Punkys Dilemma

Less Is More: Rogue Economists Champion Prosperity without Growth

Sat, 04 May 2013 03:56:55 -0600

For years, economists have posited that prosperity requires growth, with environmental damage as the regrettable but unavoidable consequence. A growing number of critics are now challenging this equation, though, calling for a radical revamping of the economic system.

Harald Welzer’s career as a critic of growth began with a few simple reflections. Just how progressive is it, he asked himself, when millions of hectares of land are used elsewhere in the world so that we keep down the cost of meat? How modern is it when producing a kilogram of salmon in a supposedly sustainable way requires feeding the fish five to six kilograms (11 to 13 pounds) of other types of fish?

If everyone used up as much space and resources as we do, says the 54-year-old Berlin-based social psychologist, we would need three earths. In Welzer’s eyes, this can hardly be called progress.

All of this made Welzer so angry that he wrote a book critical of equating this sort of progress with growth. The ruling class of economists, who he characterizes as “disdainers of reality” and “proponents of a world essentially limited by consumption,” is responsible for compulsively tying these two concepts together, he argues. His treatise, “Selbst denken” (“Thinking for Ourselves”), is a manual for phasing out the “totalitarian consumerism” that gives people desires that, until recently, they didn’t even suspect they would ever have.

Until a few months ago, Welzer specialized in studying the psyche of Nazi criminals. He has also written about climate wars. His current bestseller, “Selbst denken,” has now made him the figurehead of a movement that radically questions the growth model of the Western economy.

Welzer was also recently named a professor in transformation design at the University of Flensburg, in northern Germany. When a local journalist asked him what transformation design is, he replied: “We don’t exactly know yet ourselves.” But the goal of the discipline, he added, is to counter the “systematic scam” created by an industry that produces things that break unnecessarily or are hardly capable of being repaired. Welzer wants to “design corridors” in which companies would be given time to transform faceless, no-name products into durable products with an origin and a history.

Economists have largely disregarded the environmental consequences of growth. For them, the key benchmark of prosperity is gross domestic product (GDP), the sum of all products and services produced in a given country. However, GDP does not factor in the overexploitation of resources, the destruction of biological diversity, air pollution, noise, the expansion of impervious surfaces known as soil sealing, and the poisoning of groundwater.

But for many people, a wealth model built on chronic growth is no longer a desirable goal. They are deciding to opt out of this model by establishing “repair cafés” or “transition towns,” communities that try to run things differently at the local level. But doubts about the growth dogma are even beginning to creep into politics. For instance, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), recently argued that Western countries should “espouse limiting economic growth” at home.

But can there be prosperity without growth and growth without environmental damage? How can jobs be preserved in a stagnating or even a shrinking economy? How can a government service its debts in such an economy, especially as the population shrinks?

Read the rest here

People who get hung up on era. and modernity and what is new and...

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:54:00 -0600

People who get hung up on era. and modernity and what is new and what is old and what is tasteful should get an eye-full of Kabel, a beautiful piece of German Modernism from the 1920’s designed to take Futura’s timeless throne that instead became the awesome font of the connoisseur pot smokers record collection, inevitably the font of the mid 1970’s, who gives a fuck what era its from it looks great!

Democratic design, a case study: I wonder what Charles & Ray...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:53:00 -0600

Democratic design, a case study:

I wonder what Charles & Ray Eames would think seeing their simple, functional, universal furniture reduced to the status of elitist museum pieces? example being the ‘Eames Plastic Armchair’ above right, which was designed as part of contest put on by MOMA in 1950, the theme? ‘Low cost furniture design’ (emphasis mine) currently retailing at? £450.

Now all power to the people at Vitra that currently make the chair, they have fine stable of designers, take risks with their production and I’m sure are dedicated to what they do, but I will never in my 20’s be able to furnish my home in most of their goods. It’s not like I have a right to design classics either, this isn’t necessarily bellyaching but why is there so much talk of ‘Democratic’ design when clearly the emphasis is on high end? that’s when Robin Day comes in, Robin (pictured above) and his wife Lucienne are often compared to the Eames, and while they were both talented designers they rarely collaborated the way Charles and Ray did.

Robins most famous design is his 1963 ‘polypropolene chair’ which he made for the British manufacturer ‘Hille’ it was cheap, functional, stackable and alledgedly the most widely sold chair of all time. He followed it up with several others in the same mold including the wonderful ‘polyprop armchair’ pictured above (c.1967) which I can attest is as lovely, comfortable and light as any Eames chair, cost? £59, or £83 if you want the legs in Chrome and still made in England in the Hille factory, either way it’s a comfortable price for any young apartment dweller, I think Robin would be thrilled, truly democratic design.

