State of the Planethttp://www.good.is/A special report on what's happening on Earth in 2009 and beyond.Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:27:53 -0800CakePHPhourly1en-us <![CDATA[Whatever Happened To...]]> http://www.good.is/post/whatever-happened-to/ http://www.good.is/post/whatever-happened-to/ Whatever Happened To... Bird Flu?
You couldn't find a hotter health story in 2006 than bird flu–specifically, the H5N1 variety, which killed 60 percent of the people it infected and was predicted to kill between 5 million and 150 million more if a full-on outbreak were to occur. So why are we all still here? Mostly because the virus never mutated into a form that could transmit easily from birds to humans, and its spread in farmed birds has been largely contained through vaccination. Wild birds still contract and spread the disease, but outbreaks in 2008 were a fifth of what they were the year before, and the human death count last year was 59. The potential for a pandemic persists, but our lack of preparation has not, as yet, come home to roost.

Photo Murdo Macleod / Polaris

 



Whatever Happened To... Killer Robots in Iraq?


Lots, actually. Last year saw the first-ever deployment of fearless and bloodless armed robots on the ground in Iraq (three of them), and iRobot, one of the U.S. military's main suppliers of robots, just shipped the Army its 2,000th PackBot, a recon robot. The Pentagon has made a commitment of $2 billion over the next five years, so Iraqi insurgents should expect to see even more of them. Next up: A.I. that can think for itself (but hopefully won't turn on its masters)

 



Whatever Happened To… The Axis of Evil?



We took care of one point pretty handily (for now). While it's hard to say what will happen once our troops leave Iraq, that county's current incarnation has no place on the Axis. Meanwhile, after many heartfelt promises by Kim Jong Il to abandon North Korea's nuclear program, the Bush administration lifted trade sanctions on the country, and, in October, North Korea was removed from the terror watch list. So, while there is no official "Axis of Evil" list to speak of, we can assume North Korea wouldn't be on it anymore if there were, since the media took both of these actions as signs that Kim and his cronies had turned over a new, non-evil leaf. That leaves Iran-still incredibly, aggressively unfriendly, and potentially up to a lot of no good-which leaves us with a small, solitary Dot of Evil.

 



Whatever Happened To… The Rainforest?


Remember back in the early 1990s when everyone was freaking out about the rain forests? So much so, in fact, that activists were chaining themselves to trees and Ben & Jerry's launched an ice cream to raise awareness? Guess what? It's still a problem. And according to a recent study by the World Wildlife Federation, we may be just 15 years away from the point of no return. An area the size of a football field is lost to deforestation every 10 seconds, and when that happens, the destroyed rain forests belch massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, setting off a domino effect of global warming, disrupted ocean currents, and drought. Logging, urbanization, hunting, and tourism have also contributed to the extinction of thousands of animal species a year. Time for a new ice-cream flavor.

NOW WHAT For an interactive guide to making your own home rainforest-friendly, visit archive.greenpeace.org/foresthouse

MORE INFO  rainforestalliance.org

PHOTO  Flickr user andresfib


]]> Whatever Happened To... Bird Flu?
You couldn't find a hotter health story in 2006 than bird flu–specifically, the H5N1 variety, which killed 60 percent of the people it infected and was predicted to kill between 5 million and 150 million more if a full-on outbreak were to occur. So why are we all still here? Mostly because the virus never mutated into a form that could transmit easily from birds to humans, and its spread in farmed birds has been largely contained through vaccination. Wild birds still contract and spread the disease, but outbreaks in 2008 were a fifth of what they were the year before, and the human death count last year was 59. The potential for a pandemic persists, but our lack of preparation has not, as yet, come home to roost.

Photo Murdo Macleod / Polaris

 



Whatever Happened To... Killer Robots in Iraq?


Lots, actually. Last year saw the first-ever deployment of fearless and bloodless armed robots on the ground in Iraq (three of them), and iRobot, one of the U.S. military's main suppliers of robots, just shipped the Army its 2,000th PackBot, a recon robot. The Pentagon has made a commitment of $2 billion over the next five years, so Iraqi insurgents should expect to see even more of them. Next up: A.I. that can think for itself (but hopefully won't turn on its masters)

 



Whatever Happened To… The Axis of Evil?



We took care of one point pretty handily (for now). While it's hard to say what will happen once our troops leave Iraq, that county's current incarnation has no place on the Axis. Meanwhile, after many heartfelt promises by Kim Jong Il to abandon North Korea's nuclear program, the Bush administration lifted trade sanctions on the country, and, in October, North Korea was removed from the terror watch list. So, while there is no official "Axis of Evil" list to speak of, we can assume North Korea wouldn't be on it anymore if there were, since the media took both of these actions as signs that Kim and his cronies had turned over a new, non-evil leaf. That leaves Iran-still incredibly, aggressively unfriendly, and potentially up to a lot of no good-which leaves us with a small, solitary Dot of Evil.

 



Whatever Happened To… The Rainforest?


Remember back in the early 1990s when everyone was freaking out about the rain forests? So much so, in fact, that activists were chaining themselves to trees and Ben & Jerry's launched an ice cream to raise awareness? Guess what? It's still a problem. And according to a recent study by the World Wildlife Federation, we may be just 15 years away from the point of no return. An area the size of a football field is lost to deforestation every 10 seconds, and when that happens, the destroyed rain forests belch massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, setting off a domino effect of global warming, disrupted ocean currents, and drought. Logging, urbanization, hunting, and tourism have also contributed to the extinction of thousands of animal species a year. Time for a new ice-cream flavor.

NOW WHAT For an interactive guide to making your own home rainforest-friendly, visit archive.greenpeace.org/foresthouse

MORE INFO  rainforestalliance.org

PHOTO  Flickr user andresfib


]]> GOOD Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:00:01 PST <![CDATA[Sand Castles]]> http://www.good.is/post/sand-castles/ http://www.good.is/post/sand-castles/

In South Africa, designers are using surprising materials to house locals


Every year, Cape Town's Design Indaba conference draws together high-profile architects from around the world to muse about the power of contemporary design. In 2007, Indaba's organizers decided to use that concentrated creative energy to address a problem in their own backyard: the thousands of impoverished people living in makeshift shacks in South Africa's townships. Looking to create low-cost houses that could serve as models for the future, they launched the 10x10 Housing Project, which paired 10 leading international architects with 10 local architects, and tasked each team with developing an appealing house that could be built for about $7,000.

Luyanda Mpahlwa, a partner in the firm MMA, and his team decided to build theirs with an unlikely but abundant source: sand. "African industry usually uses bricks and mortar, or clay brick, or concrete block, which is more expensive," says Mpahlwa. "As architects and professionals, we should be leading the search for different ways of building. Not everyone can afford the normally available material."

It was a wise design decision. Not only is MMA's house the sole design to be realized so far, but sponsors have funded the construction of 10 individual units for 10 families, rather than the originally planned single residence. The project also won the inaugural Curry Stone Design Prize, an annual $100,000 award for humanitarian design, in September. The houses are now nearly complete in Freedom Park, a community on the outskirts of Cape Town that was previously a warren of shacks.

Starting from a shell of EcoBeam timber framing, which uses a minimal amount of wood strengthened with zigzagging steel bars, the houses use row upon row of stuffed nylon sandbags to give the structure heft and permanence. Using sandbags for walls has a number of advantages. It's a readily available material, and it has good thermal qualities, which protects from the heat. Sand is also very sturdy when packed, and is good at dampening sound-an important consideration for communities where houses are clustered tightly together. But perhaps most importantly, MMA has designed a house that "can be built by hand by anybody," says Mpahlwa. The houses in Freedom Park are constructed with volunteer help from local women.

After all the bags are stacked, most of the exterior walls are wrapped with a wire mesh that gets coated with a thin layer of plaster, while a few sections are covered with wood or metal to achieve a desired look. The modern design of the 580-square-foot house offers something distinctly different for the area, with two floors of living space and a balcony that provides the basis for future expansion. "It's not high-science in terms of design," says Mpahlwa. "But for the area, it's very different, and for a family that has never had a house, it is spectacular."

The 10 houses are being given away for free to families who were selected via lottery, and MMA has ambitions to expand the project beyond Freedom Park. "This is a pilot project," that could be a model for other areas, says Mpahlwa. "We wanted to find something that could be a low-cost housing solution for the future."]]>

In South Africa, designers are using surprising materials to house locals


Every year, Cape Town's Design Indaba conference draws together high-profile architects from around the world to muse about the power of contemporary design. In 2007, Indaba's organizers decided to use that concentrated creative energy to address a problem in their own backyard: the thousands of impoverished people living in makeshift shacks in South Africa's townships. Looking to create low-cost houses that could serve as models for the future, they launched the 10x10 Housing Project, which paired 10 leading international architects with 10 local architects, and tasked each team with developing an appealing house that could be built for about $7,000.

Luyanda Mpahlwa, a partner in the firm MMA, and his team decided to build theirs with an unlikely but abundant source: sand. "African industry usually uses bricks and mortar, or clay brick, or concrete block, which is more expensive," says Mpahlwa. "As architects and professionals, we should be leading the search for different ways of building. Not everyone can afford the normally available material."

It was a wise design decision. Not only is MMA's house the sole design to be realized so far, but sponsors have funded the construction of 10 individual units for 10 families, rather than the originally planned single residence. The project also won the inaugural Curry Stone Design Prize, an annual $100,000 award for humanitarian design, in September. The houses are now nearly complete in Freedom Park, a community on the outskirts of Cape Town that was previously a warren of shacks.

