a + b = c

Another bright morning and a good run through the woods. 

A Norwegian architect, Bjørn Berge, writing for the Scottish Ecological Design Association, has produced a remarkably succinct summary of our ecological dilemma: the global economy is an open subsystem subordinate to the earth's ecosystem, which in turn is finite, without the possibility to grow. As long as the economic subsystem grows it will incorporate more and more of the total ecosystem, until the limit of 100% is reached.

Sadly, multinational capitalists will probably see such an analysis as a challenge rather than a hazard warning. After all, why be concerned about tomorrow if you can become obscenely rich today. Let's privatise the entire planet ! Whoop whoop !!

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Another very enjoyable run through the woods, as the trees begin to change colour.

This morning the Bishop of Norwich talked on the radio about Tripoli and how, 2000 years ago, that part of North Africa was a very important centre of commerce and culture, as part of the Roman empire. His point was that it takes more than brute force to maintain a civilisation, making an admonishment to Gaddafi and a warning to the new regime. 

The wider point, of course, is the impermanence of our centres of cultural and commercial gravity and the need to accept the waning of power with dignity and good grace. The title of this post is a quote from the visionary poem by the English poet Shelley, written at a time when the British Empire was  at its peak and perhaps even more relevant now as we all face huge tectonic shifts in the global centres of power & influence.

Addictive Tendencies

Back to the city, for a fine run through the woods and a rapid scan of the news sites.

The Guardian has a succinct article about the damaging addiction of consumers and corporations to energy in developed societies (and, by implication, the aspirations to the same addiction in developing societies, like children admiring the cool older people who smoke cigarettes or use other drugs).

The addiction model seems to be a key to understanding a wide range of self-destructive human behaviour - obsessive economic growth, excessive consumption of material goods, food, information  - even foreign holidays. All these things seem symptomatic of species dysfunctionality, and an indication that, notwithstanding the cultural and scientific achievements of the last 5000 years, most of us don't know what to do with ourselves when we no longer have to spend our time growing or hunting food, collecting firewood, or fighting off sabre-toothed tigers.

Too much consumption - again

A beautiful clear morning, and a lovely run. The birds seem very active just now, presumably responding to the closing days of summer and leaner times ahead.

The Lancet has just published a revealing set of articles about the global rise in obesity, which is happening at an alarming rate across most societies, rich and poor, despite the billion people without enough to eat. The first article seems to summarise the situation very clearly: The simultaneous increases in obesity in almost all countries seem to be driven mainly by changes in the global food system, which is producing more processed, affordable, and effectively marketed food than ever before. This passive overconsumption of energy leading to obesity is a predictable outcome of market economies predicated on consumption-based growth. 

So it's official. Capitalism is bad for your health. No surprises there - we’ve seen it all before with tobacco & alcohol.  The Lancet is calling for higher taxes and clearer health warnings on such food, which seems eminently sensible, as does a vigorous campaign of naming & shaming the worst offenders, such as Nestlé & PepsiCo.

Victory for vultures ?

A cool, misty start to the day and a good warming run.

This morning the various news-sources make interesting comparative reading.  BBC news is uncomfortably full of action-movie images from Libya as the rebels move closer to defeating the loyalists. According to the Daily Telegraph, British SAS troops are "leading the hunt for Gaddafi", in a purely advisory way without putting their NATO boots on the ground, presumably.
The New York Times is dominated by the resignation of Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO, which probably shows the relative importance attributed to a corporation with a cash flow bigger than that of the US economy, versus the troubles of a marginal North African country. However, they do include a comprehensive account of Gaddafi's erratic time as leader. Meanwhile the News International-owned Sun, with a scarily high daily UK circulation of around 2.7 million, leads with a crowd-pleasing "I played on mad-dog Gaddafi's teacup ride".

The Independent takes a slightly more measured view, and includes an essay by the excellent Robert Fisk in which he makes a convincing argument that many of the lies and mistakes that followed the Iraq war are about to be made again, as Western diplomats and oil companies circle over the wreckage.

