Have your say!

By Jo Lateu | 10

For 40 years New Internationalist has been covering the issues that matter, bringing to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.

But maybe we've missed something... or is it time to revisit a particular topic? Let us know!

Share your ideas with us and other readers by using the 'comments' function at the foot of the page, or email your suggestions to Jo by 24 June - and we'll look at all the suggestions at our editorial meeting in July.

Please keep your outlines to a maximum of 200 words.

Permalink | Published on May 25, 2012 by Jo Lateu | 10

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#1 Emily 29 May 12

I'd like to see more about careers and volunteering involved in the sort of fields you cover, especially in international development. You bring lots of important debates/issues/events etc. to people's attention - it would be nice to see advice given on how people can get involved and help make things better, once they've been informed.
#2 brady waddington 29 May 12

i would love to see you examine why in the USA not a single person has been taken to court over the 2008 financial markets fiasco. here in NZ several financiers have been prosecuted and jailed,so much for too big to fail!
also, why haven't we seen the antitrust-busting that characterised the efforts to remedy the 1930's depreession? BUST UP THE TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL BANKS
#3 Sharon 30 May 12

Communication - how to frame issues so that they resonate with audiences beyond 'the converted'; the role of emotion and the subconscious in sustainability; what psychology and neuroscience can teach us to help bring about cultural shift. Do we start with the values people have, or do we work to shift those values (former, contact Chris Rose; latter Tom Crompton)

Open source design, peer to peer networks and collaborative consumption, how it is already changing the world, and what this could mean for sustainability and social justice (contact Michel Bauwens, Rachel Botsman, Neal Gorenflo)

The spiritual aspects that underlie our current social and ecological crises (contact Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics).

Chris: http://campaignstrategy.org/chris_rose.php

Tom: http://valuesandframes.org/author/tom/

Michel: http://p2pfoundation.net

Rachel: http://collaborativeconsumption.com

Neal: www.shareable.net

Charles: http://charleseisenstein.net
#4 Helen Kay 30 May 12

I would like to read some articles on the operation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (and subsequent resolutions which commits governments to the
• protection of human rights of women and girls during times of conflict
• prevention of gender-based violence
• women's participation in peace-building and conflict prevention

UK government has special responsibility given its involvement in post conflict Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. UK National Action Plan shows little urgency in its task of implementing UNSCR1325.
#5 Bob Thomson 30 May 12

I hope you'll do something with Richard Swift's coverage of the degrowth conference in Montreal 13-19 May. The Venice conference in September will also be an interesting event.

http://montreal.degrowth.org
http://venezia.degrowth.org
http://degrowth.ca
http://slowcialism.wordpress.com

Bob
#6 David McCracken 31 May 12

Dear Jo.

Please feature more on Human Trafficking especially into the sex trade. The UN, Governments and the general public 'conveniently' ignore the topic and we all need a massive wake up call because it continues to grow. We need to spare a thought for the victims and survivors of this heinous crime against humanity and if the NI would like an article to publish, I will oblige with much enthusiasm.

David.
#7 Steven Earl Salmony 03 Jun 12

If we agree to “think globally”, it becomes evident that riveting attention on GROWTH could be a grave mistake because we are denying how economic and population growth in the communities in which we live cannot continue as it has until now. Each village's resources are being dissipated, each town's environment degraded and every city's fitness as place for our children to inhabit is being threatened. To proclaim something like, 'the meat of any community plan for the future is, of course, growth' fails to acknowledge that many villages, towns and cities are already ‘built out’, and also ‘filled in’ with people. If the quality of life we enjoy now is to be maintained for the children, then limits on economic and population growth will have to be set. By so doing, we choose to “act locally’ and sustainably.

More economic and population growth are no longer sustainable in many too many places on the surface of Earth because biological constraints and physical limitations are immutably imposed upon ever increasing human consumption, production and population activities of people in many communities where most of us reside. Inasmuch as the Earth is finite with frangible environs, there comes a point at which GROWTH is unsustainable. There is much work to done locally. But that effort cannot reasonably begin without sensibly limiting economic and population growth.

To quote another source, “We face a wide-open opportunity to break with the old ways of doing the town’s business…..” That is a true statement. But the necessary “break with the old ways” of continous economic and population growth is not what is occurring. There is a call for a break with the old ways, but the required changes in behavior are not what is being proposed as we plan for the future. What is being proposed and continues to occur is more of the same, old business-as-usual overconsumption, overproduction and overpopulation activities, the very activities that appear to be growing unsustainbly. More business-as-usual could soon become patently unsustainable, both locally and globally. A finite planet with the size, composition and environs of the Earth and a community with the boundaries, limited resources and wondrous climate of villages, towns and cities where we live may not be able to sustain much longer the economic and population growth that is occurring on our watch. Perhaps necessary changes away from UNSUSTAINABLE GROWTH and toward sustainable lifestyles and right-sized corporate enterprises are in the offing.

