How the humble light-bulb launched planned obsolescence!
If manufacturers made products with truly extended usable lives, they’d be out of business. Imagine a washing machine or a fridge that lasted 25 years.
Climate, Energy and the Will to Change!
Only a fool – or those politicians sitting on the religious right or in the pocket of big business – can continue to deny the link between our carbon emissions and global warming. We are the problem. We have to be the solution. Your children and their children are counting on our success. As I […]
Here’s Why You Should Rip Up that Lawn
How much does the straw in your soda or the plastic cup you’re holding contribute to a problem as colossal as climate change? You want a cleaner, safer world. You care about the environment and you know the decisions you make each day can make a difference. But where does one start? The answer just might be […]
Climate Change, Money, and the Politics of Denial
In the mode of public disclosure that governs the Trump administration these days, few official statements contain anything resembling the simple truth. That is, unless you consider the ungovernable warp of President Donald Trump’s ego and ambition as a genuine statement in itself. If that is the case, then truth becomes utterly subjective, and there […]
Business is Brisk in the World of Modern-Day Slavery
Vannak Anan Prum has an extraordinary story to tell. He tells it in pictures. At 26, he was desperate to find work in Cambodia, where he lived. His wife was pregnant and he needed money to care for her and their unborn child. There was no work in the village in which they lived. Increasingly desperate, Prum set […]
Basic Income vs Guaranteed Jobs: What If We Paid Stay-At-Home Moms?
Editorial comment: The concept of a universal basic income (UBI) has been aired at length in recent years. The discussion has been driven by the loss of so many jobs to automation – a rapidly escalating reality. The concept of and arguments for a UBI are based on two assumptions: 1/ All nations have sovereign […]
AI – Armageddon or Renaisance?
IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A THREAT TO MANKIND? It’s indisputable that the rapid advance of technology has made our lives easier. It’s streamlining jobs, speeding the delivery of information and automating repetitive tasks. Thanks to smartphones and computers, we are the first creatures to ever outsource their own memories to machines. And thanks to smart home […]
Want that job? Quit smoking!
Most western countries have banned smoking in the workplace. But those same countries typically give smokers special rights to indulge their habit during working hours. ‘ Last year, a Japanese marketing firm gave its non-smoking workers an extra six days of paid leave a year. The non-smoking employees argued – obviously successfully – that their smoking colleagues […]
America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People
Income and wealth inequality is accelerating in all Western nations. It’s certainly not a new phenomenon since wealth – and power – has been concentrated throughout history. But in a brief hiccup in time, the Industrial Revolution lead to a broadening of both the income and asset base of nations. As individual incomes and wealth […]
Is it tyres or tires? Either way, it’s a massive problem for all of us!
There are far more tyres than people! In the 10 years to 2016, a total of 878.82 MILLION passenger cars and commercial vehicles were produced globally. Even if we assume that none had more than four tyres (most large trucks have at least 10 excluding the trailer) that’s well over 3.5 BILLION tyres. If we assume […]
