The Ecologist articles from September 1997

The Ecologist archives from September 1997

The Thames Valley - a radioactive breeding ground for cancer. (London, England)(Editorial)
September 1, 1997... Human psychology is well adapted to evaluating risk. We do not do this probabilistically, but on the basis of best and worst case: thus we are prepared to spend money on a lottery ticket and chance winning a huge sum, even though we are well...

Big Mac attacks: lessons from the burger wars. (lawsuit filed against McDonald's Corp.)(Editorial)
September 1, 1997... At least two conclusions can be drawn from the recently-concluded McLibel trial in England. The more inspiring of these is that individuals can successfully stand up to the corporate juggernaut, especially when they join forces with...

The burden of literacy - a letter from India.(Editorial)
September 1, 1997... Let me state at the very outset, in no uncertain terms, that I am all in favour of achieving literacy but not unquestioningly and not without some concerns and reservations. I neither subscribe to the kinds of ghastly horror story that are...

The villages in Finland refuse to die. (rural movement in Finland for cultural identity protection)
September 1, 1997... For 25 years people in rural Finland have been fighting to keep their villages alive in the face of economic development which has swept people from the villages to the cities and even out of the country. It was in the mid-1960s that...

Mad cow disease; the meat industry is out of control.
September 1, 1997... The new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jacob (nvCJD) is a terrible disease which, after a long gestation period, eats away at the brain tissue, leading to dementia and certain death. There is no cure. Like AIDS, it is a completely new type of...

God protect us from those who "protect the skies." (Montreal Protocol)
September 1, 1997... To safeguard public health, it is inadvisable to rely upon corporate morality or feelings of social responsibility. Any international agreement regulating business activity has to be legally binding and completely watertight. Regrettably,...

Synergistic effects of chemical mixtures - can we rely on traditional toxicology? (includes related article on man-made chemicals)
September 1, 1997... Classical toxicology approaches the study of chemical substances one at a time. The incidence of a given toxic effect can be plotted against dosage to construct a `dose response curve'. From such a curve it is sometimes possible to decide if...

Scientific superstitions: the cult of randomness and the taboo on teleology.
September 1, 1997... The notion that the ecosphere and everything in it is the product of pure chance is critical to the paradigm of reductionist science. The French biologist and Nobel Laureate, Jacques Monod,[1] refers to the mechanism determining the...

Childhood as disease. (Minimal Brain Dysfunction)
September 1, 1997... In February 1979 the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America ordered the elimination of a diagnostic term as being unscientific. The disease was called Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) and its manifestations were so...

The family besieged. (Christopher Lasch's writings)
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

Haven in a Heartless World.
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

The Culture of Narcissism.
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

The Minimal Self.
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

The True and Only Heaven.
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

The Revolt of the Elite.
September 1, 1997... If modernists are right, the family must be in fine shape: sexism and patriarchy are waning, freedom and equality growing. Yet `progress' has its price: stability and security are also waning, while consumerism, delinquency and divorce...

Short Circuit; Strengthening Local Economies for Security in an Unstable World.
September 1, 1997... SHORT CIRCUIT; Strengthening Local Economies for Security in an Unstable World by Richard Douthwaite Green Books, Totnes, 1996, 386pp, 14.95 [pounds sterling] ISBN 1-87098-64-1 Environmentalists often lay themselves open to the charge of...

One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism.
September 1, 1997... ONE WORLD, READY OR NOT: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism by William Greider Simon and Schuster, New York, 1997, pp. 528, $27.50 (hb), ISBN 0-684-81141-3 Books on globalization tend, on the whole, to be worthy but heavy going. It is...

Towards a Sustainable Economy: The Need for Fundamental Change.
September 1, 1997... TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY: The need for fundamental change by Ted Trainer Jon Carpenter, The Spendlove Centre, Charlbury, Oxford, OX7 3PQ and Envirobook, Sydney, 1996, 10.99/US$15.95 (pb), 186pp. ISBN 1-897766-14-9. This is a succinct,...

Alternative World.
September 1, 1997... ALTERNATIVE WORLD by Nares Craig Housman's Bookshop Publication, London, 1997, 7.50 [pounds sterling] (pb), ISBN 0-85283-251-6 As the title suggests, this book is a blueprint for achieving Craig's vision of an alternative world. The first...