AVAAZ - hjelp til Burma

"Avaaz" betyr på flere språk "stemme". Per i dag har en nett-basert, global bevegelse med dette navnet medlemmer i alle verdens land - 3,2 millioner i alt.

Technology and the internet have allowed citizens to connect and mobilize like never before. The rise of a new model of internet-driven, people-powered politics is changing countries from Australia to the Philippines to the United States. Avaaz takes this model global, connecting people across borders to bring people powered politics to international decision-making.

Jeg er medlem.

Saker siden oppstarten i fjor inkluderer klimapolitikk, Guantanamo, Irak-krigen, Israel/Palestina, Zimbabwe... I hvert enkelt tilfelle velger du om du vil slenge deg på, i underskriftskampanjer etc. Siste nytt er at Avaaz i det stille har fått nødhjelp for rundt ti millioner kroner inn i Burma, via uformelle kanaler og i samarbeid med munkeklostre etc. I motsetning til de store nødhjelpsorganisasjonene har Avaaz valgt å gå utenom de burmesiske myndighetene. Og hjelpen har altså nådd fram.

Gå til AVAAZ´ hjemmeside for mer informasjon - eller til Facebook-sia mi for å finne frem til Avaaz på Facebook.

Om sårheten i det estiske samfunnslivet

Det ble tittelen på tilsvaret mitt til mr. Kyhn.

Spørger man Ilves...

Danske Peter Kyhn har sendt et innlegg til Estlands-Nytt i anledning mitt intervju med Estlands president Toomas Hendrik Ilves. "Som man spørger, får man svar" er tittelen. Kyhn mener bl.a. det er klisjeaktig av meg å ta for gitt at Norden byr på en utviklingsmodell for Estland. Han byr på nyttig supplerende informasjon. Et tilsvar er underveis.

The Future of Growth - utdrag

"During the last century, population increased by a factor of four, and GDP per capita at least by a factor of five (cf. tables 1 and 2). World GDP, in result, increased by a factor of at least twenty. Clearly, any descriptive explanation of the rise of the ecological crisis has to take these material facts into account.

...

After all, how can we possibly deal with the so-called environmental problems, if we know nothing at all about the future state of the economy?"

Abstract. In this article I paint a concise portrait of world economic and population history. Key factors include the world population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The role of technology in relation to the environmental impact of economic activity is represented by an Environmental Efficiency Factor (EEF). It is asserted that any modern political theory aspiring to comprehensiveness should deal with four subject matters: The legitimate level of human interference with the rest of nature; the level of the human population; the nature and extent of the economy and technology. Past GDP growth rates combined with UN population projections result in a number of scenarios of future real GDP to the year 2300. In the course of inquiry, three measures of all time economic activity are introduced: All time world GDP per capita, accumulated world GDP and the annual growth rate of accumulated world GDP. In conclusion, I describe under what circumstances it is conceivable that the growth economy can persist for at least 300 more years. Directions of inquiry are offered to three groups: Those who want to maintain the growth economy for as long as possible; those who want world population to stay, in the long run, at a level comparable to that of today; and those who want to minimize environmental pressure.

Vekstens fremtid (og BRIK-landenes)

1. Mitt akademiske essay "THE STATISTICIAN´S GUIDE TO UTOPIA: THE FUTURE OF GROWTH" har blitt antatt av det estiske akademiske tidsskriftet TRAMES.

2. "Kina og India kan avgjöre miljösaken", min 3-siders artikkel om miljöbevegelsen i BRIK-landene, staar paa trykk i denne ukas Mandag Morgen.