Think globally while there is still time and act locally before it is too late for human action to make any difference in the clear and presently dangerous course of unfolding human-induced ecological events, both in our planetary home and in our villages, towns and cities.
#8 S 05 Jun 12

More voices, many more voices are needed.

A comment for review by the Chapel Hill Planning Board and the Sustainability Committee Meeting,
June 5, 2012

One of the most widely appreciated definitions of sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. From my point of view, it is about saving environmental resources, setting limits on economic and population growth, providing good quality of life for all and developing a sustainable economy at the local level.

Local governments can contribute to sustainability in many different ways. Some of the most popular activities villages, towns and cities can undertake are:
• developing greenways
• saving energy and using renewable energy sources
• providing good public transport
• recycling waste
• educating citizens about sustainability
• supporting diversified, small businesses
• involving local stakeholders in policy and planning and
• reducing CO2 emissions.
These are “popular” activities and readily receive support. I would like to turn your attention to requirements for necessary local change that are decidedly unpopular and related to seemingly endless economic growth and unbridled increases in the human population of Chapel Hill.
Somehow, we have to master the art of thinking globally and acting locally. If we can do this one thing, “think globally”, it becomes evident that riveting attention on more and more growth could be a grave mistake because we are denying how economic and population growth in the community in which we live cannot continue as it has until now. Each village’s resources are being dissipated, each town’s environment degraded and every city’s fitness as place for our children to inhabit is being threatened. To proclaim, as the CHN does on 5/20/12, that “the meat of Chapel Hill 2020 is, of course, growth” fails to acknowledge that the Town of Chapel Hill is already ‘built out’, and also ‘filled in’ with people. If the quality of life we enjoy now is to be maintained for the children, then limits on economic and population growth will have to be set. By so doing, we choose to “act locally” and sustainably.
More economic and population growth are no longer sustainable in many too many places on the surface of Earth because biological constraints and physical limitations are immutably imposed upon ever increasing human consumption, production and population activities of people in many communities where most people reside worldwide. Inasmuch as the Earth is finite with frangible environs, there comes a point at which more growth is unsustainable. There is much work to done locally. But that effort cannot reasonably begin without sensibly limiting economic and population growth.
To quote the same edition of the CHN again, “We face a wide-open opportunity to break with the old ways of doing the town’s business…..” That is a true statement. But the necessary “break with the old ways” of continuous economic and population growth is not what is occurring. There is a call for a break with the old ways, but the required changes in behavior are not what are being proposed as we plan for the future. What is being proposed and continues to occur is more of the same, old business-as-usual overconsumption, overproduction and overpopulation activities, the very distinctly human activities that appear to be growing unsustainably. More business-as-usual could soon become patently unsustainable, both locally and globally. A finite planet with the size, composition and environs of the Earth and a community with the boundaries, limited resources and wondrous climate of villages, towns and cities where we live may not be able to sustain much longer the economic and population growth that is occurring on our watch. Perhaps necessary changes away from unsustainable growth and toward sustainable lifestyles and right-sized corporate enterprises are in the offing.
Think globally while there is still time and act locally before it is too late for human action to make any difference in the clear and presently dangerous course of unfolding human-induced ecological events, both in our planetary home and in our villages, towns and cities.
Let me close with a comment from a June 3, 2012 CHN letter by a town neighbor, Nancy Elkins, “If ‘the meat of Chapel Hill 2020 is, of course, growth’ then we have wasted our time working on Chapel Hill 2020 during the past months. Chapel Hill 2020 must not go forward on this premise without the necessary restraints that a long-term plan must have.”
Thank you.
Steven Earl Salmony
#9 madeleine swords 05 Jun 12

Regular drone death counts (reclassification of civilian casulty)as obviously so imprecice(27 last 3 days in Pakistan)-Afghanistan Pakistan Somalia Yemen. Photo evidence of our building work, the new US Embassy in Baghdad the size of 80 football pitches. Haiti where has the money gone? still in tents 2 yrs on and now with Cholera fm the Nepaleese ’peacekeepers’ Air water oceans soil GM and of course Fracking with a green light to poison-accountability and transperancy
#10 Jonathan Boud 15 Jun 12

Hello

I was wondering if you would consider writing something about the apparent link between football tournaments and the sex industry.

Recent tournaments (Euro 2012, World Cup) have seen some light shone on this but not enough. Thanks.

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Have your say!

Comments on Have your say!

Leave your comment

#1 Emily 29 May 12

#2 brady waddington 29 May 12

#3 Sharon 30 May 12

#4 Helen Kay 30 May 12

#5 Bob Thomson 30 May 12

#6 David McCracken 31 May 12

#7 Steven Earl Salmony 03 Jun 12

#8 S 05 Jun 12

#9 madeleine swords 05 Jun 12

#10 Jonathan Boud 15 Jun 12

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