The Worldwatch Institute provides examples of what is needed and can be done. For governments the focus must be on regional and local development of appropriate indicators. And the most convenient data available may not be the most informative in relation to our societal goals and values. In this regard the initiative of Joe Jordan, M.P. �Bill C-268�The Canada Well-Being Measurement Act, which was reintroduced by Marlene Jennings (L. Notre-Dame-de-Grace � Lachine) in the House of Commons on February 14, 2001, requires more extensive publicity, discussion and support.�

To reveal the nature and magnitude of the real problems can inspire hope if this knowledge directs us toward the systemic policies and concerted actions the global situation demands. Without such knowledge and plans there can be no confidence in official statements that �economic fundamentals are healthy�.

Bruce Buchanan

1 Bartlett, Albert. �Sustainability Laws� and other papers at csficolorado.edu/authors/BardettAbert.

2 Hardin, Garrett. The Tragedy of the Commons, 1968.

3 See www.cyberus.ca/choose.sustain/index3.html.

�from Economic Reform, May 2001

Bringing land and monetary reform together

Report published in Progressive Forum, June 2001

A group of monetary reformers and land-taxers gathered at James Robertson�s home in Oxfordshire in April. James has a foot in both camps and has long felt that each needs to acknowledge that the other possesses insights that must be shared.

Tony Vickers came away convinced that there is a keystone concept still to be found, hewn and erected into place, which will enable New Economics to hold its own against the neo-liberal establishment. He writes: �It may not be putting it too strongly to say that it is probably the most important task facing humanity to make a coherent, safe structure from the component parts of New Economics. I believe Georgism and monetary reform are like two strong pillars, leaning toward each other but not yet ready to carry the burden of what James calls the New Economics of Sustainable Development.�

Break the Whip

It should be illegal to influence an MP�s vote

George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 12th June 2001

A few months ago, I accepted an invitation to speak at the Oxford Union, the university society famed throughout the world for the brilliance of its debates. I don�t think they�ll be inviting me again.

We were supposed to be discussing an issue of critical importance (�this house believes that big business is the natural enemy of the environment�), but it soon became clear that hardly any of the students who had chosen to speak were remotely interested in the subject. One of my supporters appeared to have confined his research to examining the definitions of each of the words in the motion. One of my opponents flatly contradicted himself six times in his efforts to establish his circumlocutory magnificence.

The president - a drawling, swaggering 20-year-old in white tie and tails - announced that, as was customary, the Spectator magazine had reserved a magnum of champagne for the best speech from the floor; before awarding it, as also appeared to be customary, to the person who made the evening�s most fatuous contribution. Throughout the �debate�, the speakers used conventions which made the House of Lords look chic: �no honourable sir, I will not yield�. The men forced their squeaky voices down the register until they sounded like port-soaked peers of the realm. They were no more than 19 or 20 years old, but it seemed to me that they had hearts like stones.

I went home feeling physically sick, and turned on the radio while I was brushing my teeth. It was Today in Parliament. I listened with a growing sense of recognition: there was the same cleverness, and the same utter lack of conviction. It struck me more forcibly than ever before that power in Britain remains the preserve of those who who care for nothing but themselves. Sean Woodward, complete with butler, estate and personality bypass, slides effortlessly across the house. Michael Portillo, once the most illiberal man in mainstream politics, can reposition himself as the champion of the oppressed. When politics is a matter of convenience, not conviction, only the self-interested prosper.