Giving Away the Gold
By Donella Meadows
–October 19, 1995–
Want to buy a gold mine for five bucks an acre?
Actually you don’t need to buy it. You and I already own it as part of our citizens’ legacy of public land. We’re the ones offering the land at that price, and we’re getting lots of takers. We recently sold a gold deposit in northeast Nevada [...]
Unserious and Serious Suggestions for Reclaiming Democracy
By Donella Meadows
–September 28, 1995–
Every week, every day, come news items that reveal the sorry state of our democracy. For instance:
– Because of a rider urged by timber companies, passed by Congress, and signed by Bill Clinton, an extra 2 million board feet of timber must now be cut in Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest. (The present cutting rate is [...]
There’s Only One Campaign Issue
By Donella Meadows
— September 14, 1995–
Colin Powell and Newt Gingrich are peddling books. Bill Clinton is running TV ads. Presidential candidates are popping up at senior centers all over New Hampshire. Like Christmas decorations immediately after Halloween, the ‘96 political campaign has started way too soon. We aren’t ready to buy yet or even browse, but the political marketers are [...]
You Fought for Freedom, Not for a Flag
By Donella Meadows
–July 20, 1995–
Dear, dear veterans,
I can imagine your fury when someone purposefully insults the flag. I feel some of that fury too, though I never saluted the flag in my country’s uniform, never followed it into the havoc of battle, never saw it draped over the coffin of a fallen friend. The flag to you stands for bravery, [...]
Whose Cost? Whose Benefit? Measured by Whom?
By Donella Meadows
–May 4, 1995–
It’s going to take months, maybe years, to sort out the blitz of legislation just pushed through the House without proper hearings or time for understanding. Newt’s Hundred Days have brought forth a hundred ideas, some new, some old, most with such potential impact that in a real democracy they would be subject to critical, informed [...]
