Category: A sustainable economy

The Cage redefines nomenclature for the uber-wealthy

Who is the one per crore?

Philip Adams is interviewing Brooke Hamilton in repeat as I type. Listen here. They are discussing the theft of wealth by those running the neo-liberal agenda. Both broadcasters keep referring to “the one percent”.

One percent of the world’s population is 70 million people. There are many more millionaires than that in the world, so the 70 million wealthiest people in the world represent a serious pile of gold bars but they are not the ones calling the shots.

The one per lakh, on the other hand, is the 70,000 people who control wealth beyond what you or I can imagine. A lakh is the Vedic name for our 100,000.

In the number system used across South Asia, the next order of magnitude that gets a name is the Crore. The Crore is ten of our million, or 100 lakh, it is written, 1,00,00,000. The Vedic system uses commas ever two orders of magnitude after the first three.

The one per crore, then, is the 700 people who actually control the wealth. The Rothschilds, the British Royal Family and so on. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have probably made it into this particular elite, the oil sheiks and major arms dealers will be in there as well.

The Cage, therefor has decided to talk about the one per crore and the one per lakh when appropriate and use the one percent when we specifically want to refer to the very wealthy 70 million who are stinking rich, but who are really just ordinary people with a lot of money.

30 September, 2016
Father of Permacuture, Bill Mollison dead

The founder of Permaculture and advocate for sustainable cities and food systems, Bill Mollison died last Saturday. Permaculture is a system of growing food that requires minimum energy, water and fertilizer and works with nature

Founder of Permaculture, Bill Mollison, at his research institute in Tasmania

to reduce the ecological impact of feeding humans.

It has also been applied to greening the desert in places as diverse as the south-western prairies of the USA and the deserts of the Middle East.

Born in Tasmania, Bill Mollison founded the permaculture movement over forty years ago and has been instrumental in countering the industrial approach of corporate agribusiness.

https://www.permaculture.co.uk/news/14748857267497/bruce-charles-bill-mollison-1928-2016

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From the official statement of the Permaculture Research Institute at the request of his widow Lisa Mollison

With deep sorrow, we wish to inform family and friends that Bruce Charles “Bill” Mollison, the “Father of Permaculture,” has passed away. He departed peacefully from this world in Hobart, Tasmania, just before 11 pm AEST, on the 24th of September, 2016.

After founding Permaculture Institute in 1978, he formalized the training of practitioners, which directly impacted hundreds of thousands of lives, and indirectly many millions more. For his service to humanity, he was honored with numerous awards, including the Right Livelihood Award in 1981. But of all the accolades he received, the one he was most proud of was the Vavilov Medal, in large part due to the tenacity, courage, and contributions of the award’s namesake, who Bill considered a personal hero. Bill was also the first foreigner invited and admitted to the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

27 September, 2016
Renewable revolution driven by China’s electric car

China now leads the US and EU in electric car production

The rapid take up of renewable energy has been boosted by Chinese government subsidies for electric cars, rapidly boosting their world ranking to the number one producer.

Over half a million electric cars were produced worldwide last year, 200 thousand of them in China. The Chinese government believes the car is the key to a renewable led economy with charging stations and domestic batteries the facilitating technologies that will engender long term change.

Tesla has pre-sold over 400,000 of its 2017 model 3, but China has more than doubled its production for each of the last three years.

China Plans To Boost Electric Vehicle Sales 10-Fold

While Tesla racks up a record-setting 400,000 presales for its affordable Model 3 due out next year, the world’s leading EV maker, China’s BYD, has already sold more EVs than Tesla, GM, and Nissan combined!

https://thinkprogress.org/china-to-boost-electric-vehicle-sales-10-fold-211053eb032b#.iz8qgs1su

13 September, 2016
Finns trial Basic Income Scheme

Finns will get paid to live independently of whether they work

The Finnish Government has moved ahead with plans to trial a Basic Income Scheme on 2,000 random citizens to study the impact on employment.

Under the scheme, recipients receive a basic income of $US600 per month. Prime Minister Sipila wants to see if the measure can boost employment and simplify the welfare benefits system. “The primary goal of the basic income experiment is to promote employment,” he said.

Canada is trialling a similar system. A Swiss referendum in June rejected a more generous scheme to pay adults $US2,500 per month and children $US600.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Finland-to-Test-Out-Basic-Income-Scheme-20160826-0012.html

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Free-Money-Canadian-Province-Experiments-with-Basic-Income-20160307-0029.html

6 September, 2016
Australians take to solar despite government discouragement

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The John James newsletter this week collated a number of statistics about the Australian take up of solar energy

Australians have invested $8 billion of their own money in rooftop solar over the last 8 years, and they now save around $1 billion in electricity bills each year [1]

Rooftop solar systems will prevent over 6.3 million tonnes of carbon pollution in 2016 [2]

There are now 19,000 people employed in the solar industry, far more than in coal and gas electricity generation [3]

If we transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 we’d actually save $90 billion [5]

Editor, John James commented, “Seems like solar is working pretty well”

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/22/australians-have-spent-almost-8bn-on-rooftop-solar-since-2007-says-report

[2] Solar Citizens, p.13-14; http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/come-cuppa-craig-kelly-lets-talk-solar-58000

[3] Solar Citizens, July 2016; http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/follow-the-money-australias-solar-gold-rush-is-unstoppable/83019

[4] Guardian, 19 April 2016 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/19/modelling-shows-move-to-100-renewable-energy-would-save-australia-money

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6 September, 2016
Reforestation for the Climate proceeds apace

Beetles following a warming climate have infested Californian forests killing 66 nillion trees

Global efforts at reforestation are accelerating, gollowing commitments made in the Paris Agreement of November last year.

Volunteers in India smashed a world record by planting 49.3 million tree saplings on July 11. Last year, volunteers in Ecuador planted 647,250 trees from 200 species in one day. In 2014, Men of the Trees planted 100,450 trees in Perth, Australia in a single hour.

Richard Houghton, a senior scientist with the Woods Hole Research Center in the US, though, warns that the impacts may not be as effective as predicted.

“In general, [reforestation] is all good in the sense that trees, as they grow, take carbon out of the atmosphere,” he said. Complications occur when forests shade the snow, absorbing sunlight and adding to warming, or when reforestation is used as a carbon offset for extracting fossil fuels or cutting down old forests.

Climate chaos itself threatens forests with increasing fire damage and attacks by exotic insects moving into forests as the climate warms.

https://thinkprogress.org/planting-trees-climate-change-solution-3e5b6979561f#.qbiy49kcg

6 September, 2016