Other stuff

2008-02-21T13:00:00.001-08:00

"No-one made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do so little."

Edmund Burke

Things that have inspired me

2008-02-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

First, Ray Anderson, CEO of a Fortune 500 company in the US

2008-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Robert Kennedy
Speech at Day of Affirmation, University of Capetown, South Africa

"Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence... Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or a woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (or she) sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

OK, so what can we do? Below are some of the things I'm aiming for!

5 really easy things we can do to make a difference

2008-02-07T05:39:00.000-08:00

1. Switch to renewable electricity

It will take you 5 minutes and it will make a huge difference.
Here's some more information.
Once you've done it, tell everyone else to do the same!

2. Join the amazing revolution of people making their local town plastic bag free

Plastic bags consumed so far this year, worldwide:

Plastic bags don't go away. They kill hundreds of thousands of birds, fish and other marine life every year. In fact, there are 43,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of plastic floating in EVERY SQUARE MILE OF OCEAN WORLDWIDE. More info.

3. If you do nothing else, just have a look at these inspiring websites (just click on the names)

War on Want, WDM, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, CPRE, Media Lens

4. Join the growing number of people only giving their hard-earned money to local shops, not to supermarkets' shareholders.

Why?
You'll save money, enjoy shopping, and cut down on environmental damage - and your stress levels!
If there are no local shops where you are, why not start one up! It'll be fun, challenging, and you'll be achieving something amazing, and it'll be much more interesting than going into the office every day.

5. Give up our cars and join the local carclub

Walking and cycling makes us happier!
More reasons why.
No local carclub? Petition a carclub to start where you are! They are small, friendly & responsive companies (except for streetcar who are getting a bit big for their boots).

Bonus - get a compost bin!

:-)

Extra bonus - subscribe to media lens

5 websites which have inspired me

2008-02-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

In no particular order ..

Fantastic vision of an eco-city

One of the few people who tells it as it is

A brilliant speech

Nectar of the gods

Great campaigners

and a bonus - wonderful sloe gin & other delights

Bramley & Gage

5 books which have inspired me

2008-02-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

How to be free by Tom Hodgkinson

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock

The Weathermakers by Tim Flannery

The Corporation by Joel Bakan (It's also a film which you can download for free)

Find your local library to get these books.

And five more - just as wonderful!

2008-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

High Tide by Mark Lynas

Hidden Agendas by John Pilger

The Grip of Death by Michael Rowbotham

The Corporation - and I think I'm going to read it a third time

Heat by George Monbiot

5 most informative websites

2008-02-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

Media Lens

Chomsky

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The 11th hour

Environmental Justice Foundation

5 shocking things I've learnt recently

2008-02-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

1. Directors of companies with shareholders are legally obliged to do whatever it takes to maximise profit for their owners (the shareholders) even if that means damaging or destroying the world around them (even including the shareholders themselves!) in the process.

The legal principle was set by Dodge v. Ford (1916), and all law has since followed its lead.

This is why BP and other oil companies are forced to knowingly damage the areas where they extract oil (the damage done to the Niger Delta is particularly well documented), and cut down on safety programmes (this is well documented in their Alaskan fields), in order to keep up profits for their shareholders.

This is why companies manufacturing asbestos were forced to go on doing so, even when the terrible ill-effects were well known (ditto tobacco companies).

This is why companies are forced to make huge political donations in return for regulations which allow them to continue to destroy the environment. (Enron is the best-known - what is less well known is the damage the Enron made to the environment.)

This is why listed companies 'green' statements & claims are mostly 'greenwash' - i.e distortions of the truth or outright lies. Company directors realise that they have to pretend that they are environmentally friendly. otherwise their profits will fall. This is very different from actually doing anything about the damage they do, which usually ends in lower profits - a big no no. Luckily for us the internet means that some of this is exposed by independent commentators.

It is beginning to happen, for instance in the crashing fish stocks worldwide. Even though soon there will be no business, companies are forced to catch more and more fish to make more and more profit. This is simply because companies, as they are constructed at the moment, are ruthlessly self-interested and unable to stop themselves inflicting damage to anything which gets into their way - because their only raison d'etre is to make money.

The same process led the Easter Islanders to cut down the last tree, knowing that this would mean the end of their society, but unable to stop themselves because of cut-throat competitiveness (Jared Diamond has made a fantastic study of this in Collapse).

As soon as an executive director does something which goes against the 'bottom line' (i.e. maximising profit at all costs), they are not doing their job properly.

The company who, having completely destroyed the world around it, was able to give the biggest bonus to its shareholders, would be the most successful company around. Sounds mad? Well, as far as I can see, that's the system we've got at the moment.

Shouldn't we do something about it?

Surely we need to change the law so that companies have to pay for the damage they cause during their activities. Voluntary measures are a waste of time as long as the legal compulsion is to make profit at all costs.

Thanks to Joel Bakan for explaining this in The Corporation. Has he got his facts right? Has anyone got counter-arguments? If you do, please post them, citing sources for your claims as I have done where possible, and we can work out whether this nightmare scenario really is reality or not.

2. - 5. to come