About Make Wealth History
Make Wealth History is an exploration of sustainable living in the real world. The lifestyle of the western world is unsustainable – environmentally, economically, and socially. We are living beyond our means, and sharing the earth’s resources unequally. To restore some balance, we need to learn to use less, want less, and be more generous.
Make Wealth History is mostly here on the blog, but we like to keep our activist edge sharp too.
About the authors:
We are Paul Williams and Jeremy Williams. We’re brothers, and we grew up in Madagascar and Kenya.
Paul lives in Canterbury, where he is studying biodiversity and conservation at the University of Kent, as part of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology.
Jeremy studied cultural studies, international relations and journalism, and now divides his time between freelance writing and programme development. He lives in Luton with his Louise, is a member of Transition Towns St Albans, a regular contributor to climate change website Celsias.com, and a friend of Breathe, a network for simpler living.
For all enquiries please email jeremy {at} makewealthhistory.org
Frequently asked questions:
- Can I place advertising on your site?
Probably not. Because we write critically about consumerism, advertising would be a little hypocritical. I say probably because we may place adverts that are relevant or are causes we support. Please see this post for more details. - Will you run a competition on the site?
Yes, we’re happy to give things away to our readers. Most of our readers are from the UK (26% from the US, apparently), so the offer can’t be US-exclusive. - Can I send review material?
Yes, we’re always happy to spread the word about good stuff. We review a lot of books, topical films and documentaries, and exhibitions and conferences about sustainability, consumerism, the environment, and corporate responsibility. - Will you come and speak at my church/school/conference?
We’d love to, if you can give us plenty of notice and cover our costs. We haven’t got a slick presentation or anything, not yet anyway, but we can help you and your community to think through some important questions. - Can I reproduce articles from the site?
If you want to reproduce content on your website or blog, yes, please go ahead. Just credit us and link back. If it’s for print, please let us know so we can keep a record. - Are you socialists?
No, we have no political affiliation. We need good ideas from everywhere right now. - How do I get in touch?
Please direct all enquiries to jeremy {at} makewealthhistory.org and I’ll get straight back to you.
April 4, 2007 at 10:58 pm
I quite agree. It’s a good plan, and something of a challenge. It’s the only way things are going to work though
June 18, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I think this site is great – so encouraged to see other Christians really engaging with this issue and all it’s spin offs. Keep it up fellas
August 19, 2007 at 1:42 am
One question I have: instead of being 6 or 9 billions individuals aiming at voluntary simplicity, why not aiming at being 600 or 900 millions individuals all living as wise millionnaires?
September 26, 2007 at 10:39 pm
The following link, takes you to a “utopian” article, entitled “Home of the Brave?” which I wrote and appeared in the American Daily which is published in Phoenix, Arizona on March 14, 2006.
http://www.americandaily.com/article/12389
John Steinsvold
November 25, 2007 at 6:34 am
The books of E.F. Schumacher may be great resources that mirror your ideas on this blog. Check out “Small is Beautiful”
December 9, 2007 at 2:48 am
I was so thrilled when I discovered your site that I nearly tripped running upstairs to tell my husband about it! AS North American Christians we often feel alienated on environmental issues. Like yourselves we believe good stewardship is part and parcel of a lifestyle of “loving our neighbor as ourselves.” Keep up the great work, we are encouraged by your efforts!
April 12, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hi fellas,
Loved looking through your site today and it’s great to meet others of the mindset of positively embracing living with less!
I put together InterNational Downshifting Week which encourages people to ’slow down and green up’ and extols the virtues of it.
Wishing you well on your quest!
TS
x
April 13, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hi Tracey, funny you should show up, I was just preparing a post on International Downsizing Week. I’ll let you know when it’s up.
Thanks for stopping by!
April 13, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Taken from the tune of the ‘Twilight Zone’,
“Do do, do do, do do, do do….!”