Delighted to have came across renowned post-war German youth...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 09:05:00 -0600

Delighted to have came across renowned post-war German youth magazine ‘Twen’ designed by Willy Fleckhaus with this beautiful spareness (not all issues, some are more typical of the era) and wonderful cross page spreads that have some Alexi Brodovitch to them but push the graphic style further, most of all the photography is soft, intimate and almost voyeuristic, in contrast to the ever sharper, cleaner (and at this point very bland) magazine photography of today (Apartamento excluded)

(also of note is the font used very effectively: Schmalfette Grotesk designed by Walter Haettenschweiler in 1954)

discovered via.

"Art/Architecture, Design/Fashion. Do you believe in the merging of creative disciplines? Actually..."

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:48:04 -0600

“

Art/Architecture, Design/Fashion. Do you believe in the merging of creative disciplines?

Actually they are all connected to each other in our lifestyle. However, they are categorised and separated for our industrial reasons and this is the situation. Because of this, we design home electric products as electric products rather than blending them into the interior. Fashion and furniture are designed without any interconnections as well.

”

- Interesting idea from the great industrial designer Naoto Fukosawa

There are plenty of criticisms to be aimed at professional...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:02:00 -0600

There are plenty of criticisms to be aimed at professional critics, often they are arrogant, nowhere near as knowledgeable as one who passes judgement for a living should be, and worst of all lacking in humor or self awareness, none of these could be applied to Roger Ebert who died last Friday, an enthusiast and everyman, few critics will be as missed.

I didn’t find Ebert’s writing during his 90’s ‘Siskel & Ebert’ heyday where he was a sort of constant pop culture presence but rather after his first bout of cancer when he took to blogging prolifically and opened up his huge archive of reviews, these were a pleasure to read (usually after seeing the film, spoilers were sort of a specialty of his writing) because aside from being a great critic he was a great writer: amiable, personal and funny without allowing his personality to overshadow the film and most of all he wasn’t infallible and knew it, famously trashing the great ‘Blade Runner’ and revising his review a decade later.

He will be missed by me and many others,
be sure to check out his website and this Esquire profile for an insight into the man.

oldchum: Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:05:22 -0600

oldchum:

Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to one foot, these miniature models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen according to her specifications. More here c/o Lloyd

These are tight

Designing a small range of summer clothing decked in prints...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:01:00 -0600

Designing a small range of summer clothing decked in prints featuring beloved European children’s book character Barbar the Elephant seems like a terrible idea, when in fact its a great Idea:

Well done Soulland! these are tight

Photo

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 04:51:42 -0600

I haven’t enjoyed anyone’s illustration/design as...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:20:00 -0700

I haven’t enjoyed anyone’s illustration/design as much as I enjoy Geoff McFetridges since Mike Mills, especially this reductive series, filled with humor and driven by economy.

His earlier work was more of a place with mid 00’s design with a strong a 1970s/Ironic feel but as it’s progressed, become warmer more personal and he’s taken on this really lovely simplicity of line, the closest thing to it being maybe Ben Shahns illustrations or Marjene Satrapi, and It’s also nice to see someone take on multiple-mediums, McFetridge has done ceramics, wallpaper and is working on some fabrics in addition to fine art and commercial illustration, it makes you nostalgic for a time when fine artists had democratic instincts and not just commercial ones, and vice versa.

On Food: providence and place

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:42:00 -0700

If your living in Europe right now, some point in the last two weeks you’ve probably seen a newscast or article on the ongoing horsemeat scandal, essentially they found between 60% to 100% minced horse in frozen burgers and ready-meals throughout the continent as part of a dizzyingly complex supply chain eventually traced to some shady abattoirs in Romania.

The coverage has ranged from shock, xenophobia (those Poles! no wait, those Romanians!) humor, bemused comment (whats so wrong with eating horse anyways?) but as the German newspaper Der Spiegal pointed out, the reality is that this was an utterly predictable result of the race to the bottom that has engulfed meat production, as much as chlorine drenched chickens unable to stand on their own, or pigs living in the dark in their own filth.

The end result of all this was I was in a mood to rethink my meat consumption, apply the same philosophy that I’ve been working from with on my possessions: less but better. The final push was two very different cookbooks: Phaidons gorgeously illustrated Tuscany and fusty English gardener Monty Don’s Home Cookbook.

Part of me loves cooking for the escapism, so for example last week I made a pretty good approximation of Jambalaya for mardi gras, the week before inspired by my book set in mitteleuropa I worked up a Hungarian goulash but reading Tuscany (which I ordered during a week of Italy-fuelled wanderlust) and realizing a) how many of these ingredients are near impossible to get outside of a major population centre with dedicated gourmet shops b) how unsuitable the recipes are for export, being based on seasons and ingredients intrisic to the area.

A little disheartened, I instead opened the Monty Don book, expecting some ghostwritten so-so recipes with gardening tips interspersed, but instead found a very enjoyable (and sternly written) guide to simple, seasonal eating in a wet, temperate climate (England, but readily applicable to Ireland) and after all how appropriate that a gardener would get that right, everything from chutneys, breads, simple soups and roasts with no excesses, almost all of which could be easily locally sourced.

