Issue 192 • January/February 1999

Welcome

Welcome • Satish Kumar

Feature Articles

THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS • Barry Lopez

Wild animals are lean. They have no burden of possessions, no need for extra clothing, eating utensils or elaborate dwellings.

THE FIFTIETH MILLENNIUM • Gary Snyder

A homo sapiens calendar starts at 40,000 years before the present, when art was produced for magic or beauty.

SPEED • David Orr

Speed is the foundation of the corporate-dominated global economy of quick returns and rapid growth.

FIVE FACETS OF A MYTH • Kirkpatrick Sale

The world is mesmerized by the myth of Progress. But beyond prosperity for the few, progress does not have a great deal going for it.

Economy

PLOTTING IN THE PRIESTHOOD • Andrew Simms

At the altar of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, transnational corporations will worship and, perhaps, sacrifice.

MONEY AS A MEASURE • Peter Lang

Using money as the measure of all things leads to a distorted view of society and environment.

THE NEW ALCHEMISTS • David Boyle

The local currency revolution means new kinds of money which are kinder to the planet.

The Arts

Craft: THE ULTIMATE POTTER • Edward Hughes

The great Japanese potter Hamada Shoji made pots to use and also to free himself from ego

Craft: POETRY OF NEEDLE AND THREAD • John Lane

Work in an office or a factory is seen to be the sign of progress in our time but for Cecilia Löfström embroidery of beauty holds value.

Science

SILENCE • Michael Shaw Bond

Now even science claims silence to be golden and says that noise damages much more than hearing.

NEW MOON • Paul Kingsnorth

Scientists have a plan. It is to abolish the night.

Frontline

LIVING LIGHTLY • Walter Schwartz & Dorothy Schwartz

A new global culture is in the making. Its signs are eco-villages, co-housing and communal living.

FARMS OF THE FUTURE • Donella Meadows

Farming in Europe and North America is in crisis. The solution lies in community supported agriculture.

AT A WATERSHED • Emily Hynes

A village in Sri Lanka is showing a way of farming which is in harmony with nature and spirit.

A DAY IN DEEP FOREST • Julia Ponsonby

A botanical sanctuary in India is working to restore the rainforest.

Regulars

The Occasional Didymus • John Moat

Letter from America • Jay Walljasper

Letters to the Editors

Good News For Gaia • Lorna Howarth

Poetry • E. E. Cummings

Recipes • Dana Spowers

The Web Page • Fritjof Capra

Reviews

ARTS OF ASIA • John Lane

Master works of Asian Art, Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art and Indian Court Painting 16th-19th century

A TRACT FOR OUR TIMES • Sir Crispin Tickell

Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

POWER AND THE PRESS • David Edwards

Hidden Agendas

FREEDOM FROM CARS • Valerie Belsey

The Estate We're In

REVISING AN ERROR • Frances Hutchinson

The End of the Yellow Brick Road

MONEY MAKERS • Christopher Lowry

The Cult of Impotence and MAI: The Multilateral Agreement on Investment

LIMITS OF LOGIC • Kirk W. Junker

Goodbye, Descartes

PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM • Thomas H. Naylor

Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium

Welcome TO WINTER • Annabel Keatley

Eating with the Seasons

SPIRIT AND NATURE • Jay Ramsay

The Element Book of Mystical Poetry