Category: Politics

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Regeneration as a New Economic Policy Paradigm

Regenerative Economy

tl;dr: Regeneration is a forward-looking paradigm focused on increasing  the evolutionary ability of social-ecological systems by including everyone and everything that matters for a viable society

In 2022, Earth Overshoot Day for North America came in March, for Europe mostly in May. The unsustainability of the dominant growth- and exploitation-oriented political-economic system is out in the open, for everyone to see. At the same time, we celebrate some anniversaries this year: 50 years of the first UN conference on the natural environment in Stockholm, 50 years since the publication of “Limits go Growth”, 35 years since the publication of “Our Common Future”, and 30 years since the Earth Summit in Rio.… Read more

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Earth must come first

Earth Day was on 22 April and while searching for a bit of background and resources for this day, I came across the Earth Overshoot Day 2021 contest where you can guess, on what date the impacts of human activities will have exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet’s biosphere this year. Next to the realization that some countries like e.g. Austria did already have their national Earth Overshoot Day (it was 7 April 2021), this got me thinking about the need for speed when it comes to reducing humanity’s footprint on the Earth’s biosphere and ecosystems.… Read more

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In Search For Meaning: The Real Challenges for the World Economic Forum 2019

tl;dr: Globalization needs new meanings beyond economic growth

This year’s World Economic Forum catchphrase is ”Globalization 4.0“ and focuses on a ”New Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution“. The discussions this year will not be affirmative of new technologies and optimistic about new economic opportunities. Rather a very concerned view on the new global realities dominates, especially but not exclusively:

  • the rise of Neo-Nationalism and the politics of isolation and confrontation, especially in the former globalization heartlands like the USA and UK, but also in emerging countries like Brazil and core European countries like Hungary and Poland;
  • the ongoing and accelerating human-made climate change that requires global cooperation for successful mitigation, not national isolation.
… Read more
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Utopian Sustainability, Sustainable Utopia

tl;dr: Utopian Sustainability needs to balance boldness and humbleness to envision a convivial future in which every individual can feel both at home and free.

500 years ago, English lawyer, philosopher and humanist Thomas More published his book »Utopia«. In it he described the »republic’s best state« on the island of Utopia, a fictional place that he used as a criticism and social commentary on the present state of European society at the beginning of the 16th century.… Read more

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Degrowth and Free Trade

tl;dr: The protection of domestic social production in free trade agreements works with Degrowth and ensures peace through trade

Since David Ricardo, mainstream economics favors free trade over economic isolationism when it comes to increasing the »wealth of nations«. Although Paul Samuelson’s notable criticism on some aspects of free trade all but left a minor dent in this believe. The potential downsides of free trade, so the consensus goes, can be managed by (i) allowing for innovation and structural change, (ii) by increasing employability and enabling lifelong learning, as well as (iii) by redistributing globalization gains more equally within a country through taxation.… Read more