November 2006
Issue No. 395
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Buy now, pay later
Ethical consumerism may be all the rage, but it won’t save the planet, argues Jess Worth.
Stopping the Shopocalypse
Words of anti-consumerist wisdom from the Church of Stop Shopping’s Reverend Billy.
Fair enough?
Fair trade risks losing its soul to big business. Albert Tucker wants you to join the fightback.
Don't believe the hypermarket
Supermarkets haven’t seen the error of their unsustainable ways, reveals Sarah Irving.
21st century consumers
What brand of buyer are you?
Sweating over sweatshops
Mark Engler explains why ‘clean clothes’ campaigning is no longer about boycotting Gap.
Punk rock capitalism?
You can eliminate AIDS in Africa using an American Express credit card according to Product (RED)’s Tamsin Smith and Sheila Roche. Not everyone is convinced.
How to be an ethical consumer
Info and action ideas.
News, views, and & voices
Currents
Enough fiddling while the planet burns!
Sudan's other crisis
The crisis surrounding the return of refugees to post-war southern Sudan.
Worldbeaters
For years a sceptical Canada was left out of the worldbeating love-in between George W Bush and Tony Blair. Now right-wing Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been welcomed gladly to the fold.
Mixed Media
Music
Between the Desert and The Sea by El Tanbura
Music
Everything Must Change by Orange Blossom
Film
Red Road by Andrea Arnold
Film
Man Push Cart by Ramin Bahrani
Book
Freedom Next Time by John Pilger
Book
The Star of Algiers by Aziz Chouaki
Book
As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela by Mark Thomas
Southern Exposure
Postcards from ravaged Beirut: a unique living art project by pyromaniac photographer Abdallah Farah.
View from Montevideo
The Berlin Wall was considered an outrage. But where, asks Eduardo Galeano, is the outrage at the other walls being erected around the world, in Israel, Western Sahara and the US?
Essay: Free software!
Strike a blow for freedom – get rid of Windows, Word, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and the rest, says Bruce Byfield.
Big Bad World
Global warming and the closest of shaves in Polyp’s latest cartoon.
Making Waves
Battered women of all nationalities in the United Arab Emirates used to have no refuge. But Sharla Musabih has been putting that right.
Letter from Mauritius
How Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times predicted the reality of present-day Mauritius, by Lindsey Collen.
Country Profile: Thailand
In October 2006, Thailand expanded its list of tourist attractions with one of the world’s most laid-back military coups. Tourists and local residents alike posed for photos alongside the tanks and cheerful soldiers.
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
‘Irony officially died when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but it twitches back to life with alarming frequency.’
This is how Ian Nixon (no relation to Kissinger’s former boss), who designed this magazine, reacted to my discovery that you can actually get ‘ethical’ bullets. In fact, British arms manufacturer BAE Systems are not just providing the world with lead-free eco-bullets (because ‘lead used in ammunition can harm the environment and pose a risk to people’). They are in fact developing a whole range of ‘green’ munitions, from quieter warheads (to reduce noise pollution), smoke-free hand grenades, and armoured vehicles with hybrid engines. You couldn’t make this stuff up…
There’s a certain twisted logic to it. As BAE’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility explains: ‘Weapons are going to be used and when they are, we try to make them as safe for the user as possible, to limit the collateral damage and impact as little as possible on the environment.’ The problem, of course, is you can make your weapons as ethical as you like; but they’re still designed to kill people.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to minimize the negative impacts of your behaviour on the planet – we all have a responsibility to do that. But if something exists to cause death and destruction, the fact that it’s been painted a friendly shade of green doesn’t make it ok.
Shopping ethically is important. But it has very real limitations. There are no magic bullets, and if we don’t face up to this, our planet’s going to bite the dust in a hail of environmentally friendly fire.
Jess Worth for the
New Internationalist Co-operative
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
