Economic Imperative

The Good Society: A Question of Scale

In asking ourselves what is important, what do we value and how is what we are doing affecting our well-being, sometimes pictures and music are worth a thousand words. Why do human systems always seem to trend to maximal scale? Sustainable systems should self-organize to a scale that optimizes economic prosperity while respecting ecological limits. We have an article on this topic published in Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, Spring/Summer 2009, Volume 5, Issue 1.

The Good Society: The Power of Simplicity and Innovation

Last week, we had the first of our Robert Bateman Conversations on The Meaning of Growth and Progress in the 21st century, very rich discussion because of the diversity of the panel. We will be publishing the conversation this week, so stay tuned.

This video powerfully demonstrates the power of innovation and simplicity to enhance human well-being. In our search for the 'big fix' and the 'grand solution' we often miss the meaningful small steps that can lead to major social change.

What makes for a good society?

I stumbled across an old paper written by Amitai Etzioni in which he draws upon a key concept in his characterization of a good society.

Community is a combination of two elements: a) a web of affect-laden relationships among a group of individuals, relationships that often crisscross and reinforce one another--rather than merely one-on-one or chainlike individual relationships; b) a measure of commitment to a set of shared values, norms and meanings, and a shared history and identity--in short to a particular culture.

The Good Society-What is Progress?

You may be interested in an upcoming e-Dialogue this coming Thursday, October 27th, on What is the Meaning of Progress and Growth in the 21th century? This is a critical question that all communities are facing in conversations around the meaning of the good society. This real time on-line dialogue is the first in the series of Robert Bateman Conversations, a forum for provocative dialogue and idea sharing around critical questions of the day.

Continuing the Conversation

We are currently in election mode here in Ontario, and taxes have raised their ugly head again, at the expense of any meaningful discussion about policy and vision on the part of the leaders. Personal attacks tied to taxes are going to be the death of infrastructure and democracy in the long run. Mark Kingwell has spoken eloquently about the loss of civility among elected leaders.

Commodification of Life

I am increasingly concerned about something I have been thinking about a lot lately--the wholesale commodification of life itself. And so, we are now working on gathering a bunch of statistics which we will share widely when they are ready, comparing expenditures between 1950 and 2010. What is the wage gap between the CEO and the floor worker, I heard in a conversation the other day, it is 450 to 1? What is the difference between expenditures on health care per capita, but also taking into account the expenditures on pharma care?

Small is Beautiful

There were two books in the 1970s that greatly influenced my thinking and endured my commitment to the environment--Limits to Growth and Small is Beautiful. This video is a short documentary on Schumacher, who wrote Small is Beautiful. Schumacher, one of Britain's leading economists began to think about the nature of our growth and what it was doing to humanity, thus, the genesis of his book.