Entrepreneurship in the social and solidarity economy

In this chapter of Credo, Brian Davey describes how co-operatives employ more people than multinationals and provide services to 3 billion people weekly. They also tend to last longer than other forms of enterprise. While not perfect, their existence is a clear challenge to authoritarianism and they have been considered a dangerous threat by dictators over the past century.

The Music of Narcissus

"Ordinary history had an idle elite dependent on the rest. The brief oil perversity has the rest dependent on an idle elite" writes Patrick Noble in this extract from his book, Towards a Convivial Economy. "We can evacuate most of what the oil enclosure provides and begin step by step to make things and grow things without oil."

Journey to Earthland: review by Mark Garavan

This book by Paul Raskin constructs a possible future world scenario not so much as a prediction but as a map which we can use if we can mobilise collectively into a common movement which leads the human community forward. Perhaps, as Raskin suggests, it is only now – when finally everything is at stake – that progressive forces can finally mobilise on the scale needed. Meanwhile, the planet itself is moving and becoming active whether we respond or not.

Entrepreneurship – the narrative of creative destruction

In this chapter from Credo, Brian Davey argues that the role of the entrepreneur changes over time and that, at their most powerful, they seek to co-opt officials and politicians for their agendas. Management can be exercised through over centralised control freakery or via distributed decision-making systems. Many entrepreneurs and managers are psychopaths, and criminals are entrepreneurs too. In the modern world, control fraud i.e. looting your own company is not uncommon.

End of the “Oilocene”: The Demise of the Global Oil Industry and of the Global Economic System as we know it.

Tim Clarke draws on recent research on fossil fuel extraction to argue that the global oil industry in deep trouble. Since oil plays such a key role in the world economy, since 2008 any semblance of economic growth has been fuelled by astronomically greater quantities of debt . The challenge Ireland and other countries will soon face is managing a fast economic and energy contraction and implementing sustainability on a massive scale whilst maintaining social cohesion.

World Basic Income conference, Manchester, February 4 2017

The world’s first conference on world basic income will be held in Manchester (UK) on 4th February 2017. The event will explore a new practical solution to global inequality and poverty. Feasta’s Caroline Whyte, who is involved in the CapGlobalCarbon campaign, will be on a conference panel discussing practicalities.

The organisers write:

“To find out more about the proposal for worldwide basic income, please see WBI’s website at www.worldbasicincome.org.uk.

With speakers from a wide range of disciplines and organisations including The Guardian, BIEN, Share The World’s Resources, CapGlobalCarbon, Manchester Migrant Solidarity, national basic income movements, political parties and universities, the …