A Week in the Nation’s Capital – Who Will Win?
By Donella Meadows
–February 4, 1988–
It was six whole days before Superbowl Sunday, but in the capital city of the most powerful nation on earth minds, eyes, and television cameras were already turned toward San Diego. The evening news broadcast was devoted to a rock-video montage of cheerleaders, players, and fans chanting, “Go ‘Skins!”
Downtown the National Geographic Society was celebrating its [...]
Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine
By Donella Meadows
–November 12, 1987–
The Fairness Doctrine is gone.
Most people don’t even know for sure what the Fairness Doctrine was, much less that it has been repealed, or why they should care. It’s easier than you might expect to strip away democratic rights from the public without even raising a fuss.
The Fairness Doctrine is best explained by telling a few [...]
Jozsef Discovers America
By Donella Meadows
–October 1, 1987–
“How many telephone equipment there are in this house?” Jozsef asked on his second day in America, his second day in the West.
I was embarrassed to answer. Two weeks earlier I had been in Hungary at the home of one of Jozsef’s colleagues, another professor of economics at Budapest’s Karl Marx University. It was a gracious [...]
Every Goliath Has His David
By Donella Meadows
–June 18, 1987–
The following message was brought to you by the U.S. Committee for Energy Awareness (USCEA) — for awhile. Then ABC and NBC decided to stop airing it until USCEA answered complaints about its inaccuracies.
“Almost a billion dollars every week.”
Thunk! A huge money bag drops onto a desert landscape.
“That’s how much America spends on foreign oil. Just [...]
Gary Hart — The Hound is Brother to the Fox
By Donella Meadows
–May 14, 1987–
It’s awful to watch the pack close in on the fox right in your own back yard.
Until Gary Hart arrived in Hanover last week, I had never seen the full fury of the press pursuing a hot story. Private jets with network logos descended on our little airport. The streets were jammed by TV vans topped [...]
