David Roth memorably described the job of neoliberal economists as finding “new ways to say ‘actually, your boss is right.’” Cory Doctorow If science has value, it lies in its independence from considerations of political power. Objective truth, insofar as we can determine it, requires no further validation. The biological theories of Trofim Lysenko areContinue reading “On the science of economics”
Tag Archives: ecology
On the self-limiting nature of stupidity
Texas farm blaze kills 18,000 cows in deadliest barn fire on record in the US Headline in THe Guardian, 14/04/2023 It is not, of course, news that people do stupid things. People have been doing stupid things for as long as there have been people. I don’t have statistics for this, because no such statisticsContinue reading “On the self-limiting nature of stupidity”
On spring
Nothing is so beautiful as spring. Gerard Manley Hopkins A short one this week, just a reminder that I’m still alive; just as spring is a reminder that the natural world is still alive, despite the best efforts of industrial civilisation to kill it off. This is the vernal equinox, the turning-point when the daysContinue reading “On spring”
Book review: Limits to Growth
Who could have predicted the climate crisis? Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, 31.12.2022 This is a review of a deeply unfashionable book. It was published a little over half a century ago, which is certainly inconvenient for those who, like M. Macron, would like to suggest that these issues are a recent development.Continue reading “Book review: Limits to Growth”
On false hope
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Proverb Well, here we are in 2023, and maybe some of you have been making New Year’s resolutions, and maybe you’re even still sticking to at least some of them. I’ve written before about the dangers of hope, at least when not accompanied by effective action. The mostContinue reading “On false hope”
Predictions for 2023
Predictions are a mug’s game. Nigel Farage So another year draws to a close, and as is my custom I’ll be looking back on my predictions for 2022 and having another bash for the year to come. So this what my crystal ball showed last time: (1) Russia to invade or annexe Ukraine but notContinue reading “Predictions for 2023”
On death and rebirth
Nothing can dwindle to nothing, as Nature restores one thing from the stuff of another, nor does she allow a birth, without a corresponding death. Titus Lucretius Carus, De Rerum Natura, Book I. Regular readers of this blog will know that I tend to write a post at each of the four quarters of theContinue reading “On death and rebirth”
On the suppression of agriculture
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution, Warning: Contains book recommendations. Proceed at your peril. Only a complete idiot, of course, would want to suppress agriculture. But apparently we now have complete idiots in charge of our foodContinue reading “On the suppression of agriculture”
On the approach of winter
For the night is dark and full of terrors. George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings I often use this blog to point out the turning-points of the cycle of the year. Here in the northern hemisphere, we are approaching the autumn equinox, the point when the nights start to be longer than the daysContinue reading “On the approach of winter”
On population
Malthus has been buried many times, and Malthusian scarcity with him. But as Garrett Hardin remarked, anyone who has to be reburied so often cannot be entirely dead. Herman E. Daly, Steady-State Economics: The Economics of Biophysical Equilibrium and Moral Growth (1991) There are several canned responses that always seem to come up whenever theContinue reading “On population”
The sound of falling leaves 