Spinning the Environmental Good News
By Donella Meadows
–January 27, 1994–
Contrary to popular opinion, sometimes there’s good news about the environment — lately there’s been quite a spate of it. Some has come about through luck, some through the wisdom and forbearance of the human race, and some is completely unexplained, which leaves plenty of room for commentators to spin the environmental news, like any news, [...]
Dear Folks: January 23, 1994
Dear Folks,
Thank heaven for Mount Washington! Any time we begin to feel oppressed by our winter down here in the valley, we can always hear (because the weather reporters are assiduous about reporting to us) what it’s doing at the top of Mount Washington. Then we feel MUCH better.
On Foundation Farm last Monday (Martin Luther King Day all over the [...]
Can There Be Capitalism in a Sustainable World?
By Donella Meadows
–January 20, 1994–
Paul Hawken, legendary founder of the Erewhon Trading Company and of the garden supply firm Smith & Hawken, was recently presented an Environmental Stewardship Award for his ecologically correct business practices. “I walked to the podium,” he says, “looked out at the sea of pearls and black ties, and … realized two things: first, that my [...]
Restoring American Values: Who Goes First?
By Donella Meadows
–January 13, 1994–
“THE DECLINE OF AMERICAN VALUES” reads a recent headline. The subhead elaborates: “Right and Left Agree on This: Spiritual Crisis Grips the Land.”
Two stories on the same page illustrate the point, one for the right, the other for the left. Michael Jackson denies allegations that he sexually abused children. A local bank president, found guilty of [...]
Words for a Sustainable World
By Donella Meadows
–January 6, 1994–
Back in the 1970s when my feminist friends said they felt excluded by the word “man” — as in “the future of man” — I thought they were making a fuss over nothing.
But it was easy enough to say “people” or “humanity” instead of “man,” so I did, and gradually my gender-deafness turned into sensitivity. I [...]
