People across Europe will need to work drastically fewer hours to avoid disastrous climate heating unless there is a radical decarbonising of the economy, according to a study.--
The research, from thinktank Autonomy, shows workers in the UK would need to move to nine-hour weeks to keep the country on track to avoid more than 2C of heating at current carbon intensity levels. Similar reductions were found to be necessary in Sweden and Germany.
The findings are based on OECD and UN data on greenhouse gas emissions per industry in the three countries. It found that at current carbon levels, all three would require a drastic reduction in working hours as well as urgent measures to decarbonise the economy to prevent climate breakdown.
Will Stronge, the director of Autonomy, said the research highlighted the need to include reductions in working hours as part of the efforts to address the climate emergency....
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Tom,
I find that your third question to be the show stopper.
In 2019, I cannot find a single country or culture or institution that has a reliable handle on our times or how to respond to them in ways that will make differences that do not make things worse.
The air if full slogans and promises that are unhinged from both physical and human realities, e.g. let’s move to 100% renewables; let’s ensure that AI will be used wisely; let’s ensure growth and jobs.
Trusted leaders who have the insight and courage to lead us to a deeper maturity are silent or absent.
I expect the next 30 years will be as tumultuous and pain-filled as were the 30 years from 1920 to 1950. And we are not at all ready for the experience. Actually, we are in worse shape than folks were in 1920.
Given the above, I seek a hope that is the other side of despair. For despair at now unimagined scales is already baked in.
Ruben
Ruben Nelson
Executive Director
Foresight Canada
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Tom A. says, in small part: "On the other hand, the other 99% to a large degree is tied to the job/work addiction. It's right in the GND, good jobs with good pay..."
With regard to job/work addiction, well this "addiction" is socially and culturally constructed--in most cases, certainly amongst the proletariat. As such, it can, with some slight attention, be deconstituted too. That deconstruction, when taken along with genuinely "good jobs" with "good pay," would serve the purpose for 80% of the world. What to do with time, that is freed up with shorter work weeks, etc., CAN resolve itself (with some good ol' socialist social engineering).
By the way (he said from his observational perch in Cologne), why
is it that UPS can think to start to switch its fleet to electric
trucks in Europe, but not in the US?
-- Ashwani Vasishth vasi...@ramapo.edu (201) 684-6616 http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~vasishth -------------------------------------------------------- Associate Professor of Sustainability Convener, Sustainability Program (BA) President, New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) Director, Center for Sustainability http://ramapo.edu/sustainability Ramapo College of New Jersey 505 Ramapo Valley Road, SSHS, Mahwah, NJ 07430 --------------------------------------------------------
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Tom A. says, in small part: "On the other hand, the other 99% to a large degree is tied to the job/work addiction. It's right in the GND, good jobs with good pay..."
With regard to job/work addiction, well this "addiction" is socially and culturally constitued--in most cases, certainly amongst the proletariat. As such, it can, with some slight attention, be deconstituted too. That deconstruction, when taken along with genuinely "good jobs" with "good pay," would serve the purpose for 80% of the world. What to do with time, that is freed up with shorter work weeks, etc., CAN resolve itself (with some good ol' socialist social engineering).
By the way (he said from his observational perch in Cologne), how is it that UPS can think to start to switch its fleet to electric trucks in Europe, but not in the US?
-- Ashwani Vasishth vasi...@ramapo.edu (201) 684-6616 http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~vasishth -------------------------------------------------------- Associate Professor of Sustainability Convener, Sustainability Program (BA) President, New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) Director, Center for Sustainability http://ramapo.edu/sustainability Ramapo College of New Jersey 505 Ramapo Valley Road, SSHS, Mahwah, NJ 07430 --------------------------------------------------------
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/scorai/CAC0ykQH5pUzCh55e%3DMnNiAz5ACiKBbSG96Uv0c-sixJ83UCbQQ%40mail.gmail.com.
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In response to Tom, "On the other hand, the other 99% to a large degree is tied to the job/work addiction. It's right in the GND, good jobs with good pay..."
I am not sure if I’ve seen a good measurement of this, but my sense is that this number (99%) is very far from accurate. Certainly, people want stability, but in my research I am finding myriad groups of people who not only are not addicted to work, they are actively pursuing different livelihoods that aren’t tied to work. Think of downshifting, Transition Towns, sharing economies (small scale, not Uber), co-ops, time banks where people pay with their time and skills, upticks in interest in food production to be able to work less, and the list goes on.
As far as I can tell, there is a seething critique of the capitalist treadmill running under the surface of almost everyone’s consciousness. I know you have all heard people express this general sense of “this world is crazy/screwed/terrible.” If it’s a conservative person, they may tie their dissatisfaction to government incompetence. If it’s a liberal, they’ll tie it to corporate exploitation. I actually feel that most people are sick of the ‘rat race’ which is squeezing all but the top 1% of earners (in America) tighter and tighter.
The reasons people give for this sense of alienation aren’t that important to me, because as a sociologist my theoretical assessment is that they are essentially all describing the alienation that comes from capitalist exploitation. Most of the people I talk to are looking for some alternatives that bring some meaning and connection to nature, work, and community back into their lives, and this looks different for different people. Some people grow food, some people join a co-op, some people work less and spend less, some people go KonMari/minimalist, etc.
Again, I am a qual researcher so I haven’t seen survey data that measures overall dissatisfaction with one’s work life in general, but my sense is that it is quite widespread.
Ashley
Ashley Colby Fitzgerald
PhD, Environmental Sociology
Instructor, Washington State University
Co-founder Rizoma Field School
Colonia, Uruguay
.
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