Peace on Earth, Good Will to Sheep and Men
By Donella Meadows
–December 22, 1994–
As rams go, Wally was a real gentleman.
Rams defend their territory by backing up to get a good run going, putting their thick necks down, and charging at anything they regard as a threat. Once, before we had Wally, I was walking heedlessly across the pasture and suddenly found myself flying through the air, both sneakers [...]
The Draft Issue and the Character Issue
By Donella Meadows
–September 17, 1992–
Which of the following experiences most qualifies a person to be a national leader?
(a). Fought honorably in World War II.
(b). Got his influential daddy to find him a place in the national guard, so he could stay out of the Vietnam War.
(c). Didn’t have an influential daddy, but pulled every string to stay in graduate school [...]
The Lessons of War
By Donella Meadows
–March 7, 1991–
The war in the Gulf is over but the story-telling is just beginning, and the story-telling is, in the long run, the most important part of the war. What we choose to tell ourselves now will shape our future as powerfully as past stories have shaped our present.
Stories informed the decisions that led to this war [...]
Names, Faces, and Families
By Donella Meadows
–February 28, 1991–
A weeping Iraqi man approached a BBC reporter outside the bombed bunker in Baghdad and handed him six identity cards. “My wife and children were in there,” he said. The reporter looked at the cards — a 32-year-old woman, five children under the age of eight. Each card had a picture, except the newest, that of [...]
Speaking out in a Time of War
By Donella Meadows
–February 21, 1991–
January 16, 1991, was a day that divided time in ways we are only beginning to realize. In the Middle East it marked the time before which there was ominous quiet, after which there were alarms, the roar of airplanes, the blast of bombs. For the rest of the world it marked the boundary between dread [...]
