click here
an overview of the economic basis of the United States' war machine, the concentration of power in the executive branch and the factors that are most likely to decide the fate of this once great nation as it continues to drive towards imperialism at the risk of democracy. The tremendous clarity in this article makes it, in my opinion, required reading.
What does this have to do with Sustainable Development? - everything. An understanding of the political and economic lay of the land will assist in a SD design which takes these factors into account as much as possible. For eg. the repercussions of whatever is happening in the U.S. will have profound direct impact on Canada. The fallout from the unsustainable path that the U.S. has committed itself to (and Canada, largely as an extension of the U.S- and yes, it hurts to say that!) suggests that S.D. must include, as much as possible, support from an entire community, for it to withstand the pressures exerted upon it by the dominant system in demise. This broad support can help create a transition that provides for basic needs of a population and resists a freefall collapse of a society unprepared.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Stephane Dion - a Bilderberg
Doesn't it just suck to take a position, only to discover that you are probably wrong in a matter of a few days. I was kind 0f excited at the prospect of Stephane Dion as the next Prime Minister of Canada, only to discover he is a Bilderberg member. This means he is an elitist, and believes in the dismantling of the sovereignty of Canada. Too bad.
His "Clarity Act" which he wrote in response to the Quebec separatist movement, is used as proof he is a "hardline federalist". The article below (click on the link "North American...") suggests the opposite (see near the end of the article)
I'll try and keep an open mind until I finish reading David Orchard's book "The Fight for Canada", and understand Orchard's perspective on Dion better.
I'll try and keep an open mind until I finish reading David Orchard's book "The Fight for Canada", and understand Orchard's perspective on Dion better.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Corporatocracy
Following is a link to the video of his talk and a description of the talk from "The Information Clearing House" : John Perkins, author of "An Economic Hitman" blows the lid off U.S. imperialism and provides the reasons as to why we are at war in the Middle East and describes the efforts of the corporatocracy in Central and South America.
http://tinyurl.com/w63d2
I've included this, because I think it gives an insight into the political landscape which, I believe, is dominant in Canada (though Canada is not mentioned). Perkins talks about the power of the Corporations and describes the present Imperialistic Corporatocracy and the need to move toward a more democratic Corporatocracy. In the Q and A segment (3rd film) he is asked, amongst other things, essentially why we should support any sort of Corporatocracy.
The questioner in this third segment mentions that Corporations are legally bound to maximize their profits for shareholders. I thought I had heard this too in the film "The Corporation". He says that this is a common myth and supports his assertion with a very common sense response.
Overall, his speech is disturbing, but not terribly surprising, and unless he is some sort of agent, seems credible as he claims to be coming from his personal experiences in dealing with heads of state as an "economic hitman".
It gives an insight into the ruthlessness and evil behind the friendly branding of the multinational corporations. Know thine enemy
"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane
=
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini
=
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group," : Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes
=
Fascism is capitalism plus murder." : Upton Sinclair
http://tinyurl.com/w63d2
I've included this, because I think it gives an insight into the political landscape which, I believe, is dominant in Canada (though Canada is not mentioned). Perkins talks about the power of the Corporations and describes the present Imperialistic Corporatocracy and the need to move toward a more democratic Corporatocracy. In the Q and A segment (3rd film) he is asked, amongst other things, essentially why we should support any sort of Corporatocracy.
The questioner in this third segment mentions that Corporations are legally bound to maximize their profits for shareholders. I thought I had heard this too in the film "The Corporation". He says that this is a common myth and supports his assertion with a very common sense response.
Overall, his speech is disturbing, but not terribly surprising, and unless he is some sort of agent, seems credible as he claims to be coming from his personal experiences in dealing with heads of state as an "economic hitman".
It gives an insight into the ruthlessness and evil behind the friendly branding of the multinational corporations. Know thine enemy
"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane
=
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini
=
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group," : Franklin D. Roosevelt quotes
=
Fascism is capitalism plus murder." : Upton Sinclair
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Sustainable Development Defined
Sustainable Development is a term used by its proponents to describe their recommended methods of creating economic growth which protect the environment, relieve poverty, and do not destroy natural capital in the short term at the expense of long term development.
Contents
* 1 Scope and definitions
* 2 Environmental Sustainability
* 3 Criticism of the term
Scope and definitions
While many definitions of the term have been introduced over the years, the most commonly cited definition comes from the report Our Common Future, more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, which states that sustainable development is development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly, sustainable development policies encompass three general policy areas: economic, environmental and social. In support of this, several United Nations texts, most recently the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, refer to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) elaborates further the concept by stating that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development.