Do yell if you need, want or urgently desire any further info…
TS
x
May 6, 2008 at 10:29 pm
My name’s Will and I am totally new to this world of blogging. I’ve been searching around lookin for interesting topics and this blog fits the bill. I am adding your blog onto my blogroll. That would make you guys my FIRST official addon to the blogroll. I know nothing about living a sustainable lifestyle. But I promise that I will continue to reference this site to make serious steps towards one. I have been thinking about such topics for quite some time now, it’s nice to see them being put into words for me. If you ever get a sec, right now my blog is mostly Film/TV show reviews. If that is your cup of tea, check it out. It promises to morph over time. In the meantime, good luck with this valiant effort.
September 11, 2008 at 4:37 pm
[...] Reviews Worth Reading (Part 1) – The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne Jeremy Williams at Make Wealth History posts this helpful review of Shane’s book. I like the review because [...]
September 18, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Just wanted you to know we linked out to you today: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2008/09/18/starbucks-trades-in-fair-trade-for-shared-planet-worth-your-m/
Any links back are appreciated.
September 19, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that we linked to your site today on WalletPop.com, AOL’s hub for personal finance, which is the #1 money destination on the Internet. Here’s the link: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2008/09/18/starbucks-trades-in-fair-trade-for-shared-planet-worth-your-m/
We’d appreciate any links back you can give us — adding us to your links page or referring to this write-up.
Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Beth Pinsker Gladstone
Editor of WalletPop.com
October 19, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I think this blog demonstrates a high level of miserabilism.
Why can’t we help the developing world reach our standard of living instead of cutting back our own?
October 19, 2008 at 8:17 pm
It’s very simple Dan – if everyone on earth had the same lifestyle as the average American, we would need the equivalent of five earths to provide the resources. Since we only have the one, there isn’t enough oil, wood, water, food for everyone to live like we do in the West. That is unfortunately a fact.
As to the miserabilism, I beg to differ. Personally, I think there’s nothing miserable about cutting back our own lifestyles. We live stressed, fraught, unhappy lives. Slowing down and being less preoccupied with possessions is good for us, and not something to be lamented.
November 12, 2008 at 1:41 pm
[...] Jeremy Williams‘ blog “Make Wealth [...]
November 13, 2008 at 2:19 am
[...] Jeremy Williams‘ blog “Make Wealth [...]
November 21, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Hi me and my best friend are doing some course work about poverty and we were hoping that you could send us some free stuff so that we could try and help younger years at our school about poverty
Thank you
If you could send use some stuff then here is the address
Alexandra Bloomfield
Care of Miss Tickell
Horbury School a Specialist Language Collage
Wakefield Road
Horbury
Wakefield
WF4 5HE
November 27, 2008 at 3:22 pm
[...] About [...]
January 9, 2009 at 10:09 pm
This argument for unsustainability is whats unsustainable.
I’ve yet to see such nonsense pushed by anyone other than spoiled rotten westerners. Particularly those with a childlike envy toward the inequality produced by naturally creative human lives.
This isn’t about the planet or resources and never has been. Its about people who reject the wonderful competitiveness that is absolutely natural to all forms of life.
January 10, 2009 at 10:45 am
Steve, the first line of your comment shows you have no idea what sustainability is about. On that basis I’m going to assume replying to your comment in any detail will be a waste of time. Thanks for stopping by all the same.
January 16, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Enjoyed your site. I see these ideas gaining ground slowly, but at the same time I feel it is an uphill battle against the “growth at all costs” economics that the world has been following for decades. Any hope that we can break that trend? Do you see signs of a shift in mentality? By the way, there is an excellent 20 minute video you might have already seen and might want to link to: http://storyofstuff.com
March 10, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Do you folks believe in the forced redistribution of wealth? Do you believe the government should be the arbiter of ownership, or that people should just learn to do it under their own volition?
Are you merely trying to influence people into being more generous, or are you advocating generosity at the behest of government?
March 10, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Not a coercive redistribution, no. But there is a role for government to reduce inequality – that’s the basis for progressive taxation of course. That’s anathema in the States and enough for people to brand Obama a socialist, but it’s quite normal for people in Europe, especially Scandinavia.
It’s both government and individuals ultimately, because you need individuals to vote for a government who have progressive tax ideas. Like the US just did, in fact.