Measuring Progress

In this earlier article on my blog on progress and values it became clear that we need new measuring sticks to evaluate our progress, personal as well as global.

The New York Times also had an article now on how outdated it is to measure progress or well being or economic health in terms of GDP. Have a look at this NY Times article that recommends the death of the GDP.

I wouldn't mind using some simple measures such as global surface area of forests, global surface areas of ecological farm land, or global tonnage of ecologic food to chart if we as a united people walk into the right direction.

Back to the Gold Standard

After leaving the gold standard, manipulation of the markets and abuse of financial regulations have mushroomed slowly leading to crisis after crisis with the current crisis just being the latest and biggest one.

Many voices call for a return to the gold standard where paper money is redeemable for gold and backed by gold. This leads to stricter monetary policies and avoids escalation of debt as we see it right now. Without doubt regular citizens can reap benefits from the prudent return to the gold standard. Still, financial "experts" frequently call the gold standard unrealistic. In this article the top 5 myths about why we can't go back to a gold standard are debunked: Five Myths About the Gold Standard.

6 Billion Others

After the film HOME the new project from Yann Arthus-Bertrand is www.6billionothers.org. He raises 40 questions to people around the world. He collected several thousand responses already. You want to find out what other people around the globe think? What their first dream was? Their first childhood memory? Go have a look. Or sign up and answer the questions yourself.

Potato

The usual way to grow potatoes in Spain is as follows. Other countries like the USA surely follow similar processes:

• 2000 kg of chemical fertilizer is used per hectare
• one treatment of fungicides on the potato seedlings themselves to prevent rhizoctonia
• 2 to 4 treatments of fungicides on the growing crop to prevent mildew
• one treatment of insecticides at seeding
• 2 to 3 treatments of insecticides on the growing crop against beetle, gray worm, etc.
• in the preparation phase before seeding, herbicides are used to kill all plants
• herbicides in the growing phase of the potato to kill all competing plants so that there is no competition for resources (fertilizers, etc.)
• herbicides to kill the green part of the potato that is above the ground in preparation for the harvest
• anti-germination treatment of the harvested potatoes so that they can be sold later

I always thought that potatoes are a rather simple plant requiring a rather simple process. But in today's agro-industry even to grow potatoes we have 2 tones of fertilizers per ha, ca. 4 treatments of fungicides, 3-4 treatments of insecticides, 2 treatments of herbicides and 1 treatment of anti-germination. And we are not even talking about GM potatoes.

That certainly killed my apetite for industrial potatoes. (Data Source: EkoLurra Magazine, 33th edition, winter 2008, p.19).

Gardening Australia

Last week I watched a video which I believe was broadcast on TV in Australia. Peter Cundall gives a brief introduction and then Josh Byrne presents a complete permaculture project showing how one can turn a home with a mid-sized garden into a sustainable, healthy and productive environment. The video is 72 minutes and is entitled "Gardening Australia", professionaly produced in 2006. I found it a useful way to spend 72 minutes. It sheds a little bit of light on everything: water recycling, raised garden beds, small pond, chicken coop, etc. Here is the official site with the DVD: Gardening Australia, Permaculture.