overall economy), but not so much to global delivery companies (FedEx, DSL et al.), because not doing so would force them to raise shipping rates and force you (and me) to reconsider buying everything online and hence will encourage you to shop locally once again, thus reviving a stagnant local economy.
Voilá — gas crisis, oil crisis, warmongering agenda, pollution issues, road rage, traffic congestion, urban decay, oil profiteering — all completely almost totally somewhat solved. Or at the very least, dramatically, gloriously shifted toward … I don’t know what. Something better. Something more humane, less greedy, more sustainable. Could it work? How outraged and indignant would you be to have to pay that much for gas? How long would that feeling last?
Take it one logical step further. Set up a national system whereby if you want to buy a vehicle that gets less than 20 mpg in the city, you pay a $1,000 Global Warming Surcharge and that money goes straight to a local organic farm, or school, or environmental think tank. And if it gets under 12 mpg, make it three grand, plus a slap to your face from a small, angry child. Got yourself a shiny new Hummer? You pay five grand extra, you can only buy gas once a month and all the truly beautiful women of the world will shun you like Charlie Sheen (oh wait, that already happens). See? Revolution is easy.
What, too far fetched? Too implausible? Not at all. Sure, 10 bucks a gallon would be extremely painful for a while. Citizens would wail. Commuters would scream and stomp and die. But then we would do what we always do. We would evolve. Adapt. Systems would quickly transform, habits would instantly shift. It would be easier to implement than the goddamn mess that is Medicare reform, far easier than Lots of Children Left Behind, more viable and livable than the toxic existence of Homeland Security and the disgusting Patriot Act.
But of course such an idea is also, right now, absolutely impossible. It will never happen — not 10 bucks, not six, not even a buck more per gallon — and not just because no politician anywhere on either side of the aisle has the nerve to come out and suggest that Americans might actually need to drive less and conserve and make a change in their gluttonous habits. This is, of course, absolute death for a politician. Tell Americans what to do? Dare to suggest that they’re doing something wrong, or that their behaviors are dangerous and destructive and irresponsible? Are you insane? This is America! We’re flawless!
No, the primary reason such reform won’t happen is because, simply put, we are the most entitled nation in the world, perhaps in the entire galaxy. Americans are trained from birth to believe we deserve as much as we desire of every exploitable resource on the planet, be it water or natural gas or oil, coal or salmon or steaks, Big Macs or diapers or iPods or bizarre varieties of blue ketchup….
Filed in morford worship | Tagged with economics | Comment (0)
