Development
Beware the “Investment”!
A crash-course in economic literacy as the AI bubble gets blown up with hot air and public funding I recently learnt that a $20 ChatGPT subscription gets you access to about $700 worth of computing power.1 This inspired two ideas: WOW, I’d better turn my whole camera roll into Studio Ghibli-style remakes before this awesome…
Read MoreEcological Resistance and the Politics of Regeneration in Kurdistan
Across Kurdistan, the village has not been just a place of settlement; it has been a living ecological system, a web of deep interconnections among people, land, seeds, animals, water, and culture. Today, industrial agriculture drives urban expansion and centuries of political violence continue to weaken rural life. Yet a growing grassroots movement is regenerating…
Read MorePutting technology in its place
Translated into
Read MoreAppropriate Technology, Traditional Cultures and Degrowth
The industrial-capitalist-technological system is characterized by perpetual growth through excessive production, relentless marketing and public relations to expand markets and demand through consumerism.[1] In the process, novel ‘needs’ are manufactured and the boundaries and norms of comfort and convenience are continually reshaped.[2] In this system relatively few technologies are socially necessary, and their manufacture and…
Read MoreSource Temple and the Great Reset
I recently visited a spiritual community in Brazil called Source Temple. Drawing primarily on the teachings of Adi Da and A Course in Miracles, it comprises about thirty people from about ten countries, mostly Brazil and South America, ranging in age from 20-something to 60-something. I will neither endorse nor criticize the spiritual teachings and…
Read MoreWhy is the Food Systems Summit silent on corporate land grabs?
Peasant movements in Asia marked March 29 as the Day of the Landless. The day pays tribute to the founding of the Asia Peasant Coalition (APC). About 15-million strong, the APC was established in 2003 by more than 20 organizations from 11 countries representing farmers, landless peasants, fishers, agricultural workers, Dalits, indigenous peoples, herders and…
Read MoreProgress and the modernization of Ladakh
One morning during breakfast, my family started talking about new policies of the government towards “Progress” to ensure road connectivity and freshwater pipelines to every house, which have been categorized as basic necessities. I agree that these facilities make life comfortable, consume less time to get things done, and make life more “productive”. But it…
Read MoreHow the World Bank helped re-establish colonial plantations
In October 2020, a group of 79 Kenyans filed a lawsuit in a UK court against one of the world’s largest plantation companies, Camelia Plc. They say the company is responsible for the killings, rapes and other abuses that its security guards have carried out against local villagers at its 20,000 hectare plantation, which produces…
Read MoreLockdown in Ladakh
I returned to my village in Ladakh when the Prime Minister announced the first lockdown in late-March. I ended up spending the whole lockdown period in the village assisting my family with various agricultural and pastoral tasks. This was the first time I had spent so much time in the village since my childhood. This…
Read MoreWhat does self-reliance really mean? Amazing stories from India’s villages
Not so long ago, Dalit women farmers in Telangana used to face hunger and deprivation. Today, they have contributed foodgrains for pandemic relief. Farmers on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border have been sending organic produce to Bengaluru even during the lockdown. And Adivasi villages in central India are using community funds to take care of migrant…
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