Growth: The Celtic Cancer

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday November 06, 2004 18:10

by dp - FEASTA

feasta at anu dot ie

Why the global economy damages our health and society

A new issue of the Feasta Review will be launched this month. "The aim of the Review is to present in a permanent form some of the thinking that has been going on in the Feasta network since the previous one appeared" says John Jopling, who edited it with Richard Douthwaite. "It is three years since the last issue and there's a lot to report."

The issue's theme is the elimination of the human cost of economic growth and globalisation. In the opening article, Dr. Elizabeth Cullen demonstrates comprehensively how great this cost has been. She cites survey after survey to show how the stresses generated by Ireland's recent, rapid economic growth damaged its people's health and the strength of their communities.

"Although studies around the world had clearly shown that ill-health and certain crimes increase if the gap between rich and poor is allowed to widen, the Irish government deliberately increased the width of the gap by its tax policies in order to improve competitiveness" Dr. Cullen says. "In other words, they sacrificed the health of the people to improve the health of the economy. I was shocked."

Among the other 18 articles and 15 book reviews is the text of Dr. David Fleming's 2001 Feasta lecture on how we should respond to the threat that a catastrophic economic breakdown will occur in the next few years when the world's oil and gas production begins to fall as the reserves are used up. Stan Thekaekara's 2002 Feasta lecture is also there. In it, he describes how his thinking has been profoundly influenced by that of the tribal people among whom he works. "The economies of indigenous people are based on a concept of no ownership," he says. "How can you 'own' the land, the water, the forests, the birds, the animals?"

This publication will be launched on the 19th of November
For details contact: ../mailto:feasta@anu.ie

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Comments (1 of 1)

This person is right.

by William Meadows

Tue Nov 09, 2004 20:49

READIT20032000 at yahoo dot com

1285 Pleasanthill rd. Lot 32 Carbondale IL. 62902 USA

Men can not really own the land ,water, air and sky. Although some people think that is theres but it is not. Ireland is one of the coutries my Ancestors came from, so it is apart of my Heritage. They came an settled in Tennasee and ILLinois.
Many people are blessed by a lot of the things that came from your Small Island.
Many of our roots are still there, so what ever effects it effects us.

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Growth: The Celtic Cancer

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