Tag Archives: Politics

A Culture In Denial

Freedom, as has been said by many, is a delicate and fragile thing and civilization is a state of culture and society that requires both personal and collective commitment. It is thus a duty to oppose the disenfranchisement, both social and political, of disadvantaged groups unless atomistic anarchy, in which the most violent and charismatic people rule the rest of us, is to be avoided. In that notion of vigilance in favour of civilization over oppression I also include feminism and the fight to equalize sexual preferences between adults. Indeed, one might say that the essential ingredients of misogyny, homophobia and other bigotries are so similar as to warrant very similar and universal condemnation. But this piece is primarily about facing up to the powerful remnants of the UK’s cultural inheritance in which to be non-white is still to be treated and viewed as a second class citizen and a second class person. Continue reading

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What are the Limits to Growth?

I think scientists need to speak out. Over the past 30 years, our politicians have almost grasped the idea that the resources we humans have at our disposal fall into two distinct categories, renewable and non-renewable; both categories provide limited inputs to our activities. Politicians have also almost realised that our outputs, including those that contribute to climate change and loss of habitats, must be limited to rates that enable our planetary systems to function and remain reasonably stable. Yet, inspite of their improved grasp of how and why human activities are governed by the laws of nature, most politicians seems to think that we should ignore entropic thermodynamics and simply go for growth as if such limits did not exist.

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