Starting from a shell of EcoBeam timber framing, which uses a minimal amount of wood strengthened with zigzagging steel bars, the houses use row upon row of stuffed nylon sandbags to give the structure heft and permanence. Using sandbags for walls has a number of advantages. It's a readily available material, and it has good thermal qualities, which protects from the heat. Sand is also very sturdy when packed, and is good at dampening sound-an important consideration for communities where houses are clustered tightly together. But perhaps most importantly, MMA has designed a house that "can be built by hand by anybody," says Mpahlwa. The houses in Freedom Park are constructed with volunteer help from local women.

After all the bags are stacked, most of the exterior walls are wrapped with a wire mesh that gets coated with a thin layer of plaster, while a few sections are covered with wood or metal to achieve a desired look. The modern design of the 580-square-foot house offers something distinctly different for the area, with two floors of living space and a balcony that provides the basis for future expansion. "It's not high-science in terms of design," says Mpahlwa. "But for the area, it's very different, and for a family that has never had a house, it is spectacular."

The 10 houses are being given away for free to families who were selected via lottery, and MMA has ambitions to expand the project beyond Freedom Park. "This is a pilot project," that could be a model for other areas, says Mpahlwa. "We wanted to find something that could be a low-cost housing solution for the future."]]> Tim McKeough Thu, 5 Feb 2009 15:50:24 PST <![CDATA[You Say You Want a Revolution?]]> http://www.good.is/post/you-say-you-want-a-revolution/ http://www.good.is/post/you-say-you-want-a-revolution/
"We are too poor to afford education. But until we have education, how will we ever not be poor?"

- Headmaster in rural Nepal

It is such a simple solution to the issue of global poverty: Teach a child to read and you could vastly improve not only his or her life, but also the life of the family and the wider community. Perhaps the simplicity in the solution is the reason it hasn't been seriously considered-such a complex problem as global poverty must call for a complex and expensive solution, right?

This morning, more than 100 million children across the developing world woke up and did not put on a school uniform, did not walk to school, and did not sit at a desk and learn. An even bigger issue is that nearly 800 million people in the developing world are illiterate. That is one out of every eight human beings.

Two-thirds of those who are illiterate are girls and women, which is a problem that pays itself forward in perpetuity. If you do the math, the risks here are staggering-if every one of those 500 million women has four children, then the world will have an additional 2 billion children growing up with an uneducated and illiterate mother. If we don't educate the girls and women, we won't educate the next generation. That will be the reality of the future, unless we take action now and turn global education into a mass movement.

Why, when we have the means and the ability to lift a generation out of poverty through the lifelong
gift of education, is so little being done? The United Nations sees educating girls as an extremely powerful tool in addressing global poverty, more powerful and effective than any other initiative implemented in the developing world. When a woman is educated, there's a spillover effect to the next generation and all subsequent generations. Better nutrition and overall health, lower infant mortality rates, higher income levels-all key metrics that determine the fate of a community-are dramatically improved. And even more marked is that this improvement is not simply a Band-Aid-it becomes a permanent repair of the deep wounds of generations who have lived in poverty.
Nearly 800 million people in the developing world are illiterate.

In just eight years, Room to Read, an NGO I helped found, has already had a positive effect on the lives
of almost 2 million children in eight countries across Asia and Africa. We started with a donkey load of donated books and have since developed a widespread web of programs giving children opportunities to learn and read and finally have the awareness that they have choices-choices about how they want to live, what they want to do with their lives, and how they want to better their community. We view education as a hand up, not a handout, and we require active participation in building and running the schools and libraries funded by our organization. Our programs are extremely affordable-$250 will allow a girl to attend school for a year, and $25,000 will pay for construction of an entire school. I am not trying to give Room to Read a pat on the back, but attempting to illustrate how capable we are, in this generation of wealth creation, to attack global poverty directly, effectively, and cost-effectively.

For millions of children in the poorest parts of the world, there are no schools, no libraries, no books, and no teachers. Every day we don't help is a day we don't get back. The clock is ticking. I believe, and I hope, that we can do better. If so, we will pick a generation up out of poverty. If not, our ancestors will look back and wonder whether we lacked foresight, or courage, or both.

NOW WHAT Get involved with bringing libraries to the developing world at roomtoread.org


]]>
"We are too poor to afford education. But until we have education, how will we ever not be poor?"

- Headmaster in rural Nepal

It is such a simple solution to the issue of global poverty: Teach a child to read and you could vastly improve not only his or her life, but also the life of the family and the wider community. Perhaps the simplicity in the solution is the reason it hasn't been seriously considered-such a complex problem as global poverty must call for a complex and expensive solution, right?

This morning, more than 100 million children across the developing world woke up and did not put on a school uniform, did not walk to school, and did not sit at a desk and learn. An even bigger issue is that nearly 800 million people in the developing world are illiterate. That is one out of every eight human beings.

Two-thirds of those who are illiterate are girls and women, which is a problem that pays itself forward in perpetuity. If you do the math, the risks here are staggering-if every one of those 500 million women has four children, then the world will have an additional 2 billion children growing up with an uneducated and illiterate mother. If we don't educate the girls and women, we won't educate the next generation. That will be the reality of the future, unless we take action now and turn global education into a mass movement.

Why, when we have the means and the ability to lift a generation out of poverty through the lifelong
gift of education, is so little being done? The United Nations sees educating girls as an extremely powerful tool in addressing global poverty, more powerful and effective than any other initiative implemented in the developing world. When a woman is educated, there's a spillover effect to the next generation and all subsequent generations. Better nutrition and overall health, lower infant mortality rates, higher income levels-all key metrics that determine the fate of a community-are dramatically improved. And even more marked is that this improvement is not simply a Band-Aid-it becomes a permanent repair of the deep wounds of generations who have lived in poverty.
Nearly 800 million people in the developing world are illiterate.

In just eight years, Room to Read, an NGO I helped found, has already had a positive effect on the lives
of almost 2 million children in eight countries across Asia and Africa. We started with a donkey load of donated books and have since developed a widespread web of programs giving children opportunities to learn and read and finally have the awareness that they have choices-choices about how they want to live, what they want to do with their lives, and how they want to better their community. We view education as a hand up, not a handout, and we require active participation in building and running the schools and libraries funded by our organization. Our programs are extremely affordable-$250 will allow a girl to attend school for a year, and $25,000 will pay for construction of an entire school. I am not trying to give Room to Read a pat on the back, but attempting to illustrate how capable we are, in this generation of wealth creation, to attack global poverty directly, effectively, and cost-effectively.

For millions of children in the poorest parts of the world, there are no schools, no libraries, no books, and no teachers. Every day we don't help is a day we don't get back. The clock is ticking. I believe, and I hope, that we can do better. If so, we will pick a generation up out of poverty. If not, our ancestors will look back and wonder whether we lacked foresight, or courage, or both.

NOW WHAT Get involved with bringing libraries to the developing world at roomtoread.org


]]> John Wood Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:21:15 PST <![CDATA[Who’s Learning What? ]]> http://www.good.is/post/whos-learning-what/ http://www.good.is/post/whos-learning-what/ A look at how countries rank in math and science test scores.


 (Average score of a 15-year-old student on science and math literacy tests, out of a possible score of 1000.)


]]> A look at how countries rank in math and science test scores.


 (Average score of a 15-year-old student on science and math literacy tests, out of a possible score of 1000.)


]]> GOOD Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:20:29 PST <![CDATA[2009 List: Teachers' Aids]]> http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-teachers-aids/ http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-teachers-aids/ Five things that will change education this year.
1 Laptops for all

The One Laptop per Child computer is expected to dip to its lowest price ever in 2010, selling for a mere $75. Bonus: The newest model is also rumored to have a touch screen. Expect record orders for it in 2009, with Peru leading the pack.

2 NCLB revamped

Look out for President Obama's dismantling of No Child Left Behind, the United States's colossal failure in education reform. In its place, expect better teacher pay and support for charters, but no vouchers.

3 Germany: der allerbeste!

Germany will try to secure its spot as "the Federal Republic of Education" when its federal and state governments come together to map out ways to implement their pledge to increase spending on schools, reduce dropout rates, and other goals.

4 Higher learning

Watch and learn as attendees at Unesco's World Conference on Higher Education ask tough questions about the role education plays in national development (think China) and sustainability efforts.

5 Literacy to the fore

The U.N. will use its global action week in April to highlight its goal for global literacy by 2015. As it stands, 20 percent of adults worldwide-two-thirds of them women-still cannot read.


]]> Five things that will change education this year.
1 Laptops for all

The One Laptop per Child computer is expected to dip to its lowest price ever in 2010, selling for a mere $75. Bonus: The newest model is also rumored to have a touch screen. Expect record orders for it in 2009, with Peru leading the pack.

2 NCLB revamped

Look out for President Obama's dismantling of No Child Left Behind, the United States's colossal failure in education reform. In its place, expect better teacher pay and support for charters, but no vouchers.

3 Germany: der allerbeste!

Germany will try to secure its spot as "the Federal Republic of Education" when its federal and state governments come together to map out ways to implement their pledge to increase spending on schools, reduce dropout rates, and other goals.

4 Higher learning

Watch and learn as attendees at Unesco's World Conference on Higher Education ask tough questions about the role education plays in national development (think China) and sustainability efforts.

5 Literacy to the fore

The U.N. will use its global action week in April to highlight its goal for global literacy by 2015. As it stands, 20 percent of adults worldwide-two-thirds of them women-still cannot read.


]]> GOOD Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:06:33 PST <![CDATA[Move Over, Dubai]]> http://www.good.is/post/move-over-dubai/ http://www.good.is/post/move-over-dubai/

Abu Dhabi is bridging the gap to the west with by bringing art (and biopsies, and Econ 101 classes) to its own shores.


