Recent comments by Chris Cowsley

• A Post-Growth World?

  Each growth spurt has a technology development as its trigger. Could we be reaching the point at which all we can achieve with more better technology is more leisure? If so, we need to start measuring growth by something other than the purchase and sale of goods and services. Fulfilling leisure opportunities that are resource light are sometimes impossible to 'monetise'.

• Our Summer of Climate Truth

  The evidence for climate change has been around for a long time. In a stable dynamic environment, all time records are broken with a predictably diminishing frequency, since each sets a higher bar for the next.
  
  This has demonstrably not been true for the past century, disproving the hypothesis of climate stability.
  
  There seems to be a childish assumption that if it is not our fault, we can't be expected to deal with it. Even now staring into the barrel of the gun, we seek confirmation that we are to blame before taking evasive action.
  
  We need better leaders.
  
  

• Our Summer of Climate Truth

  Were you around in the 1960s when we saw Earth from the Moon? Do you remember Club of Rome and "Limits to growth", Schumacher and "Small is Beautiful" in the 1970s? Do you remember the "Mankind has always found a way" argument being misused to argue against the existence of any limits ever? Our childeren's children are no longer the future - they are now nearly as old as we were then.
  Individually, mankind can demonstrate logic and common sense of the highest order, yet as a species we seem to be no smarter than lemmings. Except in science fiction we accept the damaging dichotomy between our intelligent selves and the distorted cultural messages we accept from those in power.
  Will our new communication capability, with its spectum of potential that stretches from Project Syndicate to Twitter, help our human intelligence to break free from the complacency of recent generations, or are they still too powerful?

• Down with Debt Weight

  The second reason - ineffective medicine prescribed - can in turn be for two reasons. In this case, the wrong therapists prevailed, and only the secondary "recuperative" medicine was prescribed. The medicine package prescribed by Alpert, Hockett & Roubini included reparative and restorative elements we have yet to deploy.