Conversation at Waverly Library
Bondi Junction
February 4th 2000
A great turnout for this our first meet
for 2000. A heartening mix of both familiar faces and enough new people to indicate
the growth pattern that we are experiencing.
Following our usual format, the general
issues that people offered as of concern were generally about a sense of
disenfranchisement. Most of us felt disadvantaged at some level, either
economically, ageist, technologically or even by being retrenched and other
alienating experiences. Many spoke of a sense of disillusionment with the economic
absurdities and with our report card on environmental issues.
There was a particularly strong
advocate for a more optimistic viewpoint on our situation which turned out to be a
wonderful basis for a real conversation. We have agreed to turn an entire evening
over to a discussion on the advantages of such things as the burgeoning global economy and
such like. Watch for that one in April.
Another refreshing piece of passion
came from a couple of participants who wanted to get changes happening at a much faster
rate. It seemed to some that the necessary steps are really quite obvious and beyond
discussion and our lack of action was a source of frustration. Have any of you
reading this ever felt that?
The big issue of the day, as it turned
out was about how we measure our economic health. The current emphasis on Gross
Domestic Product came under fire from most of us and we have decided to deepen our
understanding and the quality of our offerings on this subject. For the next few meetings
we are going to talk about measuring devices and explore such possibilities as the
Genuine Progress Indicator and any others that we can find. To inform ourselves
better we have undertaken to do some further reading and a paper has been circulated to
help us with this. Check
here to see a copy of this paper.
If you are interested in
exploring possible alternatives to the GDP that may serve us better or would just like to
be better informed on such matters, do come to our next forum on March 4th. You're
bound to have a delightful evening too, just like we did.
Next date for the Waverley Library Theatrette will be Friday
March 4th 2000 6.30pm |
