Writer
ted Trainer
Ted Trainer is a retired lecturer from the School of Social Work, University of New South Wales. He has written numerous books and articles on sustainability and is developing Pigface Point, a sustainability educational site near Sydney, and a website for use by critical global educators.
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A critique of ‘a world call to action’ on the multiple crises now enfolding humanity
This initiative is important in making a strenuous plea for urgent action on the global “poly crisis”. But it fails to make clear the fundamental cause of the problem, or the way out of it. Continue reading »
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Planetary overshoot: How much should we degrow?
Global rates of resource consumption and ecological impact are now far beyond levels that are sustainable, or that all people in the world could rise to, or that technical advance could make sustainable. Continue reading »
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Has capitalism failed?
Anyone who thinks so is just plain dumb. It has obviously been stunningly successful. It has produced huge increases in wealth, for instance in the last few years the three richest people in Australia doubled their wealth. It has worked like a dream. The trouble is that it does not and is not designed to Continue reading »
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“Values capitalism” Good luck with that Jim
Jim Chalmer’s Monthly essay is an attempt to prepare us for a shift in the coming budget, from the era of neoliberal domination to giving more attention to non-economic factors. But we need far more than that given we are headed for catastrophic global breakdown. Continue reading »
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Ted Trainer: Ross Gittins thinks capitalism can save us. Here’s why it can’t
We are racing towards the catastrophic collapse of our bio-physical and social systems, driven by the capitalist economy. Gittins illustrates the trained incapacity of the conventional economic mind to get it. Continue reading »
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Our obsession with economic growth will destroy us
Capitalist societies refuse to recognise there are limits to growth, resulting in inequality and ecological destruction — it will lead to collapse. Continue reading »
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It will take more than a Green New Deal to save a planet in peril
As the climate crisis worsens, some progressives have seized on a way to save capitalism from itself. But that task is impossible. Continue reading »
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Why does the US behave like that? The core issue is the nature of capitalism.
In the last few years, there has been a remarkable increase in the readiness to question and criticise the behaviour of the US. We seem to be rapidly moving away from the idolisation and “All the way…” attitude that prevailed since World War 2. John Menadue documented the US’s record of thuggish behaviour well in Continue reading »
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Review: ‘Human Kind’ by Rutger Bregman
What a marvellous book! A powerful refutation of one of the most deeply entrenched and mistaken assumptions built into our taken-for-granted world view that human nature is nasty. Continue reading »
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Move over neoliberalism; rentier capitalism is now king
Because the average person’s prosperity is shrinking, they can’t buy so much stuff. Companies are instead generating profits by getting hold of assets to rent out, such as housing and roads. This financial capitalism has huge political ramifications for the Left, but it is not listening. Continue reading »
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The German experience – running everything on renewable energy
Could we run our society on renewable energy sources, which now deliver electricity cheaper than fossil fuel produced power? Vaclav Smil has just published figures on Germany’s efforts to move towards a high penetration renewable system, showing that the cost is likely to be very high. Continue reading »
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Andrew Leigh and “disconnectedness”… good on documentation but poor on explanation
There has been reduction in acquaintance with neighbours, volunteering, giving to charity, blood donation, membership of organisations such as Scouts and unions, satisfaction with democracy, and number of trusted friends. Continue reading »
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Ross Garnaut’s ‘Superpower’ case … is not impressive
The book tells us we can run everything on renewable energy and get rich exporting it. Unsurprisingly it has been met with much fanfare and enthusiasm. But on the crucial issues it either provides flimsy and unconvincing analyses or fails to deal with them at all. Continue reading »
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COVID-19: Another consequence of exceeding the limits to growth
Consumer–capitalist society is blindly committed to limitless growth in production and consumption. This is unsustainable and is generating a range of alarming global problems. However, little attention has been given to how is a cause of viral pandemics. Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER.-Why the rich and powerful want Assange silenced.
Now you will understand why it is so important to prevent people like Ellsberg and Chelsea Manning and Snowden and Assange from exposing the nasty things that are done to secure our empire. Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. What’s wrong with Economics?
The answer is, conventional economic theory and practice are only about this economy, not economics in general … and this economy is a bad economy. Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. Greta, climate, affluence and growth …when will they join the dots?
Global concern about climate change has now reached a remarkable level, thanks in large part to Greta Thunberg and her team. There is however, in my view, little understanding of what the underlying problem is or how to solve it. The climate problem is just one of many factors driving consumer-capitalist society to its imminent Continue reading »
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“Green Growth” and “De-Coupling” Resource Use From GDP Growth … Can’t Be Done.
Another heavy report confirms that efforts to achieve GDP growth while reducing resource and ecological impacts have failed and will continue to do so. The implications for sustainability are profound … but will be ignored. The finding means that unless there is dramatic De-growth all the big global problems will get worse, but this economy Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. The case for De-growth — will continue to be ignored.
A De-Growth movement has emerged, mainly in Europe, in response to the fact that global levels of production and consumption are now grossly unsustainable. A vast literature documenting this has accumulated over almost fifty years. But the official world of politicians, governments, economists and media completely ignore it and devote themselves to growing the economy Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. The case for de-growth will continue to be ignored.
A de-growth movement has emerged, mainly in Europe, in response to the fact that global levels of production and consumption are now grossly unsustainable. A vast literature documenting this has accumulated over almost fifty years. But the official world of politicians, governments, economists and media completely ignore it and devote themselves to growing the economy Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. The Catalan integral cooperative … the Simpler Way revolution is well under way!
Many would agree it is now abundantly clear that a just and sustainable world cannot be achieved unless consumer-capitalist society is basically scrapped. It involves levels of resource use and environmental impact that are already grossly unsustainable, yet growth is its supreme goal. The basic form the alternative must take is mostly small, highly self-sufficient Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. Terrorism and Our Empire: Some Neglected Questions.
There is a very strong tendency to avoid asking some key questions about terrorism, thereby maintaining various myths and delusions that prevent a number of unpleasant realities from being faced up to. Continue reading »
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TED TRAINER. Oil wake-up call.
Almost no one has the slightest grasp of the oil crunch that will probably hit them within a decade. When it does it will literally mean the end of the world as we know it. Here is an outline of what some recent analysts are saying. We had better think carefully about their claims. Nobody Continue reading »