1. The Louvre

It's still unclear where the Mona Lisa's going to live, but one thing is certain: By 2012, Abu Dhabi will have its very own Louvre, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. The Emirate forked over $520 million just for the name, and is paying France another $700 million-plus in consulting and execution.

2. New York University

In the fall of 2010, NYUAD will join La Sorbonne as prestigious universities creating eastern facsimiles of themselves. Touted as the first liberal arts and science college of its caliber in the east, NUYAD It will open on Saadiyat Island with 2,000 students in fall 2010, with unrestricted curricula.

3. The Cleveland Clinic

The world-class cancer hospital brings its expertise to a space-age-looking outpost in Abu Dhabi, slated to open in 2011. It will start with 360 beds, scalable to 490, and all doctors will be western-trained. Now, the superrich have another reason to head for AD and never leave.

4. The Guggenheim

Aiming to be the first ever museum of global contemporary art, this $780 million behemoth will be the Guggenheim's sixth. Its director-poached from the New York homebase-calls the thing "pharonic," promising art space as well as hotels, golf courses and residential units. And it wouldn't befit the locale if it wasn't the largest Guggenheim on earth: 452,000 square feet designed by- who else?-Frank Gehry.

5. Sotheby's and Christie's Auction Houses

Following a growing demand from Middle East collectors and continuing the trend of arthouses in the Emirates, big-money auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's have already started exhibitions and sales in Abu Dhabi, as well as its trailblazing cousin Dubai.]]>

Abu Dhabi is bridging the gap to the west with by bringing art (and biopsies, and Econ 101 classes) to its own shores.


1. The Louvre

It's still unclear where the Mona Lisa's going to live, but one thing is certain: By 2012, Abu Dhabi will have its very own Louvre, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. The Emirate forked over $520 million just for the name, and is paying France another $700 million-plus in consulting and execution.

2. New York University

In the fall of 2010, NYUAD will join La Sorbonne as prestigious universities creating eastern facsimiles of themselves. Touted as the first liberal arts and science college of its caliber in the east, NUYAD It will open on Saadiyat Island with 2,000 students in fall 2010, with unrestricted curricula.

3. The Cleveland Clinic

The world-class cancer hospital brings its expertise to a space-age-looking outpost in Abu Dhabi, slated to open in 2011. It will start with 360 beds, scalable to 490, and all doctors will be western-trained. Now, the superrich have another reason to head for AD and never leave.

4. The Guggenheim

Aiming to be the first ever museum of global contemporary art, this $780 million behemoth will be the Guggenheim's sixth. Its director-poached from the New York homebase-calls the thing "pharonic," promising art space as well as hotels, golf courses and residential units. And it wouldn't befit the locale if it wasn't the largest Guggenheim on earth: 452,000 square feet designed by- who else?-Frank Gehry.

5. Sotheby's and Christie's Auction Houses

Following a growing demand from Middle East collectors and continuing the trend of arthouses in the Emirates, big-money auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's have already started exhibitions and sales in Abu Dhabi, as well as its trailblazing cousin Dubai.]]> Siobhan O'Connor Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:00:55 PST <![CDATA[The Anti-Consumers]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-anti-consumers/ http://www.good.is/post/the-anti-consumers/ Five Groups That Aren't Buying It
The Amish
Estimated Membership: 232,000
Homeland: U.S. & Canada
The Amish have been partying the same way since 1693, and though less-strict communities allow for some use of technology (solar energy, hydropower) their commitment to simplicity is impressive: most travel by horse-drawn buggy, sew their own clothes on foot-powered machines, and cook on wood-fired stoves. This level of immaterialism is not for the hasty. As one Amish farmer told the Institute for Environmental Studies: "We often joke that where tractors can plough a six-acre field in two hours, I figure two days-but my time includes listening to vesper sparrows and meadowlarks and watching clouds scud across the sky."

No Impact Man
Estimated Membership: 3 known, countless inspired
Homeland: New York City
Of the multitude of bloggers bent on sitting at a computer to champion their sustainable lifestyle, No Impact Man (44-year-old writer Colin Beavan) is arguably the most serious: he has given up producing any sort of trash, using carbon-fueled methods of transport, shopping for anything but food grown within a 250-mile radius of his apartment, and-here's the best part-toilet paper. His wife and daughter are along for the ride, which is documented on his blog and a forthcoming book and documentary, due out year.

The Church of Stop Shopping
Estimated Membership: 20,000
Homeland: Worldwide
When performance artist Bill Talen (aka "Reverend Billy") started preaching to the bag-laden shoppers in New York City's Union Square in the late 1990s, little did he know he'd launch a new religion. There are now members of the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir in every continent but Antarctica. Their credo: The Shopocalypse is nigh, and they'll do anything to stop it, from marching (and singing anti-corporate songs) down Disneyland's Main Street to releasing a Morgan Spurlock-produced documentary-What Would Jesus Buy?-just in time for the holidays last year.

More on The Church of Stop Shopping from GOOD: "Shop Till You Drop?"

The Compact
Estimated Membership: 9,802
Homeland: Worldwide
Here's the challenge: buy nothing new for one year-no clothes, no toys for your kids, no half-off DVDs. You can buy food, health and safety items, and underwear (shopping for worn panties would just be gross), but that's it. In an effort to curb consumption, 10 San Franciscan friends did just that, and inspired people all over the globe to do the same. It's not easy, but the community they've forged online and at monthly meetings helps them get what they need. As Compacter John Perry told the SF Chronicle, "We had a little crisis when Matt and Sarah had to replace their shower curtain liner and we said no, but we put the word out and someone found one for them."

More on The Compact from GOOD: "The Compact"

Freegans
Estimated Membership: Countless
Homeland: Worldwide
A burgeoning group of educated, often middle-class people who root through trash to cull usable waste. Obviously, not everyone who dumpster dives is a Freegan-most just do it to survive-but Freegans will tell you that their process is less about acquiring things than it is a total boycott of an economic system that's put profit above everything and everyone else. See Freegan.info for foraging tips and a city-by-city dumpster directory.]]> Five Groups That Aren't Buying It
The Amish
Estimated Membership: 232,000
Homeland: U.S. & Canada
The Amish have been partying the same way since 1693, and though less-strict communities allow for some use of technology (solar energy, hydropower) their commitment to simplicity is impressive: most travel by horse-drawn buggy, sew their own clothes on foot-powered machines, and cook on wood-fired stoves. This level of immaterialism is not for the hasty. As one Amish farmer told the Institute for Environmental Studies: "We often joke that where tractors can plough a six-acre field in two hours, I figure two days-but my time includes listening to vesper sparrows and meadowlarks and watching clouds scud across the sky."

No Impact Man
Estimated Membership: 3 known, countless inspired
Homeland: New York City
Of the multitude of bloggers bent on sitting at a computer to champion their sustainable lifestyle, No Impact Man (44-year-old writer Colin Beavan) is arguably the most serious: he has given up producing any sort of trash, using carbon-fueled methods of transport, shopping for anything but food grown within a 250-mile radius of his apartment, and-here's the best part-toilet paper. His wife and daughter are along for the ride, which is documented on his blog and a forthcoming book and documentary, due out year.

The Church of Stop Shopping
Estimated Membership: 20,000
Homeland: Worldwide
When performance artist Bill Talen (aka "Reverend Billy") started preaching to the bag-laden shoppers in New York City's Union Square in the late 1990s, little did he know he'd launch a new religion. There are now members of the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir in every continent but Antarctica. Their credo: The Shopocalypse is nigh, and they'll do anything to stop it, from marching (and singing anti-corporate songs) down Disneyland's Main Street to releasing a Morgan Spurlock-produced documentary-What Would Jesus Buy?-just in time for the holidays last year.

More on The Church of Stop Shopping from GOOD: "Shop Till You Drop?"

The Compact
Estimated Membership: 9,802
Homeland: Worldwide
Here's the challenge: buy nothing new for one year-no clothes, no toys for your kids, no half-off DVDs. You can buy food, health and safety items, and underwear (shopping for worn panties would just be gross), but that's it. In an effort to curb consumption, 10 San Franciscan friends did just that, and inspired people all over the globe to do the same. It's not easy, but the community they've forged online and at monthly meetings helps them get what they need. As Compacter John Perry told the SF Chronicle, "We had a little crisis when Matt and Sarah had to replace their shower curtain liner and we said no, but we put the word out and someone found one for them."

More on The Compact from GOOD: "The Compact"

Freegans
Estimated Membership: Countless
Homeland: Worldwide
A burgeoning group of educated, often middle-class people who root through trash to cull usable waste. Obviously, not everyone who dumpster dives is a Freegan-most just do it to survive-but Freegans will tell you that their process is less about acquiring things than it is a total boycott of an economic system that's put profit above everything and everyone else. See Freegan.info for foraging tips and a city-by-city dumpster directory.]]> Kathryn O'Shea-Evans Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:30:50 PST <![CDATA[The Planet Is Burning!]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-planet-is-burning/ http://www.good.is/post/the-planet-is-burning/

And changing your lightbulb isn't going to fix it. See what other countries are doing to curb their impact.


China, the world's biggest consumer of plastic bags, has banned them nationwide. Rwanda has a similar ban.

German manufacturers are required by law to foot the bill for mandatory recycling of their products and packaging.

Sweden pledges to kick the oil habit completely by 2020.

The island of Sumatra has pledged to halt the logging of their forests, preventing billions of tons of carbon from entering atmosphere.

