During the course of my life, I’ve become increasingly interested in peace. How is it made? How is it maintained? How is it destroyed? From a young age, I was deeply influenced by my father’s interest in history and the Remembrance Day (November 11th) events by the Canadian Legion. However, despite many earnest attempts to […]
Category: Social Change
A Very Long Peace: Potential solutions to armed conflict found in global governance?
In our work on the cooperation possibility frontier, we have demonstrated that as the framework for coordination and trust between nations increases, so too does our threshold for solving problems of a global nature. It is in humanity’s best interest to expand this frontier – thus improving global cooperation and coordination. But there is only […]
Why do we need global governance?
Global governance is necessary because humanity increasingly faces both problems and opportunities that are global in scale. Today, transnational problems such as violence and pandemics routinely reach across borders, affecting us all. At the same time, the increasingly integrated global system has also laid the necessary foundations for peace and spectacular prosperity. Effective global governance […]
The cooperation possibility frontier
Last year, we helped write a paper about the future of global governance. As we researched and brainstormed ideas for that paper, we found ourselves continually confronted with a deceptively simple question: Why don’t the countries of the world cooperate more?
What is global governance?
We speak a lot about global governance, but what exactly does “global governance” mean? Roughly speaking, global governance refers to governance on a global scale. While the concept seems simple in theory, it can take many forms in practice. National governments come in many shapes and sizes. But global governance, as we shall see, is […]
Ruling ourselves: The deliberate evolution of global cooperation and governance
Vision of Earth is proud to announce that we have been selected as a semi-finalist for the New Shape Prize from the Global Challenges Foundation. We’ve made our submission open to the public.
Fair Vote Canada Video Contest
Fair Vote Canada, an organization dedicated to voting system reform, has launched a video contest. The intent of the contest is to find new and better ways to communicate both the drawbacks of Canada’s current winner-takes-all voting system and the benefits of proportional representation (PR) voting systems. We fully support Fair Vote Canada in their […]
Harvest and Hunger: Amy Jo Ehman on local food choices
Hello! This is my first post on Vision of Earth. Glad to be here. On November 9th & 10th, SCIC (Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation) hosted an event in Saskatoon called Harvest and Hunger (introduced in our earlier post: Harvest and Hunger: Brainstorming the future of the world food system). SCIC is an umbrella organization that represents […]
Harvest and Hunger: Brainstorming the future of the world food system
Harvest and Hunger The Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation is hosting an event in Saskatoon on November 10th called Harvest and Hunger. The event sets out to answer three questions: Who controls the world’s food? Who has power in the global food system? Who doesn’t? What are people doing – both in Saskatchewan and around […]
Ethics, Slavery and the Ivory Coast
Ethics and morality are not permanent fixtures of our society. They are constantly evolving and adapting to new social norms and necessities. Today in Canada, slavery is considered to be absolutely immoral. This is, however, a relatively recent development. Two hundred years ago slavery was legal and widely accepted. At present in the Ivory Coast, […]
Morph My City Report – Transforming Regina: Planning for 2040 and beyond
We’re releasing our entire urban design report on the city of Regina. Originally developed for the Morph My City design competition and the National Infrastructure Summit, this report contains our main insights into the future of Regina and other North American Cities.
Moving Planet Montreal video by Developing Pictures
A wonderful video about Moving Planet Montreal was created by Alex Pritz of Developing Pictures. The video features Ben Harack in his first-ever YouTube appearance!
Moving Planet Montreal
Moving Planet Montreal was a celebration of the transition away from fossil fuels in our society. The event was a green kilometer drive and a grand picnic, symbolizing the central role of transportation and food in sustainability.
Envisioning a Green Life: 10 ways you can make a difference
Simple, practical advice on how to live a green life. Based on years of research and thought on the matter by the Vision of Earth team.
How much would it cost to end extreme poverty in the world?
Ending extreme poverty in twenty years is very feasible if the developed world delivers on their promises. The United States alone could end world poverty with a fraction of their military budget.
Story Of Afghanistan That Everyone Should Know
The US sent huge sums of money to support freedom fighters in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union during the 1980’s.
Wage reduction through inflation
Inflation means that a dollar is worth less at the end of a year than at the beginning. Real wages go down when raises are not higher than inflation rates.
Voted for Koch on the Corporate Hall of Shame
I voted for Koch Industries in the Corporate Hall of Shame. They push toxic political and economic agendas that hurt the world.
How healthy is Canada’s political market?
Looking at Canadian politics as a market, it is clear that left-leaning voters in Canada have a lot more choices at the ballot box than do their conservative counterparts. The melding of fiscal and social conservatism has left conservative voters with only one real option during elections. We might summarize this as a ‘Monopoly on conservatism in Canada’.
Applying free market ideas to politics: How fares the US?
We apply the ideals of a free market economy to politics and realize that US politics is an extremely unhealthy market dominated by a pair of monopolistic ‘sellers’ who deliberately bar any third party from effectively challenging them.