Some research activities start from this definition to show that the environment we inherited and that we will transmit to future generations is a combination of nature and culture. The Network of Excellence "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" SUS.DIV, sponsored by the European Union, works in this direction. It integrates multidisciplinary capacities and interprets cultural diversity as a key element of a new strategy for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a notoriously ambiguous concept, as a wide array of views have fallen under its umbrella. The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability and deep ecology. Different conceptions also reveal a strong tension between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Thus, the concept remains weakly defined and contains a large amount of debate as to its precise definition.
Environmental Sustainability
Main article: Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the damage to the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. Environmental degradation occurs when nature's resources (such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air) are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them, when pollution results in irreparable damage done to the environment or when human beings destroy or damage ecosystems in the process of development. Environmental degradation can take many forms including, but not limited to, desertification, deforestation, extinction and radioactivity. Some of the major causes of such degradation include: overpopulation, urban sprawl, industrial pollution, waste dumping, intensive farming, over fishing, industrialization, introduction of invasive species and a lack of environmental regulations.
The goal of environmental sustainability is to minimize these, and other causes, to halt and, ideally, reverse the processes they lead to.
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity, at a minimum, only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally:
Theoretically, the long term final result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree. Such degradation on a global scale would, of course, mean extinction for humanity.
In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems.
Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability
More than nature's ability to replenish Environmental degradation Not sustainable
Equal to nature's ability to replenish Environmental equilibrium Steady-state Sustainability
Less than nature's ability to replenish Environmental renewal Sustainable development
Criticism of the term
Many environmentalists have criticized the term "sustainable development" as an oxymoron, claiming that economic policies based around concepts of growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since that term implies resources remain constant. Resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural processes, and are continually being depleted. It is argued that the term "sustainable development" is a term invented by business to show capitalism as ecologically friendly, thereby placating people promoting environmentalist values.
However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense, either without the use of limited resources, or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. In the latter case, even the use of small amounts of resources may be unsustainable if continued indefinitely.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development"
Contents
* 1 Scope and definitions
* 2 Environmental Sustainability
* 3 Criticism of the term
Scope and definitions
While many definitions of the term have been introduced over the years, the most commonly cited definition comes from the report Our Common Future, more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, which states that sustainable development is development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly, sustainable development policies encompass three general policy areas: economic, environmental and social. In support of this, several United Nations texts, most recently the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, refer to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) elaborates further the concept by stating that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development.
Some research activities start from this definition to show that the environment we inherited and that we will transmit to future generations is a combination of nature and culture. The Network of Excellence "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" SUS.DIV, sponsored by the European Union, works in this direction. It integrates multidisciplinary capacities and interprets cultural diversity as a key element of a new strategy for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a notoriously ambiguous concept, as a wide array of views have fallen under its umbrella. The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability and deep ecology. Different conceptions also reveal a strong tension between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Thus, the concept remains weakly defined and contains a large amount of debate as to its precise definition.
Environmental Sustainability
Main article: Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the damage to the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. Environmental degradation occurs when nature's resources (such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air) are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them, when pollution results in irreparable damage done to the environment or when human beings destroy or damage ecosystems in the process of development. Environmental degradation can take many forms including, but not limited to, desertification, deforestation, extinction and radioactivity. Some of the major causes of such degradation include: overpopulation, urban sprawl, industrial pollution, waste dumping, intensive farming, over fishing, industrialization, introduction of invasive species and a lack of environmental regulations.
The goal of environmental sustainability is to minimize these, and other causes, to halt and, ideally, reverse the processes they lead to.
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity, at a minimum, only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally:
Theoretically, the long term final result of environmental degradation would result in local environments that are no longer able to sustain human populations to any degree. Such degradation on a global scale would, of course, mean extinction for humanity.
In the short-term, environmental degradation leads to declining standards of living, the extinctions of large numbers of species, health problems in the human population, conflicts, sometimes violent, between groups fighting for a dwindling resource, water scarcity and many other major problems.
Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability
More than nature's ability to replenish Environmental degradation Not sustainable
Equal to nature's ability to replenish Environmental equilibrium Steady-state Sustainability
Less than nature's ability to replenish Environmental renewal Sustainable development
Criticism of the term
Many environmentalists have criticized the term "sustainable development" as an oxymoron, claiming that economic policies based around concepts of growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since that term implies resources remain constant. Resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural processes, and are continually being depleted. It is argued that the term "sustainable development" is a term invented by business to show capitalism as ecologically friendly, thereby placating people promoting environmentalist values.
However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense, either without the use of limited resources, or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. In the latter case, even the use of small amounts of resources may be unsustainable if continued indefinitely.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development"
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Stephane Dion - The next Prime Minister of Canada?
CBC's Evan Soloman interviews Stéphane Dion. Click here
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