U.S. venture capital film Kleiner Perkins has invested $1 billion to find and fund the "Google" of clean green energy.

Denmark generates 20 percent of its electricity from wind power, making it the world leader.

A third of all of New Zealand's land has reserve or national-park status, protecting it from loggers.

In what is possibly the largest environmental lawsuit ever, 30,000 Ecuadorians are suing Chevron for massive pollution.

After bumping up coastal no-fishing zones from 4.5 percent to 33 percent Australia sees fish populations like trout rebound by 60 percent.]]>

And changing your lightbulb isn't going to fix it. See what other countries are doing to curb their impact.


China, the world's biggest consumer of plastic bags, has banned them nationwide. Rwanda has a similar ban.

German manufacturers are required by law to foot the bill for mandatory recycling of their products and packaging.

Sweden pledges to kick the oil habit completely by 2020.

The island of Sumatra has pledged to halt the logging of their forests, preventing billions of tons of carbon from entering atmosphere.

U.S. venture capital film Kleiner Perkins has invested $1 billion to find and fund the "Google" of clean green energy.

Denmark generates 20 percent of its electricity from wind power, making it the world leader.

A third of all of New Zealand's land has reserve or national-park status, protecting it from loggers.

In what is possibly the largest environmental lawsuit ever, 30,000 Ecuadorians are suing Chevron for massive pollution.

After bumping up coastal no-fishing zones from 4.5 percent to 33 percent Australia sees fish populations like trout rebound by 60 percent.]]> Jennifer Hile Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:52:08 PST <![CDATA[Rise of the Global Middle Class]]> http://www.good.is/post/rise-of-the-global-middle-class/ http://www.good.is/post/rise-of-the-global-middle-class/

America has had the biggest demand in the global economy for so long that we can't remember what it was like when that wasn't the case. But that's all about to change.


I'll let you in on a little secret about globalization: It is demand that determines power, not supply. Consumption is king; everybody else serves at will. So it ain't about who's got the biggest military complex but who's got the biggest middle class. Everybody's got the dream. What matters is who can pay for it.

For as long as we can remember, that's been America-the consumer around which the entire global economy revolved. What's it like to be the global demand center? The world revolves around your needs, your desires, and your ambitions. Your favorite stories become the world's most popular entertainment. Your fears become the dominant political issues. You are the E. F. Hutton of consumption: When you talk, everybody listens. That was the role the Boomers played for decades in America and-by extension-around the world through their unprecedented purchasing power. But that dominance is nearing an end.

In coming decades, it won't belong to Americans, but to Asians. So say hello to your new master, corporate America: Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Chindia.

The rise of the Asian middle class, a binary system centered in China and India, alters the very gravity of the global economy. The vast sucking sound you hear is not American jobs going overseas, but damn near every natural resource being drawn into Asia's yawning maw. Achieving middle-class status means shifting from needs to wants, so Asia's rise means that Asia's wants will determine our planet's future-perhaps its very survival. And as any environmentalist with a calculator knows, it isn't possible for China and India to replicate the West's consumption model, so however this plays out, the world must learn to live with their translation of the American dream.

As for the new middle class's relative size, think bread truck, not breadbasket: Over the next couple of decades, the percent of the world's population that can be considered middle class, judging by purchasing power, will almost double, from just over a quarter of the population to more like half. The bulk of this increase will occur in China and India, where the percentage shifts will be similar. So if we round off China and India today as having 2.5 billion people, then their middle class will jump in numerical size from being roughly equivalent to the population of North America or the European Union to being their combined total.
The vast sucking sound you hear is not American jobs going overseas, but damn near every natural resource being drawn into Asia's yawning maw.

No, it won't be your father's middle class-not at first. Much of that Asian wave now crests at a household income level that most Americans would associate with the working poor, but it will grow into solid middle-class status over the coming years through urbanization and job migration from manufacturing to services. And for global companies that thrive on selling to the middle class, this is already where all the sales growth is occurring, and it's only going to get bigger. As far as global business is concerned, there is no sweeter spot than an emerging demand center, because we're talking about an entire generation in need of branding-more than 500 million teenagers looking to forge consumer identities.

There are also essentially two unknowable wild cards associated with the rise of China's and India's middle classes: First, how can they achieve an acceptable standard of living without replicating the West's resource-wasteful version? And second, what would happen if that middle-class lifestyle was suddenly threatened or even reversed? The planet must have an answer to the first question, even as it hopes to avoid ever addressing the second. Here's where those two fears may converge: As their income rises, their diets change. Not just taking in more food, but far more resource-intensive food, like dairy and meat. Right now, China imports vast amounts of food and India is just barely self-sufficient in the all-important grains category. Both are likely to suffer losses in agricultural production in coming years and decades, thanks to global warming, just as internal demand balloons with that middle class. Meanwhile, roughly one-third of world's advanced-lifestyle afflictions-like diabetes or cancer-will be found in China and India by 2030. Toss in the fact that much of the population lives along the low-lying coasts, and our notional middle-class couple could eventually cast the deciding global votes on the issue of whether or not global warming is worth addressing aggressively.

Whoever captures the middle-class flag in coming years will have to possess the soft power necessary to shape globalization's soul in this century, because humanity's very survival depends on our generation's ability to channel today's rising social anger into a lengthy period of social reform. This era's global capitalism must first be shamed (populism) and then tamed (progressivism), just as America's rapacious version was more than a century ago. Today's global financial crisis simply marks the opening bell in a worldwide fight that is destined to go many rounds.


]]>

America has had the biggest demand in the global economy for so long that we can't remember what it was like when that wasn't the case. But that's all about to change.


I'll let you in on a little secret about globalization: It is demand that determines power, not supply. Consumption is king; everybody else serves at will. So it ain't about who's got the biggest military complex but who's got the biggest middle class. Everybody's got the dream. What matters is who can pay for it.

For as long as we can remember, that's been America-the consumer around which the entire global economy revolved. What's it like to be the global demand center? The world revolves around your needs, your desires, and your ambitions. Your favorite stories become the world's most popular entertainment. Your fears become the dominant political issues. You are the E. F. Hutton of consumption: When you talk, everybody listens. That was the role the Boomers played for decades in America and-by extension-around the world through their unprecedented purchasing power. But that dominance is nearing an end.

In coming decades, it won't belong to Americans, but to Asians. So say hello to your new master, corporate America: Mr. and Mrs. M. C. Chindia.

The rise of the Asian middle class, a binary system centered in China and India, alters the very gravity of the global economy. The vast sucking sound you hear is not American jobs going overseas, but damn near every natural resource being drawn into Asia's yawning maw. Achieving middle-class status means shifting from needs to wants, so Asia's rise means that Asia's wants will determine our planet's future-perhaps its very survival. And as any environmentalist with a calculator knows, it isn't possible for China and India to replicate the West's consumption model, so however this plays out, the world must learn to live with their translation of the American dream.

As for the new middle class's relative size, think bread truck, not breadbasket: Over the next couple of decades, the percent of the world's population that can be considered middle class, judging by purchasing power, will almost double, from just over a quarter of the population to more like half. The bulk of this increase will occur in China and India, where the percentage shifts will be similar. So if we round off China and India today as having 2.5 billion people, then their middle class will jump in numerical size from being roughly equivalent to the population of North America or the European Union to being their combined total.
The vast sucking sound you hear is not American jobs going overseas, but damn near every natural resource being drawn into Asia's yawning maw.

No, it won't be your father's middle class-not at first. Much of that Asian wave now crests at a household income level that most Americans would associate with the working poor, but it will grow into solid middle-class status over the coming years through urbanization and job migration from manufacturing to services. And for global companies that thrive on selling to the middle class, this is already where all the sales growth is occurring, and it's only going to get bigger. As far as global business is concerned, there is no sweeter spot than an emerging demand center, because we're talking about an entire generation in need of branding-more than 500 million teenagers looking to forge consumer identities.

There are also essentially two unknowable wild cards associated with the rise of China's and India's middle classes: First, how can they achieve an acceptable standard of living without replicating the West's resource-wasteful version? And second, what would happen if that middle-class lifestyle was suddenly threatened or even reversed? The planet must have an answer to the first question, even as it hopes to avoid ever addressing the second. Here's where those two fears may converge: As their income rises, their diets change. Not just taking in more food, but far more resource-intensive food, like dairy and meat. Right now, China imports vast amounts of food and India is just barely self-sufficient in the all-important grains category. Both are likely to suffer losses in agricultural production in coming years and decades, thanks to global warming, just as internal demand balloons with that middle class. Meanwhile, roughly one-third of world's advanced-lifestyle afflictions-like diabetes or cancer-will be found in China and India by 2030. Toss in the fact that much of the population lives along the low-lying coasts, and our notional middle-class couple could eventually cast the deciding global votes on the issue of whether or not global warming is worth addressing aggressively.

Whoever captures the middle-class flag in coming years will have to possess the soft power necessary to shape globalization's soul in this century, because humanity's very survival depends on our generation's ability to channel today's rising social anger into a lengthy period of social reform. This era's global capitalism must first be shamed (populism) and then tamed (progressivism), just as America's rapacious version was more than a century ago. Today's global financial crisis simply marks the opening bell in a worldwide fight that is destined to go many rounds.


]]> Thomas P.M. Barnett Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:55:30 PST <![CDATA[Unfree Market]]> http://www.good.is/post/unfree-market/ http://www.good.is/post/unfree-market/ In 2008, trafficking of the world's 27 million slaves made up the third-most-profitable criminal enterprise. Here's what the $40-billion industry looks like.
The United States abolished slavery in 1865. Now, every country in the world has outlawed the practice. But you'd be mistaken to think that humankind had left the "peculiar institution" in its past. Slavery endures. And not just in isolated incidents or far-flung corners of the globe. Today, it happens as ecumenically as it did in the Old Testament, which is to say often and everywhere.



