Russia and China, Seen Through Fun-House Mirrors
By Donella Meadows
–May 15, 1997–
We have a hard time seeing straight when we look at countries as large and potentially powerful as our own — countries such as Russia and China. We see mainly our own fears or expectations, and so we deceive ourselves, at enormous cost.
During the long, terrible decades of Russia’s communist rule, we systematically exaggerated its strength [...]
Things Fall Apart; The Center Cannot Hold
By Donella Meadows
–November 28, 1991–
Every now and then I hear something in the news that reminds me of the chilling poem “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats. Usually the triggering event is a period of utter chaos in some distant part of the world:
Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, the Middle East.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the [...]
Some Practical Aid for the (Former) Soviet Union
By Donella Meadows
–October 3, 1991–
The United States is planning to respond to Mikhail Gorbachev’s repeated appeals for economic aid by sending in teams of experts in accounting, marketing and finance.
What? No LAWYERS?
I assume that our leaders are sincere in this offer — that it’s not part of a secret plot to bring the Soviet Union down the last step, from [...]
Out of the Frying Pan
By Donella Meadows
–October 18, 1990–
Dear Stanislav,
I’m sorry to hear how bad things are in Moscow. I can imagine how frustrated you are. You’ve won freedom at last, but still there’s no meat and no soap, and the potatoes are rotting in the fields.
Over here we’re pulling for you. We hope you find the patience to weather these hard times and [...]
Dear Folks: March 22, 1987
Dear Folks,
It’s Sunday morning at the beginning of mud season. Most of Foundation Farm is still covered by about a foot of snow, but there are bare patches on the southern slopes, and they are solid mud, a portent of things to come. The snow has been going off very gradually. That’s good, because with all the snow we had, [...]
