It’s the economy, clever

There must be a better way… Judy Kirby considers new angles on an old problem

The end of money and the future of civilization by Thomas H Greco Jr. Floris Books. ISBN 978-086315-733-2. £12.99.  Prosperity without growth by Tim Jackson. Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84407-894-3. £12.99.  Back in the 1970s, an academic called Theodore Roszak roused some of us with fighting talk of a counter-culture. Was capitalism failing the ideals of mankind, was another way possible? We liked to think it was. Alas, nothing much happened, although Roszak kept writing. Capitalism not only prevailed and survived early counter-culturalism, it gathered strength and delivered more knock-out blows to those ideals.  Nowadays I notice that the counter-culture is focusing its attention more specifically on money. It’s a good idea to be specific when the foe is awesome. The movement appears to be embracing accountancy, appealing to the current popular disgust with capitalism, particularly banking and private equity.

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