As many as 17,500 people are brought into the United States as slaves every year. Though the practice occurs in many cities and towns, Immokalee, Florida, has become a flash point for the battle against agricultural slavery. There, crew bosses from local farms trick migrant workers into picking tomatoes and other crops, then deprive them of a living wage. Beatings and death threats are normal.



Around 300,000 children are enslaved in Haiti as restavecs, or household servants. Here, poor single mothers give up their children to middle-class families for the promise of a better life. Restavecs, who might start working 20-hour days at age 6, are discarded as soon as they get pregnant or become too physically imposing.



Many slaves here work in the illegal gold-mining industry. Bosses lure unemployed men to distant sites in the jungle, and once they arrive, the money vanishes and the guns come out. The good news? The president of neighboring Brazil has new laws in place that set the standard for the region. In Brazil, 6,000 slaves are freed every year.



Europe is a major destination for women sold into the sex trade. But other types of slavery exist here, as well. Africans, particularly Nigerians, are forced to work in the agriculture and service sectors. And large numbers of Chinese are brought in for various purposes, among them garment-industry jobs.



Slave brokers troll the destitute villages of West Africa for children they can take to Yeji, a fishing area around Ghana's Lake Volta where atrocities are common. The slaves wake up before dawn and fish into the night. Overseers attach weights to the children's ankles to help them drop to the lakebed and untangle nets, a practice which often results in drowning.



There are around 18 million slaves in Nepal, Pakistan, and India, more than anywhere else in the world. The worst offender is India, where slavery usually takes the form of hereditary debt bondage, a situation in which people are born into slavery after inheriting their parents' debt. They work in agriculture and produce goods like rugby and soccer balls for Western consumers. In the north, hundreds of thousands of child slaves weave carpets for the global market.



Japan's booming sex industry makes it the biggest user of slave labor among rich nations. An estimated 50,000 women are shipped into the country each year, from Thailand, the Philippines, China, and other parts of Asia. Many enter the country legally on "entertainment visas" that government says it has been regulating more tightly.


]]> In 2008, trafficking of the world's 27 million slaves made up the third-most-profitable criminal enterprise. Here's what the $40-billion industry looks like.
The United States abolished slavery in 1865. Now, every country in the world has outlawed the practice. But you'd be mistaken to think that humankind had left the "peculiar institution" in its past. Slavery endures. And not just in isolated incidents or far-flung corners of the globe. Today, it happens as ecumenically as it did in the Old Testament, which is to say often and everywhere.



As many as 17,500 people are brought into the United States as slaves every year. Though the practice occurs in many cities and towns, Immokalee, Florida, has become a flash point for the battle against agricultural slavery. There, crew bosses from local farms trick migrant workers into picking tomatoes and other crops, then deprive them of a living wage. Beatings and death threats are normal.



Around 300,000 children are enslaved in Haiti as restavecs, or household servants. Here, poor single mothers give up their children to middle-class families for the promise of a better life. Restavecs, who might start working 20-hour days at age 6, are discarded as soon as they get pregnant or become too physically imposing.



Many slaves here work in the illegal gold-mining industry. Bosses lure unemployed men to distant sites in the jungle, and once they arrive, the money vanishes and the guns come out. The good news? The president of neighboring Brazil has new laws in place that set the standard for the region. In Brazil, 6,000 slaves are freed every year.



Europe is a major destination for women sold into the sex trade. But other types of slavery exist here, as well. Africans, particularly Nigerians, are forced to work in the agriculture and service sectors. And large numbers of Chinese are brought in for various purposes, among them garment-industry jobs.



Slave brokers troll the destitute villages of West Africa for children they can take to Yeji, a fishing area around Ghana's Lake Volta where atrocities are common. The slaves wake up before dawn and fish into the night. Overseers attach weights to the children's ankles to help them drop to the lakebed and untangle nets, a practice which often results in drowning.



There are around 18 million slaves in Nepal, Pakistan, and India, more than anywhere else in the world. The worst offender is India, where slavery usually takes the form of hereditary debt bondage, a situation in which people are born into slavery after inheriting their parents' debt. They work in agriculture and produce goods like rugby and soccer balls for Western consumers. In the north, hundreds of thousands of child slaves weave carpets for the global market.



Japan's booming sex industry makes it the biggest user of slave labor among rich nations. An estimated 50,000 women are shipped into the country each year, from Thailand, the Philippines, China, and other parts of Asia. Many enter the country legally on "entertainment visas" that government says it has been regulating more tightly.


]]> Luke O'Brien Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:47:44 PST <![CDATA[Shot Out of Africa]]> http://www.good.is/post/shot-out-of-africa/ http://www.good.is/post/shot-out-of-africa/
During the summers when filmmaker Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) isn't on set or in the editing suite, you'll find her overseeing the action at the Maisha Film Lab, a film school she founded in Uganda, which provides professional training to emerging screenwriters and film directors from East Africa and South Asia.

GOOD: What inspired you to launch Maisha?

Mira Nair: I first came to Uganda in 1989 to research my film Mississippi Masala. I was deeply inspired by the rich storytelling traditions of Uganda, but I found that there was no bridge to bring these stories to the screen. I'm a former mentor at Sundance and other filmmaking labs in the United States and Europe, so I wanted to make similar training initiatives available to the East African filmmaking community as well.

G: Is Maisha structured like an artists' residency?

MN: We are a nonprofit, so all of our programs are free of charge. The centerpiece of the program is our Summer Training Lab, a 26-day filmmakers' boot camp. Students apply for training in writing, directing, cinematography, editing, sound, acting, and production. We invite mentors from all over the world to work with the participants, both in one-on-one sessions and guiding them on set.

[good width="560" height="316" image="null"]http://pre.cloudfront.goodinc.com/videos/Maisha.mp4[/good]



G: How are films developed at Maisha?

MN: Our reading committee selects nine screenwriters, who start with a seven-day, intensive writing workshop-where they rework and revise their scripts with mentors. At the end of this period, three scripts are chosen to go into production. During the writing workshop, cinematographers, editors, sound mixers, and actors work with their own respective mentors. Finally, during the production stage, we shoot three short films, entirely crewed by our participants.

G: Why do we need more African and South Asian cinema on the world market?

MN: There are parts of Africa where there is more of an infrastructure for large-scale film production, like South Africa. The industry in East Africa is in its infancy, though certainly making strides. There are more and more people in our target countries who can make their livelihood as film professionals. I think the world is hungry for change-shown recently by our historic election. Cinema, too, allows us to encompass our hybrid identities, be resolutely who we are, and be fully engaged with the world. Maisha creates a platform for unheard voices to be articulated on-screen. Our motto is "If we don't tell our stories, no one else will."

LEARN MORE  maishafilmlab.org

]]>
During the summers when filmmaker Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) isn't on set or in the editing suite, you'll find her overseeing the action at the Maisha Film Lab, a film school she founded in Uganda, which provides professional training to emerging screenwriters and film directors from East Africa and South Asia.

GOOD: What inspired you to launch Maisha?

Mira Nair: I first came to Uganda in 1989 to research my film Mississippi Masala. I was deeply inspired by the rich storytelling traditions of Uganda, but I found that there was no bridge to bring these stories to the screen. I'm a former mentor at Sundance and other filmmaking labs in the United States and Europe, so I wanted to make similar training initiatives available to the East African filmmaking community as well.

G: Is Maisha structured like an artists' residency?

MN: We are a nonprofit, so all of our programs are free of charge. The centerpiece of the program is our Summer Training Lab, a 26-day filmmakers' boot camp. Students apply for training in writing, directing, cinematography, editing, sound, acting, and production. We invite mentors from all over the world to work with the participants, both in one-on-one sessions and guiding them on set.

[good width="560" height="316" image="null"]http://pre.cloudfront.goodinc.com/videos/Maisha.mp4[/good]



G: How are films developed at Maisha?

MN: Our reading committee selects nine screenwriters, who start with a seven-day, intensive writing workshop-where they rework and revise their scripts with mentors. At the end of this period, three scripts are chosen to go into production. During the writing workshop, cinematographers, editors, sound mixers, and actors work with their own respective mentors. Finally, during the production stage, we shoot three short films, entirely crewed by our participants.

G: Why do we need more African and South Asian cinema on the world market?

MN: There are parts of Africa where there is more of an infrastructure for large-scale film production, like South Africa. The industry in East Africa is in its infancy, though certainly making strides. There are more and more people in our target countries who can make their livelihood as film professionals. I think the world is hungry for change-shown recently by our historic election. Cinema, too, allows us to encompass our hybrid identities, be resolutely who we are, and be fully engaged with the world. Maisha creates a platform for unheard voices to be articulated on-screen. Our motto is "If we don't tell our stories, no one else will."

LEARN MORE  maishafilmlab.org

]]> Joseph Huff-Hannon Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:06:45 PST <![CDATA[Found in Translation]]> http://www.good.is/post/found-in-translation/ http://www.good.is/post/found-in-translation/ When it comes to reading, there's a lopsided exchange between the English-speaking world and everyone else. A full 50 percent of all books in translation are translated from English, with only 3 percent translated into English. Words Without Borders, a monthly online magazine of translated international literature, aims to rectify that. Founded by Alane Salierno Mason, WWB has published more than 1,000 translated works- including short stories, excerpts, graphic novels, and poems-from 106 countries, in 79 language. By exposing readers to the art and the perspectives of the unknown, Mason hopes to allow for more international communication. WWB's first issue, titled "Literature of the Axis of Evil," was a fitting start: The Axis of Evil was the kind of "broad-brush labeling that is symptomatic of what [brought this whole project] about," says Mason.

Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou's African Psycho

Translated by Christine Schwartz Hartley for WWB in 2005

Published by Soft Skull Press in 2007

 


Moroccan writer Abdelilah Hamdouchi's Final Bet

Translated by Jonathan Smolin for WWB in 2006

Published by American University in Cairo Press 2008


]]> When it comes to reading, there's a lopsided exchange between the English-speaking world and everyone else. A full 50 percent of all books in translation are translated from English, with only 3 percent translated into English. Words Without Borders, a monthly online magazine of translated international literature, aims to rectify that. Founded by Alane Salierno Mason, WWB has published more than 1,000 translated works- including short stories, excerpts, graphic novels, and poems-from 106 countries, in 79 language. By exposing readers to the art and the perspectives of the unknown, Mason hopes to allow for more international communication. WWB's first issue, titled "Literature of the Axis of Evil," was a fitting start: The Axis of Evil was the kind of "broad-brush labeling that is symptomatic of what [brought this whole project] about," says Mason.

Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou's African Psycho

Translated by Christine Schwartz Hartley for WWB in 2005

Published by Soft Skull Press in 2007

 


Moroccan writer Abdelilah Hamdouchi's Final Bet

Translated by Jonathan Smolin for WWB in 2006

Published by American University in Cairo Press 2008


]]> Adam Raymond Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:58:50 PST <![CDATA[2009 List: People Movers]]> http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-people-movers/ http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-people-movers/ Seven factors that will change how we move around this year.
1. The higher cost of driving Gas taxes haven't been raised in 15 years, despite an inflation rate that has turned that 1993 dollar into 70 cents of buying power. Transportation construction costs have almost tripled in that same time period, so expect to see every possible way of raising funds, like more tolling, higher tolls, and more talk about congestion pricing.

2. Government spending on infrastructure The economy, unemployment, and the sorry state of our transportation infrastructure are aligning to get some big projects fast-tracked with money that doesn't come from gas-tax dollars. Will it be new highways, new transit, or bridges to nowhere? Politics will tell.

3. Public transportation getting more popular 2007 saw a 50-year high in U.S. transit ridership numbers. The first quarter of 2008 beat that record by 3.3 percent. Ironically, transit agencies had little ability to expand capacity, as they had to absorb the rising fuel costs without raising the price of travel.

4. More people riding bikes Forward-thinking jurisdictions have been improving bicycle access and safety, making more people willing to hop on a bike, the solution to several personal problems: improving health and fighting obesity through exercise, and finding an easy way to reduce their carbon footprints.

5. The rise of electric and motorized vehicles Because they are cheaper to park, drive, maintain, and fuel, an increase in popularity is inevitable. If you keep your eyes open, you'll see the swelling numbers and real diversity of possible vehicles like electric bicycles and three-wheeled motorcycles.

6. More sharing As we try to squeeze value out of every asset and deal with the high prices of car travel, every major city is discussing bike sharing, following the success of Paris's program. Car-sharing and ride-sharing services are also growing steadily.

7. Planning for the $5 gallon We all-individuals, cities, states, nations-need to start building a world in which we can comfortably deal with this impending reality.

by ROBIN CHASE

NOW WHAT  Welcome to the future of carpooling. Check out Robin Chase's new ride sharing venture at goloco.org. See also: zimride.com.




]]> Seven factors that will change how we move around this year.
1. The higher cost of driving Gas taxes haven't been raised in 15 years, despite an inflation rate that has turned that 1993 dollar into 70 cents of buying power. Transportation construction costs have almost tripled in that same time period, so expect to see every possible way of raising funds, like more tolling, higher tolls, and more talk about congestion pricing.

2. Government spending on infrastructure The economy, unemployment, and the sorry state of our transportation infrastructure are aligning to get some big projects fast-tracked with money that doesn't come from gas-tax dollars. Will it be new highways, new transit, or bridges to nowhere? Politics will tell.

3. Public transportation getting more popular 2007 saw a 50-year high in U.S. transit ridership numbers. The first quarter of 2008 beat that record by 3.3 percent. Ironically, transit agencies had little ability to expand capacity, as they had to absorb the rising fuel costs without raising the price of travel.

4. More people riding bikes Forward-thinking jurisdictions have been improving bicycle access and safety, making more people willing to hop on a bike, the solution to several personal problems: improving health and fighting obesity through exercise, and finding an easy way to reduce their carbon footprints.

5. The rise of electric and motorized vehicles Because they are cheaper to park, drive, maintain, and fuel, an increase in popularity is inevitable. If you keep your eyes open, you'll see the swelling numbers and real diversity of possible vehicles like electric bicycles and three-wheeled motorcycles.

6. More sharing As we try to squeeze value out of every asset and deal with the high prices of car travel, every major city is discussing bike sharing, following the success of Paris's program. Car-sharing and ride-sharing services are also growing steadily.

7. Planning for the $5 gallon We all-individuals, cities, states, nations-need to start building a world in which we can comfortably deal with this impending reality.

by ROBIN CHASE

NOW WHAT  Welcome to the future of carpooling. Check out Robin Chase's new ride sharing venture at goloco.org. See also: zimride.com.




]]> GOOD Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:32:54 PST <![CDATA[Here to There]]> http://www.good.is/post/here-to-there/ http://www.good.is/post/here-to-there/ Cities around the world are finding better ways for their citizens to get around.


Vélib' Bike-Rental Program Paris:

When Paris's Vélib' ("free bicycle") celebrated its first anniversary, in July, 2008, it had already doubled its number of rental bikes to 20,000 and rental stations to 1,450. The largest program of its kind in the world, Vélib' is not only altering Paris streets, but also people's approach to mobility. "It's a factor of quality and quantity," says Eric Britton, the founder of the New Mobility Partnerships, "and it pervades the city." For subscribers, rentals are free for the first half hour and one to four euros every half hour thereafter, encouraging the vehicle's prompt return. Voiturelib'-shared self-service cars-is also on the horizon.

Ciclovía Car-Free Streets Bogotá, Colombia:

Every Sunday and holiday, Colombia's capital city opens up more than 70 miles of car-free streets to more than a million pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, and skaters. By promoting active public spaces and restricting car use (the city established a Car-Free Day in 2000) the mayor and the parks commissioner reinvented the downtown cityscape while encouraging fitness and interaction between communities. Ciclovía ("cycle way"), in particular, provides open space and free activities-like yoga, crafts, and volleyball-- that transcend socioeconomic barriers.



Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project Seoul, South Korea:

Through an ambitious two-year plan completed in 2005, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project replaced the city's most heavily trafficked roadway-the remains of which were later recycled-with a five-mile-long, 1,000-acre park that attracts both wildlife and people.

New Mobility Hub Network Cape Town, South Africa:

When the World Cup comes to South Africa in 2010, Cape Town will be ready. The city has recently collaborated with SMART (a University of Michigan mobility-research project) and Ford Motor Company in their shift into a fully sustainable, connected urban region-where switching from shuttle to taxi to bicycle happens seamlessly. According to SMART's managing director, Susan Zielinski, "Very simple dot-connecting can make a huge difference in a very short time."


]]> Cities around the world are finding better ways for their citizens to get around.


Vélib' Bike-Rental Program Paris:

When Paris's Vélib' ("free bicycle") celebrated its first anniversary, in July, 2008, it had already doubled its number of rental bikes to 20,000 and rental stations to 1,450. The largest program of its kind in the world, Vélib' is not only altering Paris streets, but also people's approach to mobility. "It's a factor of quality and quantity," says Eric Britton, the founder of the New Mobility Partnerships, "and it pervades the city." For subscribers, rentals are free for the first half hour and one to four euros every half hour thereafter, encouraging the vehicle's prompt return. Voiturelib'-shared self-service cars-is also on the horizon.

Ciclovía Car-Free Streets Bogotá, Colombia:

Every Sunday and holiday, Colombia's capital city opens up more than 70 miles of car-free streets to more than a million pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, and skaters. By promoting active public spaces and restricting car use (the city established a Car-Free Day in 2000) the mayor and the parks commissioner reinvented the downtown cityscape while encouraging fitness and interaction between communities. Ciclovía ("cycle way"), in particular, provides open space and free activities-like yoga, crafts, and volleyball-- that transcend socioeconomic barriers.



Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project Seoul, South Korea:

Through an ambitious two-year plan completed in 2005, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project replaced the city's most heavily trafficked roadway-the remains of which were later recycled-with a five-mile-long, 1,000-acre park that attracts both wildlife and people.

New Mobility Hub Network Cape Town, South Africa:

When the World Cup comes to South Africa in 2010, Cape Town will be ready. The city has recently collaborated with SMART (a University of Michigan mobility-research project) and Ford Motor Company in their shift into a fully sustainable, connected urban region-where switching from shuttle to taxi to bicycle happens seamlessly. According to SMART's managing director, Susan Zielinski, "Very simple dot-connecting can make a huge difference in a very short time."


]]> Laura Kiniry Fri, 9 Jan 2009 12:34:43 PST <![CDATA[Arabian Mice]]> http://www.good.is/post/arabian-mice/ http://www.good.is/post/arabian-mice/

American film studios-including Warner Bros., Disney, and Fox-are making massive investments in the growing Arab movie market. But don't expect an influx of subtitled art-house fare from the Fertile Crescent. GOOD talked to Rachel Gandin, who is producing Disney's first Arabic-language film.


GOOD: Can you paint a picture of what's happening between Gulf countries and American film studios?

