The NAFTA Debate–More Than Al Gore and Ross Perot
By Donella Meadows
–November 11, 1993–
Sending a pair of gladiators like Al Gore and Ross Perot into the ring is not the way to illuminate a complex issue like NAFTA. There are more positions, theories, dreams, hopes, and fears about NAFTA than could be represented by any two people, even if they were polite to each other.
That variety of opinion, which [...]
Those Who Build Wood Houses Shouldn’t Live in Chaparral
By Donella Meadows
–November 4, 1993–
I could feel sorry for the people of South Florida, whose houses were blown away by Hurricane Andrew. I could imagine that they were recent retirees from Chicago who had never noticed in their whole northern lives that Florida has hurricanes. I might have been in favor of jailing the developers who put up mile after [...]
Biosphere As Theater
By Donella Meadows
–October 28, 1993–
The managers at Space Biospheres Ventures probably wanted a welcome for their returning bionauts similar to the front-page headlines and parades we used to put on for astronauts.
What they got, when the eight residents of Biosphere 2 walked out after two years inside their oversized greenhouse, was soundbites and cruel cartoons. One cartoon showed Dopey, Doc, [...]
Dear Folks: October 24, 1993
Dear Folks,
It’s a glorious Sunday morning. Everything was coated with frost when the sun came up, but the air is warming fast, and we’re predicted to reach the 60s this afternoon. The maples are bare, but the oaks are still glowing orange and red. John is out front with his chainsaw, attacking the last of our log-length wood. Yorinde is [...]
How to Invite – Or Not Invite – A Speaker to your Next Event
By Donella Meadows
–October 21, 1993–
Once I asked my favorite writer, Wendell Berry, to give a speech at Dartmouth College. “Which would you rather have me do?” he asked. “Go around speaking, or stay home and write?”
That was easy. There’s nothing on which I’d rather have Wendell Berry expend his life energy than his writing. I won’t trouble him again. And [...]
