A Gift for the Nature Lover Who Has Everything
By Donella Meadows
–December 8, 1994–
“Birdlife International Presents: THE CHOCÓ VIREO. An invitation for your name to be remembered for eternity.”
The small bird on the cover of the brochure is light gold and olive, blending with yellowed leaves halfway up a rainforest tree. The brochure says: “In August 1991, deep in the forests of the Rio Nambi in south-west Colombia, a [...]
How to Talk About Changing a System
By Donella Meadows
–December 1, 1994–
Most of what government does makes little long-term difference, thank goodness. Spend more money here and less there; strengthen a regulation here, weaken one there. Those are fiddles, small and reversible adjustments to the existing system.
But every now and then government actually changes the system in a way that has long-lasting effects. That’s what it failed [...]
Dear Folks: November 27, 1994
Dear Folks,
It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and I’ve just permitted myself to put on the Messiah for the first time this holiday season. I’m alone for the weekend and having a great time. Mostly I like it when this house is full of people and activity, which it very much has been lately. But now and again, I enjoy putzing [...]
Bar Codes for the Biosphere
By Donella Meadows
–November 24, 1994–
There is static in the United States about our new National Biological Survey — a systematic compilation of information about the biological wealth of the nation. We’ve had a useful National Geological Survey for over a hundred years. But the idea of knowing as much about our biological resources as about our mineral resources is causing [...]
The People Have Not Spoken
By Donella Meadows
–November 17, 1994–
It was a tidal wave, an earthquake, a rout, a cultural revolution, a mandate for sweeping change, say the media. The people have spoken, say Gingrich and Dole, preparing to cut loose on Capitol Hill. But look around. Do the people you know feel they have spoken? Did you call for the mandate the Republicans think [...]
