The Health Care System Is Sick
By Donella Meadows
–January 28, 1993—-
The annual letter from my health insurance company came on the same day I was reading in Future Survey about the U.S. health care system.
If you are one of those Americans still privileged to pay through the nose for health insurance, you get annual letters too. For four years in a row mine has announced a [...]
He’ll Break our Hearts, and We’ll Break His
By Donella Meadows
–January 21, 1993—-
It’s frightening to watch, every four or eight years, how we turn one of ourselves into a president.
At first, while he’s struggling toward the head of his party, we search out his dirty laundry. We blow up every rumor, no matter how unsavory its source, into a topic of national discussion. We view each aspirant with [...]
Free Trade Benefits Traders, Not Nations
By Donella Meadows
–August 27, 1992–
Wow! The world’s largest trading area, populated by 360 million people! A free market from the Yukon to the Yucatan! The latest dramatic chapter, says President Bush, in the new world Christopher Columbus discovered 500 years ago!
It’s enough to give you shivers down your back.
But have you ever stopped to wonder what, exactly, is to be [...]
If It’s Broke, Be Careful How You Fix It
By Donella Meadows
–August 2, 1992–
Just about everyone admits these days that the American democracy is both broken and broke. Many ideas are circulating about how to fix it, most of which, as far as I can tell, would make things worse.
The most popular fix seems to be term limits. Fifteen states are putting term limit options on their ballots this [...]
An Introduction to American Politics for Melinda
By Donella Meadows
–November 14, 1991–
Welcome, Melinda, to the United States. Your Hungarian university sent you here to practice English, and since you’ve arrived at the beginning of a presidential election season, you’ll also get to see “democracy” in action. I know people in your country are very interested in democracy, so I’ll do the best I can to explain it [...]
