A few weeks ago Lou and I visited the Taking Liberties exhibition at the British Library. At first glance it looks a little boring – lots of documents in glass cases, but once you get in its fascinating. The exhibition charts 900 years of civil liberties in the UK, from the Magna Carta to the [...]
Archive | January, 2009
Workers of the world relax, by Conrad Schmidt
In the future, machines will be so much more productive that we will barely have to work. It will all be done for us, and the biggest problems we’ll face will be how to use our leisure time. That was a genuine concern not so long ago. Half of the futurists’ predictions were correct – [...]
Whatever happened to our leisure time?
I was about to review ‘Workers of the World, relax’ by Conrad Schmidt. Before I do, have a browse of this article to set the scene. It is lifted from a 1966 feature in Time Magazine: “The kitchen, of course, will be automated. An A.D. 2000 housewife may well make out her menu for the [...]
A Declaration of Independence from the Growth Economy
I’ve been enjoying the HBO series ‘John Adams’ on Channel 4 recently, a seven-part series on the founding of America, as seen through the eyes of its second president, John Adams. It’s a superbly written drama and well worth catching if you get a chance (Saturdays, 5pm). A recent episode portrayed the drafting of the [...]
Promises, lies, and runways
As expected the government will give its consent for a third runway at Heathrow today. To avoid the disastrous PR they are describing it as ‘green Heathrow’, by packaging the runway with a bundle of other transport initiatives. The centrepiece of it is lifted straight from the Conservatives – the high-speed rail link to Birmingham [...]
The Heathrow airplot
Environmental news in the UK is dominated by Heathrow this week. The government were due to announce their decision on a third runway any day now. It’s a bit of a conundrum for them – it’s obvious that expanding Heathrow very literally flies in the face of their climate change goals. They must know they [...]
Closing down the tax havens
Tax is a dirty word to many of us. It represents the grasping hands of governments. We resent taxation and feel burdened by it. We shouldn’t. At least, not usually. Tax is one of the few mechanisms of redistribution that works. When implemented progressively, it serves not just to pay for public services, but to [...]
Tackling climate change, reducing poverty
Tackling climate change could present an opportunity to address poverty at the same time, according to a report out today. ‘Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty‘ is the first report from the ‘Roundtable on climate change and poverty in the UK’, a group that includes Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, new economics foundation, and others. “For [...]
The plastic road
Because of the recession, we are all buying fewer things. As demand falls, Chinese factories are therefore making fewer things for export. Which means they are buying in less plastic. Plastics suppliers have stopped buying waste plastic to recycle and sell on. Our recycling has nowhere to go. This intriguing article shows the long chain [...]
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