Contents. (This edition will be timely but brief).
Back to America
My latest article
Degrowth Conference on Social Equity and Ecological Sustainability
Malaysia
Hi, Well it’s just a matter of hours now before I board my flight that will take me back to the United States. I always find other places and cultures interesting, but four months abroad has been long enough and I’m looking forward to being back in more familiar territory, seeing friends and family, and discovering what the universe has to show me next. To begin with, I’ll be enjoying the relative calm and quiet of the Arizona desert, then looking for a more permanent place to hang my hat.
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My latest article
I spent a good amount of time over the past few weeks writing an article that I was invited to submit for publication in an online journal, Transformation, published by Open Democracy. I’m pleased to announce that my article, Money, debt and the end of the growth imperative was published yesterday. You can read it here,
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Upcoming Degrowth Conference on Social Equity and Ecological Sustainability. Call for papers extended to March 14th
A recent message from Birte Ewers announces that the 4th International Degrowth Conference to be held in Leipzig Sept 2-6, and that the original deadline for submissions of short papers has been extended. The deadlines for other formats have expired but deadline for “short papers” is now March 14th. The review process will be concluded by the end of April. See the conference website at http://leipzig.degrowth.org/en/http://leipzig.degrowth.org/en/ and the Call for Papers at http://leipzig.degrowth.org/en/call-for-papers/ for details.
About The Conference:
4th International Degrowth Conference on Social Equity and Ecological Sustainability – Bridging movements and research for the great transformation.
The International Degrowth Conference has reached its fourth venue. Since Paris 2008 the debate on how to move away from a growth-oriented economy towards a more sustainable society has drawn world-wide attention. The fourth international conference will take place in a country that is considered as the European engine of economic growth.
Different traditions of growth critique, such as the concept of a post-growth society stemming from the German-speaking community and the French and Southern European degrowth debate, are invited to a fruitful dialogue. The conference seeks to bring practitioners, activists and scientists together and encompasses various formats for presentations, interaction, workshops, and exchange.
The 4th conference will address following thematic threads (abstracts for short papers can be submitted to any of them):
– Organizing Society (Emancipatory politics, participation, institutions)
– Building a social and ecological economy ((Re-)productivity, commons, society-nature relations)
– Living conviviality (Buen vivir. Open knowledge. Convivial technology)
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Malaysia
For my current journey in Southeast Asia, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) serves as both my entry point and exit point. Flights to and from KL tend to be cheaper even than Bangkok, and I always enjoy spending some time in Penang, which is only about a 4 ½ hour bus ride from KL Thailand is easily reached from there.
Malaysia is quite a developed country, though it still has some third world charm, as well as annoyances, like the roar of motorbikes zipping around through every available space, making it difficult and dangerous for pedestrians to cross the streets. Sidewalks, if they exist at all are usually obstructed by parked motorbikes, or food stalls, or even workshops that flow out into the public spaces.
One interesting thing about Malaysia is language. Almost everyone speaks some English and signage is usually in both English and Bahasa Melayu, or Malay language, which derives many words from English. Malays have developed what seems to me to be a very reasonable pattern of phonetic spelling.
Here are a few familiar English words with their phonetic Malay spelling, which I think we should adopt.
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Complex |
Kompleks |
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Bus |
Bas |
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Central |
Sentral |
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College |
Kolej |
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Bicycle |
Bisikal |
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Community |
Komuniti |
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Counter |
Kaunter |
My pictures from my November visit to Penang
Pictures from my February/March visit to Penang and Kuala Lumpur have not yet been uploaded.
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Joke of the month
Certainly not original, but here it is; some of you may appreciate it.
You know you’re old when you and your teeth no longer sleep together.
May you enjoy this season when life springs anew,
Thomas
Beyond Money 