Category: Changing the world

When it is hard to be a pacifist

The Ukraine conflict leads me to some conflicting thoughts about war, justice, non-violence and the Sermon on the Mount.

Christianity, colonialism and capitalism

I used to be a decent, conservative boy. But in my old age, it seems I have been radicalised. I think you can blame Jesus for that. When you’re young you accept what you’re told (sometimes) Growing up in postwar Australia, the world seemed pretty secure and mum and dad taught us what was right. […]

Was Jesus a socialist?

Some christians are accusing others of being socialists, as if that’s bad. But is it? Are Jesus’ teachings socialist?

Save a life without leaving home

Monthly challenge May challenge: 4 men facing death sentence Amnesty International reports: “Four journalists in Yemen have been sentenced to death on trumped up charges following grossly unfair trials. The absurd charges against Akram, Abdelkhaleq, Hareth and Tawfiq  include “creating several websites on the internet and social media.”  They have been detained, alongside six other […]

Help end child labour in the chocolate industry

Child labour and underpaid farmers are common in the chocolate industry. Chocolate companies promise to do better, so let’s encourage them to do so!

Amid the gloom, much good news

Monthly challenge – supporting the Sustainable Development Goals

Take real steps to support poor workers in the clothing industry

Monthly challenge December challenge It should be no news to anyone that the clothing industry has a sad history of paying meagre wages and offering unhealthy working conditions to workers in poor countries, all to reduce the price of the clothing in richer countries by a few cents. Not so long ago, it was estimated […]

Buy only "good" chocolate for a month

Monthly challenge November challenge It’s not such a hard challenge, really. Eating chocolate I mean. But the good news is that it’s also not so hard to eat “good” (i.e. ethical) chocolate these days. If you don’t want to be complicit in slavery, child labour, poor working conditions for poor workers or unsustainable practices (and […]

Addressing climate change: six facts

This page in brief We have seen that there are many good reasons to take action to limit global warming. But will it cost too much? On this page, I summarise the latest data on costs, which show that it will be far more costly to do nothing. Action is very cost-beneficial. (I give references […]

Short-sighted selfishness rules, OK? Part 2

The story so far …. A few weeks back I outlined how lack of foresight and turning a blind eye to facts means the Australian government is harming the people it represents and the country it governs. In this post I continue the sorry story with some facts about how our government, and most other […]