RACHEL GANDIN: The United Arab Emirates, with its two massive emirates-Dubai and Abu Dhabi-have decided in the last three or four years that they want to be a center of media in the Arab world, along with being the center of everything else. American studios have long been looking into the deep pockets of the Gulf. This is their entry point.

G: Why are these studios so keen to do it?

RG: Outside of major cities, people don't have access to movie theaters. There are no movie theaters in Saudi Arabia. There's this amazing void in the market. It's 300 million people who aren't watching movies.

G: Would Arab cinema appeal to Western audiences?

RG: Arab filmmakers aren't trying to get approval in the West; they're building films in their own countries because that's where people [care]. Will these movies ever cross over and be in America? The stuff that the [global] masses love isn't necessarily the stuff that Americans love. I don't think that should be the goal. I think the goal should be to get people to watch movies.

G: Do you think the predominance of American cultural exports is going to be eclipsed in our lifetime?

RG: I kind of wonder if this is a big "f-you" to globalization. Like, "Oh, your culture actually matters, so you're going to make consumer choices based on your cultural taste." But I don't think so. The people who [the studios] are trying to reach in the Arab world are people who aren't necessarily watching American movies right now. [The studios are] trying to reach beyond that. They're trying to find new audiences. American movies will continue to be the big crazy shows that they are, $200-million movies that are 3-D and all this stuff, and then the local-language films are the ones that will be more culturally relevant. But I don't think American movies are going to stop being relevant.

G: Is anyone talking about the pluses or minuses of American companies investing in cinema for
the Arab world?

RG: People say things like, "What, Disney in the Arab world? Don't you remember how [messed] up Aladdin was?" It's bad business to offend people. It doesn't benefit anyone if you are making local movies and you're upsetting the people who live there. But at the same time, I think filmmakers are excited. Disney is the master of getting stuff done, doing it so people like it, even if it's not good art. And they're hoping to employ enough local talent so the people who are making these movies are Arab. But this could be one of those nightmares where a movie is made for a couple million dollars and then nobody goes to see it because one person posts on a website that this a Zionist plot. I have no doubt that with every movie that is going to be made, that has to be considered. We'll see.


]]>

American film studios-including Warner Bros., Disney, and Fox-are making massive investments in the growing Arab movie market. But don't expect an influx of subtitled art-house fare from the Fertile Crescent. GOOD talked to Rachel Gandin, who is producing Disney's first Arabic-language film.


GOOD: Can you paint a picture of what's happening between Gulf countries and American film studios?

RACHEL GANDIN: The United Arab Emirates, with its two massive emirates-Dubai and Abu Dhabi-have decided in the last three or four years that they want to be a center of media in the Arab world, along with being the center of everything else. American studios have long been looking into the deep pockets of the Gulf. This is their entry point.

G: Why are these studios so keen to do it?

RG: Outside of major cities, people don't have access to movie theaters. There are no movie theaters in Saudi Arabia. There's this amazing void in the market. It's 300 million people who aren't watching movies.

G: Would Arab cinema appeal to Western audiences?

RG: Arab filmmakers aren't trying to get approval in the West; they're building films in their own countries because that's where people [care]. Will these movies ever cross over and be in America? The stuff that the [global] masses love isn't necessarily the stuff that Americans love. I don't think that should be the goal. I think the goal should be to get people to watch movies.

G: Do you think the predominance of American cultural exports is going to be eclipsed in our lifetime?

RG: I kind of wonder if this is a big "f-you" to globalization. Like, "Oh, your culture actually matters, so you're going to make consumer choices based on your cultural taste." But I don't think so. The people who [the studios] are trying to reach in the Arab world are people who aren't necessarily watching American movies right now. [The studios are] trying to reach beyond that. They're trying to find new audiences. American movies will continue to be the big crazy shows that they are, $200-million movies that are 3-D and all this stuff, and then the local-language films are the ones that will be more culturally relevant. But I don't think American movies are going to stop being relevant.

G: Is anyone talking about the pluses or minuses of American companies investing in cinema for
the Arab world?

RG: People say things like, "What, Disney in the Arab world? Don't you remember how [messed] up Aladdin was?" It's bad business to offend people. It doesn't benefit anyone if you are making local movies and you're upsetting the people who live there. But at the same time, I think filmmakers are excited. Disney is the master of getting stuff done, doing it so people like it, even if it's not good art. And they're hoping to employ enough local talent so the people who are making these movies are Arab. But this could be one of those nightmares where a movie is made for a couple million dollars and then nobody goes to see it because one person posts on a website that this a Zionist plot. I have no doubt that with every movie that is going to be made, that has to be considered. We'll see.


]]> GOOD Thu, 8 Jan 2009 16:36:36 PST <![CDATA[The Idler]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-idler/ http://www.good.is/post/the-idler/

The English journalist Tom Hodgkinson discusses the financial crisis, beer, and the beauty of the ukelele


Tom Hodgkinson's books sometimes end up in bookstores' self-help sections. That would make How to Be Idle and The Freedom Manifesto the only books to advocate dropping out of consumer society, ditching urban life, anarchy, bread baking, beer drinking, and generally living like it's the Middle Ages. As co-founder and editor of The Idler magazine, Hodgkinson champions laziness, hedonism, thrift and a freewheeling DIY approach to life. Let him tell it, and it's the key to a more ecologically sound (and ale-drenched) future.GOOD: You're a known critic of consumer society, so tell us: what have you purchased yourself, lately?Tom Hodgkinson: I try not to buy anything beyond beer, bacon, and books. Generally, though, I find that the older, the better. I did buy a painted pine bookcase recently from the local antique shop, which is very useful and beautiful.What's your take on the global financial crisis?I am feeling very cheerful, to the point of smugness, about it. As someone who has no shares, no stocks, no bonds, no insurance policies, no pensions, and no money, I am feeling very safe. Money is for spending, not saving. I think average people should respond with great joy. At last, what businessmen used to call the "real world" has been exposed as imaginary. Perhaps what businessmen used to call a dream world-poetry, nature, God, the spirit, music, contemplation, books and good conversation-will now be seen as the "real world."Just after the first major government bank bailouts were announced, you wrote that all that money would be better spent giving everyone an acre of land. What would we do with it?With just an acre of land a family of five or six can provide a huge amount of their food needs. You can keep animals and grow fruit and vegetables. This was the thinking behind Distributism, a political idea of the 1920s put about by Catholic intellectuals such as G. K. Chesterton. They saw a return to a medieval-style system where families combined smallholding with another source of income. Smallholding is enjoyable, useful, reconnects you with nature, is therapeutic, keeps you fit and healthy and is enormously satisfying. The quality of the produce is far higher than the products of the industrialized food system. You can also do more or less of it as circumstances change. A large garden in the city, or even a terrace, can be used to grow delicious food.Yes, you've written quite a bit in praise of the Middle Ages-in fact, you argue they were sort of a golden age of social justice and sustainability. Really? That's not how most people think of them.We have been taught the negative version of the Middle Ages by the people who replaced them, the Puritans and Protestants. If you want to replace an existing system with your new system, then you need to besmirch the previous system. The idea we carry around in our minds of the Middle Ages is a ridiculous caricature. Just think about the beauty of the cathedrals-are they really a product of the Dark Ages? They outstrip the Empire State Building in terms of beauty by a million miles. The medieval economic system, interestingly, was against lending money at interest and it was for fixed prices. You were not allowed to undercut your fellow worker or manufacturer. In a sense the system was opposite to ours: It valued community over individuality, and precisely guarded against the kind of collapse that unrestrained competition has led to.To turn to modern times for a moment, what do you think of the whole "sustainability" trend?Three years ago, business hated anything "green." Then they realized that it was simply a new market, and therefore great news. What sustainability really means is growing your own vegetables. It means wood not plastic, composting toilets, chickens in the yard. It means fun and a different kind of life-not just swapping one brand for another.In The Freedom Manifesto, you urge readers to "stop consuming and start producing." What's that mean?In practical terms it means rediscovering our ability to make things, like bread, jam and clothes. Instead of buying everything, grow stuff, make stuff-rediscover the lost arts of husbandry. When you cut down your need for money in this way, you cut down your need for work, leading to more idleness all round. Look at Cuba today. Look at the U.K. during the Second World War. You can supply for yourself a lot more of the things that you need.But Cuba is dirt poor. Is that what you're advocating?I just want to say that living on modest means is not necessarily a bad thing. Thrift can be creative. I don't really care whether people are rich or poor: the thing really is your approach to life. I just happen to think that promoting the idea of being rich is ridiculous, because only a few people can be rich, whereas many can live on modest incomes. So to me it makes a lot of practical sense to promote, not poverty, exactly, but the ability to live well on small incomes.Is that what you mean in The Freedom Manifesto, when you urge readers to "Reject Career"? Do you think people should give up work and all the ambition that goes with it?It is not so much work per se that I am against, but rather work for someone else and work that you don't enjoy. I work quite hard, about four hours a day, but I do things that I enjoy. How can we reclaim work for ourselves, and make it something joyful and creative? As for aspirations, I think that to aspire to real freedom in everyday life should replace the aspiration to make a lot of money.A final question, and an important one: you've suggested that people should buy ukuleles. Um, why?I don't really believe that anyone should do anything. But having said that, I personally have derived a huge amount of pleasure from learning the uke. They are better than iPods. I play Woody Guthrie songs and the Beatles. Kids can play it, and it's elegant for the ladies: think Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. They are very cheap and very portable, and they've got that fun-loving Hawaiian vibe. You can have one on your desk and practice while waiting for large downloads. Try it: Take a uke to work.Tom Hodgkinson's most recent book, The Freedom Manifesto, is available from Harper Perennial. The Idler can be found online at idler.co.uk.]]>