So the Revelation is this, less but better: plan meals ahead to make best use of ingredients, source and eat meat sparingly to make it special and worthwhile and enjoy the best of what you can grow (right now parsley and potted basel and little else but thats ok, it’s febuary) not that I wont make taco soup or Sicilian style carbonara every once in a while, but eating should be considered, not random and that becomes clearer to me as time goes on.

Lee Dorsey - Ya Ya : listen to that pure weirdo New Orleans...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:54:00 -0700

Lee Dorsey - Ya Ya : listen to that pure weirdo New Orleans piano

Dear gods of publishing, Please reissue Bruce Davidsons amazing...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:46:00 -0700

Dear gods of publishing,

Please reissue Bruce Davidsons amazing ‘Brooklyn Gang 59’ so I can stop dreaming about it, it currently trades second hand on Amazon.co.uk for £1,965.00. and last reissued in 1998.

And while were on the subject of youth culture, publish Micheal Rougiers ‘Youth in Revolt’ photos in a nice book too.

I’ve been through a good few airports lately (Copenhagen,...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:30:00 -0700

I’ve been through a good few airports lately (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and my Native Dublin) but I’ve not enjoyed one as much as Charles De Gaulle in Paris in a long time, and thats not something you often hear about CDG as its (appropriately considering it’s french) somewhat kafkaesque, confusing, weird but also airy, elegent, and warm which is a pretty tough sell for a concrete slab of mid-70s brutalism.

It was designed by the then 29 year old Paul Andreu who went on to be a prominent airport designer, and consists of a series of futuristic tunnels and loops that lead on to vast open areas with dense concrete ornementation, one nice touch was the huge columns that ran through the middle of the baggage carousels, the seating is varied but I spotted some great yellow, red, brown seats reminiscent of Robin Day’s Polyproplene chair and finally there was the signage, done in Swiss typographer Adrian Frutigers ‘Frutiger’ which was commissioned for the airport and became a classic in its own right (the French never took to Helvetica)

So in conclusion, is it a great airport? not really, great airports probably shouldn’t be sprawling and mazelike, is it a great building? most definately.

Charming, brilliant video about folk furniture in Ireland. not...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:02:13 -0700

Charming, brilliant video about folk furniture in Ireland. not to be missed.

Inspiration & Execution: 1. Willhelm Schmurr’s...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:29:00 -0700

Inspiration & Execution:

1. Willhelm Schmurr’s portrait of the dancer Tatjana Barbakoff c.1925

2. Christophe Lemaire Asymmetrical shirt Men’s FW12

If Lemaire is in fact referencing this portrait (and I think he was) that is some serious crate digging and another reason he’s one of the best.

Italian-American photographer Tom Palumbo is best known for his...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 02:50:00 -0700

Italian-American photographer Tom Palumbo is best known for his fashion work that he did under two of the greatest art directors of all time (Alexy Brodivitch at Harpers and Alex Lieberman at Vogue) but I really love the colour and energy and I guess, the intimacy of these Candid photos he took in Parisian cafes in 1962

retro2go: Bjorn Borg ‘75

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 02:22:42 -0700

retro2go:

Bjorn Borg ‘75

There has been a lot of buzz on the internet about legendary,...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:10:01 -0700

There has been a lot of buzz on the internet about legendary, apple inspiring German designer Dieter Rams licensing his furniture designs to Vitsoe for international distribution and as much as I love his austere white goods and great universal shelving system I have to temper peoples enthusiasm: Rams furniture is fucking ugly* (and this is from someone who loves the very clunky, modernist end of mid Century furniture) they look weirdly like they are for hospital patients or in the case of his side tables the by-products of widget factories, have no grace or economy and stick far too rigidly to his ideas of modularity to be considered classic.

*exception is that his recliner is ugly, but it is also very good

If your the sort of cosmopolitan Internet person that I think a...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:39:00 -0700

If your the sort of cosmopolitan Internet person that I think a lot of us are, and you read the new york times online (until the paywall comes up) and maybe the Guardian and the occasional Washington post for your news then I highly recommend the english edition of ‘Der Spiegal’.

Considering its not so promising start as a creation of the authorities in the British sector of Germany in the post-war period, the Spiegal is for my money the best European newspaper period, which as a weekly takes a measured view on everything from art to politics to science with thoughtful long form essays and a strong centre-left editorial line that is never dogmatic and hysterical the way say the Guardian can be, check their recent year end article on German Xenophobia: nuanced, sharp, and unflinching but not hysterical or overdramatic.

but its not all about Germany (though a recent article on the new Bohemia now that Berlin’s gone corporate being Leipzig was interesting) they write just as well about broad European issues, the middle east and Africa.

Now all they need to do is make an full international version for Ipad

*plus they have one of the most batshit crazy offices of any business in existence, courtesy of Verner Panton