The Endangered Species Act is not Working Well for Most Species, Including Humans
By Donella Meadows
–April 15, 1993–
“We have erected a monument to commemorate the funeral of a species,” said Aldo Leopold, dedicating a memorial to the passenger pigeon in 1947. “It symbolizes our sorrow. We grieve because no living man will see again the onrushing phalanx of victorious birds, sweeping a path for spring across the March skies, chasing the defeated winter [...]
National Train Wrecks Result from National Addictions
By Donella Meadows
–April 8, 1993–
The poor spotted owl has been dragged into a controversy that has nothing to do with owls. The standoff in the Pacific forests, which Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has called a “national train wreck,” was caused, as train wrecks, car crashes, and oil spills often are, by intoxication. Owls are implicated because the intoxication is addictive, [...]
Dear Folks: April 4, 1993
Dear Folks,
Things change so fast at this time of year, I thought you might enjoy a serial letter chronicling spring as it unfolds, rather than an end-of-the-month summary. So here’s installment number one.
Last weekend it got up to 60 degrees and the sun was overwhelming. We watched the huge piles of snow shrink away. Clear patches of ground appeared in [...]
Rules for the New World Order: A Citizen’s Proposal
By Donella Meadows
–April 1, 1993–
We who were born to democracy value it, but human beings are not all alike. Some may prefer to live under dictatorship. Anyway, whether other people like their leaders is no business of ours. As long as other governments stay within their own borders, they are not our problem.
Those were the dominant ideas of the old [...]
Simple Economic Models and the Real World
By Donella Meadows
–March 25, 1993–
They play a game in economics classes that might help illuminate the present debate in Washington about budget-cutting and economy-stimulating. It’s a game about public and private investment. Each player starts off with 10 pennies. For each penny you put in the private investment pool, you get back one cent each round. For each penny you [...]