Looking beyond the bubble

A noticeably darker morning as the equinox beckons, but a fine early run.

The Independent carries an intriguing report today about the Dark Mountain project, which is a network of people trying to find an honest cultural language with which to confront the unravelling of our so-called civilisation.

At a time when governments pontificate about growing out of debt, and currency speculators run amok in the background (ref), as the whole bubble of our capitalist-materialist society shows every sign of looming collapse, any collective attempt to puncture the myths with measured realism is to be applauded.

Business as usual

After a few days of running break for logistical reasons, this morning was back to a delightful run along the silvery loch side.

Today's news is dominated by events in Tripoli, as events on the ground finally offer some apparent success for NATO's lengthy & costly aerial campaign of regime change. The real success will be measured by the way in which the very disparate anti-Gaddafi factions can work together, and by the extent to which oil-hungry Western governments can respect the power vacuum, but meanwhile we should expect a lot of statesman-like rhetoric from Britain & France. Always assuming that Gaddafi is actually finished which, at the time of writing, has not been confirmed.

What comes naturally

A cool misty morning, and a fine early run along the lochside, where the recently cut grass margin is already blossoming again with wild flowers, which leads to a relatively positive posting as a break from the endless litany of mayhem and corruption. 

The UK Native Seed Hub at Kew Gardens in London has just been established, with the admirable aim of providing seeds and advice to encourage the growth of diverse habitats full of native flowers (ref).

Since the 19^th century, gardeners in Europe have been avidly collecting non-native plant species, leading to a horticulture which has not only introduced plants which are difficult to grow and sometimes harmful to the balance of biodiversity, but has also led to a crucial devaluing of what grows naturally – a powerful metaphor for the way in which we are steadily screwing up the planet.

Of course, a whole industry has grown up to sell us the materials and equipment to grow these exotic species. Not content with that, garden centres, at least in the UK, have become bizarre “lifestyle emporia”, selling scented candles, rattan furniture, self-help books, birthday cards, over-priced snacks – anything in fact which will distract us from standing quietly and appreciating the beauty of what will grow without our interference – because obviously there’s no profit in that. 

Blame game

A brighter morning, with a slightly premature autumnal chill, and a very enjoyable run.

In the aftermath of the UK riots, some 2700 people have now been arrested. Many of them are facing very severe punishments as the government enthusiastically finds culprits for our amoral, selfish and dishonest society. Whole families of some rioters are being evicted from their homes. Someone who handled a stolen television is jailed for 18 months. Two people are jailed for 4 years for trying, unsuccessfully, to incite a riot via Facebook (ref).

In this surge of retributive “justice” it will be very interesting to see what happens to the Murdoch family, and to David Cameron’s ex-media adviser Andy Coulson, and to Cameron’s neighbour Rebekah Brooks, as it emerges that they lied comprehensively to the UK parliament when they denied knowledge of the phone hacking (ref).

We can probably assume that a prime minister who tries to incite warfare by selling arms to Middle Eastern despots, or indeed an ex-prime minister who led the UK into war on the basis of lies about weapons of mass destruction, will somehow be immune from this form of justice.

RBS do it again

Back in the Highlands, and a damp & peaceful run along the lochside.

The sense of peace was rudely interrupted by a shocking report about cluster bombs in today’s Independent. These appalling devices contain multiple smaller bombs (sub-munitions) which can lie unexploded for decades after being dropped. 30% of victims are children, 60% are civilians. 108 countries have agreed to ban them – though not the USA, China or Russia, who continue to manufacture them.

Although the UK has signed the ban treaty, a legal loophole has enabled several high street banks to continue to provide financial support to US manufacturers of these weapons, such as Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems. The worst offender in the UK is the largely state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland . Given that the UK government commissioned Lockheed Martin to help with the recent population census, this isn’t altogether surprising. No doubt Lockheed Martin will soon be invited to run our health service too.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of naming & shaming, other UK banks involved include HSBC, Barclays, & Lloyds TSB, as well as banks from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Only Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and New Zealand have had the moral courage to ban their banks from supporting these weapons.