Thanks for this, Benjamin! :-) And yes, places such as Novi Sad have often managed to fend off the cult of consumerism, and maintain a much less damaging ecological footprint. They'll be important guides to us to help wean ourselves off that increasing-deadly addiction.
Indeed - but the hold is very partial and it is tenuous. Yugoslavia as a whole seemed to manage to maintain a sort of 'right level of development' for so long (I remember about 20 years ago discussing with someone how 'everyone who wants a mobile phone has one, the internet is pretty good, but many people still have a 'vikenditsa' house and a plot of land back in the village - and they might not have a cow or pig any more, but they either grow something or rent it out to someone who does), but now there is a tide of plastic from delivery services, more and more malls... 'progress', and it is - partly.
Currently my wife and I are in Thailand, where we've been visiting occasionally, also for about 20 years. And the change within a generation is breathtaking. Many great advances and also massive physical development (not to mention Laos or Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur is a different world now!), visible obesity (and I am not in a position to criticse any individual!, a huge generational change in the people, incredible volumes of plastic consumed everywhere, all the time, wholesale jungle clearance... I dunno, man!
Painful but true. "economics" leading to the antithesis of "economic". When we grow up (if we do grow up) we might look into architecting for reuse. Reuse used to be a great source of joy and pride in my childhood as almost anything could be either repaired or taken apart and used for other purposes. Nowadays, if your washer makes noises, it is cheaper and perfectly acceptable to buy a new one.
Thanks for this, Bogdan. Likewise, painfully true. I was just told the other day that the aircon/heater in my rental house was like you said about your washer - that it was more expensive to repair than it was to buy a new one. This is madness - and at a global scale, suicidal madness. Oh well.
Not sure of content and robustness of efforts such as these, and how much linkage to great frameworks such as Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics, but hopefully decent (https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/)
Seems there is traction in European economies for doughnut, a very good thing!
I was terrified of the local rag-and-bone man, he just seemed other-worldly
Excellent writeup. Overspending has become order of the day, whether we use or not.
Gosh, I'm only 46 and I still remember the dust, the rag-and-bone and the scrap metal guy.
And in sophisticated Serbia (Novi Sad, European Capital of Culture 2022) where I spend a lot of time, you still have versions/echoes of that.
Thanks for this, Benjamin! :-) And yes, places such as Novi Sad have often managed to fend off the cult of consumerism, and maintain a much less damaging ecological footprint. They'll be important guides to us to help wean ourselves off that increasing-deadly addiction.
Indeed - but the hold is very partial and it is tenuous. Yugoslavia as a whole seemed to manage to maintain a sort of 'right level of development' for so long (I remember about 20 years ago discussing with someone how 'everyone who wants a mobile phone has one, the internet is pretty good, but many people still have a 'vikenditsa' house and a plot of land back in the village - and they might not have a cow or pig any more, but they either grow something or rent it out to someone who does), but now there is a tide of plastic from delivery services, more and more malls... 'progress', and it is - partly.
Currently my wife and I are in Thailand, where we've been visiting occasionally, also for about 20 years. And the change within a generation is breathtaking. Many great advances and also massive physical development (not to mention Laos or Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur is a different world now!), visible obesity (and I am not in a position to criticse any individual!, a huge generational change in the people, incredible volumes of plastic consumed everywhere, all the time, wholesale jungle clearance... I dunno, man!
Sigh... sigh indeed...
Painful but true. "economics" leading to the antithesis of "economic". When we grow up (if we do grow up) we might look into architecting for reuse. Reuse used to be a great source of joy and pride in my childhood as almost anything could be either repaired or taken apart and used for other purposes. Nowadays, if your washer makes noises, it is cheaper and perfectly acceptable to buy a new one.
Thanks for this, Bogdan. Likewise, painfully true. I was just told the other day that the aircon/heater in my rental house was like you said about your washer - that it was more expensive to repair than it was to buy a new one. This is madness - and at a global scale, suicidal madness. Oh well.
I was pleased to see recently that brand universities are starting to offer courses in circular economy (e.g. see https://cambridge-online-executive-education.emeritus.org/circular-economy-sustainability-strategies).
Not sure of content and robustness of efforts such as these, and how much linkage to great frameworks such as Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics, but hopefully decent (https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/)
Seems there is traction in European economies for doughnut, a very good thing!
That's very good news to hear, Galen - many thanks for that info!
Another impact it of that change - https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time