I arrived in Brazil a few days ago, so I would like to describe some of the impressions I have of the city of Porto Alegre, where I returned to live after 13 months in Europe. Read More
Tags: Brazil · Civilization · Consumerism · Culture · Porto Alegre · Rio Grande do Sul
When, in 1950, Miles Davis announced the Birth of the Cool, nobody really believed him. Air-conditioning was still big and noisy.
Tags: Cars · Consumerism · Culture · Irony · Climate Change · Technology
Is climate change caused by human action? If so, to what extent are we responsible? Unlike many supposed promoters of sustainability, I believe these questions are relevant to the interpretation of the system we live in and to the definition of adaptive and corrective plans.
Tags: Science · Civilization · Ethics · Information · IPCC · Climate Change
A comment to the last post challenged me with a question. Could a sustainable tax shift work in Brazil? The author referred to an example cited in Lester Brown’s Plan B: a cut in labor taxes followed by an increase in energy-related tariffs. Genius, said the commentator.
I respond stating that sustainable taxation is a powerful instrument for the promotion of sustainability which can be implemented by any country, according to its particularities. I would like to extend this debate and expose some actions on the field of tax policies, especially regarding automobiles.
Tags: Banks · Brazil · Cars · Europe · Government · Lester Brown · Rio Grande do Sul
Trying to define the word “sustainability” is a fundamental exercise for any mortal who aims to contribute to the everlasting presence of humankind on Earth. It is an interesting proposal for group exercises and individual reflections, which requires us to be open-minded. One cannot enunciate a definition of that expression with the intent to make it resist to the effects of time, because the concept evolves rapidly. It is also not possible to make it resist to every discussion, since people living in different contexts understand the challenges of civilization in very different ways.
Tags: Civilization · Sustainable Development · Ethics · Lester Brown