The English journalist Tom Hodgkinson discusses the financial crisis, beer, and the beauty of the ukelele


Tom Hodgkinson's books sometimes end up in bookstores' self-help sections. That would make How to Be Idle and The Freedom Manifesto the only books to advocate dropping out of consumer society, ditching urban life, anarchy, bread baking, beer drinking, and generally living like it's the Middle Ages. As co-founder and editor of The Idler magazine, Hodgkinson champions laziness, hedonism, thrift and a freewheeling DIY approach to life. Let him tell it, and it's the key to a more ecologically sound (and ale-drenched) future.GOOD: You're a known critic of consumer society, so tell us: what have you purchased yourself, lately?Tom Hodgkinson: I try not to buy anything beyond beer, bacon, and books. Generally, though, I find that the older, the better. I did buy a painted pine bookcase recently from the local antique shop, which is very useful and beautiful.What's your take on the global financial crisis?I am feeling very cheerful, to the point of smugness, about it. As someone who has no shares, no stocks, no bonds, no insurance policies, no pensions, and no money, I am feeling very safe. Money is for spending, not saving. I think average people should respond with great joy. At last, what businessmen used to call the "real world" has been exposed as imaginary. Perhaps what businessmen used to call a dream world-poetry, nature, God, the spirit, music, contemplation, books and good conversation-will now be seen as the "real world."Just after the first major government bank bailouts were announced, you wrote that all that money would be better spent giving everyone an acre of land. What would we do with it?With just an acre of land a family of five or six can provide a huge amount of their food needs. You can keep animals and grow fruit and vegetables. This was the thinking behind Distributism, a political idea of the 1920s put about by Catholic intellectuals such as G. K. Chesterton. They saw a return to a medieval-style system where families combined smallholding with another source of income. Smallholding is enjoyable, useful, reconnects you with nature, is therapeutic, keeps you fit and healthy and is enormously satisfying. The quality of the produce is far higher than the products of the industrialized food system. You can also do more or less of it as circumstances change. A large garden in the city, or even a terrace, can be used to grow delicious food.Yes, you've written quite a bit in praise of the Middle Ages-in fact, you argue they were sort of a golden age of social justice and sustainability. Really? That's not how most people think of them.We have been taught the negative version of the Middle Ages by the people who replaced them, the Puritans and Protestants. If you want to replace an existing system with your new system, then you need to besmirch the previous system. The idea we carry around in our minds of the Middle Ages is a ridiculous caricature. Just think about the beauty of the cathedrals-are they really a product of the Dark Ages? They outstrip the Empire State Building in terms of beauty by a million miles. The medieval economic system, interestingly, was against lending money at interest and it was for fixed prices. You were not allowed to undercut your fellow worker or manufacturer. In a sense the system was opposite to ours: It valued community over individuality, and precisely guarded against the kind of collapse that unrestrained competition has led to.To turn to modern times for a moment, what do you think of the whole "sustainability" trend?Three years ago, business hated anything "green." Then they realized that it was simply a new market, and therefore great news. What sustainability really means is growing your own vegetables. It means wood not plastic, composting toilets, chickens in the yard. It means fun and a different kind of life-not just swapping one brand for another.In The Freedom Manifesto, you urge readers to "stop consuming and start producing." What's that mean?In practical terms it means rediscovering our ability to make things, like bread, jam and clothes. Instead of buying everything, grow stuff, make stuff-rediscover the lost arts of husbandry. When you cut down your need for money in this way, you cut down your need for work, leading to more idleness all round. Look at Cuba today. Look at the U.K. during the Second World War. You can supply for yourself a lot more of the things that you need.But Cuba is dirt poor. Is that what you're advocating?I just want to say that living on modest means is not necessarily a bad thing. Thrift can be creative. I don't really care whether people are rich or poor: the thing really is your approach to life. I just happen to think that promoting the idea of being rich is ridiculous, because only a few people can be rich, whereas many can live on modest incomes. So to me it makes a lot of practical sense to promote, not poverty, exactly, but the ability to live well on small incomes.Is that what you mean in The Freedom Manifesto, when you urge readers to "Reject Career"? Do you think people should give up work and all the ambition that goes with it?It is not so much work per se that I am against, but rather work for someone else and work that you don't enjoy. I work quite hard, about four hours a day, but I do things that I enjoy. How can we reclaim work for ourselves, and make it something joyful and creative? As for aspirations, I think that to aspire to real freedom in everyday life should replace the aspiration to make a lot of money.A final question, and an important one: you've suggested that people should buy ukuleles. Um, why?I don't really believe that anyone should do anything. But having said that, I personally have derived a huge amount of pleasure from learning the uke. They are better than iPods. I play Woody Guthrie songs and the Beatles. Kids can play it, and it's elegant for the ladies: think Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. They are very cheap and very portable, and they've got that fun-loving Hawaiian vibe. You can have one on your desk and practice while waiting for large downloads. Try it: Take a uke to work.Tom Hodgkinson's most recent book, The Freedom Manifesto, is available from Harper Perennial. The Idler can be found online at idler.co.uk.]]> Zach Dundas Wed, 7 Jan 2009 04:15:24 PST <![CDATA[Who's Going Where?]]> http://www.good.is/post/whos-going-where/ http://www.good.is/post/whos-going-where/

People are moving around the world constantly-either toward opportunity or away from misfortune and fear. This is where people are going, and where they are coming from.

View Who's Going Where?


]]>

People are moving around the world constantly-either toward opportunity or away from misfortune and fear. This is where people are going, and where they are coming from.

View Who's Going Where?


]]> GOOD Tue, 6 Jan 2009 16:20:02 PST <![CDATA[2009 List: Art on the Brink]]> http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-art-on-the-brink/ http://www.good.is/post/2009-list-art-on-the-brink/ Four art movements that are guiding and defining our era

1 Art and Fashion Continue to Come Together  The critical mass of respected artists who are comfortably collaborating with fashion designers and luxury brands is unprecedented. And though financial flutters will take the shine off the luxury market's glitter, catwalk designers will still collect art, be stimulated by artists, and seek artists' input, while fashion itself will continue to inspire artists' investigations.

2 Photography Steps Up  Since massive spending will probably be replaced by frugality, at least for the moment, the photography market, relatively cheaper than other fine arts, will blossom. Major contemporary-art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's might slow down, but by signing exclusive representation rights for star snappers like Annie Leibovitz, the Phillips de Pury & Company auction house will become the secondary art market's phoenix.

3 The Middle East Rises  As the white-hot buzz about Chinese art gradually simmers down, art in and from the Persian Gulf is gaining prominence. The Louvre, the Guggenheim, Sotheby's, and Christie's are all locating branches in the Emirates, and the new Saatchi gallery is planning a show of Middle Eastern art in 2009. The Middle East has yet to launch a signature aesthetic movement akin to China's "cynical realism," but styles rooted in the region's cultural heritage, such as calligraphy, glittering gold, and sumptuous abstraction, are gaining international recognition.

4 Young Street Artists  While bold graffiti-style graphics and acid-loud colors born from street art are infiltrating the gallery scene, art on the street is getting more and more conceptual and experimental. Banksy, XOOOOX, and other stencil artists are renouncing bubble letters for imagery that's garnering attention from insider editors, dealers, and collectors. And other artists are reaching beyond spray paint by contributing children's toys, knitted mufflers, stickers, and vinyl Band-Aids as art displayed anonymously on the streets for the pure pleasure of passers-by. Since big blockbuster sales are going to be off the radar screen, free art and a renewed appreciation for reality may well become the height of our shared aesthetic.


]]> Four art movements that are guiding and defining our era

1 Art and Fashion Continue to Come Together  The critical mass of respected artists who are comfortably collaborating with fashion designers and luxury brands is unprecedented. And though financial flutters will take the shine off the luxury market's glitter, catwalk designers will still collect art, be stimulated by artists, and seek artists' input, while fashion itself will continue to inspire artists' investigations.

2 Photography Steps Up  Since massive spending will probably be replaced by frugality, at least for the moment, the photography market, relatively cheaper than other fine arts, will blossom. Major contemporary-art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's might slow down, but by signing exclusive representation rights for star snappers like Annie Leibovitz, the Phillips de Pury & Company auction house will become the secondary art market's phoenix.

3 The Middle East Rises  As the white-hot buzz about Chinese art gradually simmers down, art in and from the Persian Gulf is gaining prominence. The Louvre, the Guggenheim, Sotheby's, and Christie's are all locating branches in the Emirates, and the new Saatchi gallery is planning a show of Middle Eastern art in 2009. The Middle East has yet to launch a signature aesthetic movement akin to China's "cynical realism," but styles rooted in the region's cultural heritage, such as calligraphy, glittering gold, and sumptuous abstraction, are gaining international recognition.

4 Young Street Artists  While bold graffiti-style graphics and acid-loud colors born from street art are infiltrating the gallery scene, art on the street is getting more and more conceptual and experimental. Banksy, XOOOOX, and other stencil artists are renouncing bubble letters for imagery that's garnering attention from insider editors, dealers, and collectors. And other artists are reaching beyond spray paint by contributing children's toys, knitted mufflers, stickers, and vinyl Band-Aids as art displayed anonymously on the streets for the pure pleasure of passers-by. Since big blockbuster sales are going to be off the radar screen, free art and a renewed appreciation for reality may well become the height of our shared aesthetic.


]]> Ana Finel Honigman Tue, 6 Jan 2009 13:19:35 PST