Comments Staale has made

I'm European too, Jonas...

...but I haven't a clue what you're on about saying "Stalinist" is the height of fashion in the adjectives department over there. Could this trend possibly be limited to certain compulsively ironic segments of the university population? (Not meaning to knock university education - I have one myself - just puzzled, that's all).

Sharon - thank you! I'm a regular reader of your blog, and very much appreciate your mix of ethical/spiritual concerns and the entirely practical.

As someone who currently resides in "the South", I see every day incomprehensible contrasts between the super wealthy and the desperately poor, often living within metres of each other (separated only by a some golf course and a few feet of concrete, barb wire-clad wall). Charitable acts by the rich - guiltily, grudgingly, absentmindedly or at a whim - sometimes make all the difference between life and death.

Things are quickly making a turn for the worse here, too, as fuel and rice prices continue to climb. Most of the food in the supermarkets comes from the US, so we're also at risk if supply discontinuities in the US should ever occur.

Lately I've seen some LNG taxis, and even a few electric police cars in the richest parts of the city, but none of this will amount to anything if oil prices continue to rise, dragging food prices with them. All transport trucks are old, and fuel efficiency hardly makes the list of priorities when it's still topped by "must have four wheels, an engine that runs and preferably a windscreen".

There are probably millions of people in this city just scraping by, "feeding" themselves on less money per week than I'd pay for a coffee and bagel at Starbucks, and I don't know how they will be able to continue to find food as prices keep rising. Charity will indeed be put to the test.On Coming to terms with the reality of a world of refugees posted 1 year, 6 months ago 12 Responses

Ray of hope?

I subscribe to the consistently informative (though usually not too cheerful) podcast "Radio Ecoshock", and a recent episode featured the speaker Paul Hawken at the Long Now conference earlier this year.  I can't remember his exact words, but he said something to the effect that looking at the science and the news, he cannot help feeling pessimistic, but at the same time, looking at the immense taxonomy of volunteer groups working for social justice, he cannot but feel optimistic.

This was a very uplifting presentation - he outlined what he sees as the greatest movement in history - millions and millions of people all working for essentially the same goal: to stop conditions where "the future is stolen and sold to the present", e.g. in the form of short-term profits at the expense of environmental degradation.

Hawken explores what he sees as a gradual awakening taking place, where this movement is gaining self-awareness. He likens this to the human immune system, which is strengthened by improved communication among its components (not that I have any science background with which to assess the aptness of his analogy...). As we gradually come to realize the myriad ways in which human rights, poverty, environmental issues, fairness and equity are interconnected, we begin to coordinate our efforts and pull in the same directions. Hawken doesn't claim to know what will happen, he's only reporting what he's seeing, but in doing so, he manages to inspire and give hope.

Hmm... I'm not really doing justice to his talk, so I'll just stop here and instead point you to his actual talk. Hawken is part of the team that developed and runs the site WiserEarth, which is a portal for all the various organizations he talks about. Do check it out!On High drama leads to compromise at climate conference posted 1 year, 11 months ago 18 Responses