There is a national referendum coming up in Switzerland about climate change. Basically the proposal is to become climate neutral by 2050 and one of the main arguments by the federal government in favour of the proposal is to become more energy independent, less dependent on other countries for energy, particularly fossil fuels which all… Continue reading Degrowth and the Swiss Climate Referendum
Tag: greed
Return to the Office
During the recent pandemic there was fully remote work, where possible, followed by a worker shortage where workers could call the shots and had leverage to stay in home office. Now there is a financial crisis and layoffs so employers can again call the shots and mandate a return to the office, or at least… Continue reading Return to the Office
everyone is different; everyone is the same.
I keep returning to the theme of our evolved behaviours. We can choose how to behave to a certain extent but we are strongly influenced by our evolution. I like to watch people in public transport, on the street, at lunch. Watching in particular young male humans eating, often I see them hunched over their… Continue reading everyone is different; everyone is the same.
be careful what you wish for
John Maynard Keynes wrote “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” around 1930, discussing the economics of abundance. For many people around the world work is slavery. Some workers do enjoy their jobs but the majority struggle through “lives of quiet desperation”.Bertrand Russell around the same time also wrote about the contemporary situation and about his hopes… Continue reading be careful what you wish for
power and admiration
I am reading a collection of essays by Bertrand Russell. The second essay is entitled “Useless” Knowledge. In this essay there is discussion that people spend their lives seeking power and admiration. I have previously written about greed and aggression being defining charactistics of humans but maybe power and admiration are related to these. Maybe… Continue reading power and admiration
rights
Why do people have rights? Why do we say that rights exist?I suppose it is because we believe in them. We even tend to write them down in our law books and ethics guidelines. Rights have no physical existence and, in a godless universe, have no absolute meaning. At their core, rights exist because we… Continue reading rights
greed and aggression
The Brexit deadline is approaching at the end of March 2019.Before the Brexit referendum, political were playing their political and power games, in-fighting and trying to score points over each other to further their own careers and political agendas. This adversarial system is what led to the Brexit referendum. There was no reasoned, in-depth analysis,… Continue reading greed and aggression
the end of greed
Recently I read that the Amish (who are descendants of Swiss German emigrants) are an anarchist society. I don’t really agree with that. They maybe have little hierarchy and have limited acceptance of government but they live their lives according to religious dogma. There are some anarchist aspects, I suppose, such as their sense of… Continue reading the end of greed
capitalism is a pyramid scheme
There is a lot of discussion on television about money and debt and whether or not Italy will default on its national debt or be bailed out by the IMF or whatever. What they need is an eight-year-old kid to sort it all out. Even an eight-year-old can understand basic finances. If you spend more… Continue reading capitalism is a pyramid scheme