“Liberal” Isn’t a Dirty Word; “Conservative” Isn’t Either
By Donella Meadows
–August 20, 1992–
Everyone knows what a liberal is — a person who wants to ruin the nation by taxing and spending with no restraint. Furthermore, that liberal spends the money on wasteful, unpatriotic projects like education and roads and the environment and helping the poor.
Everyone knows what a conservative is — a person who wants to ruin the [...]
Dear Folks: August 16, 1992
Dear Folks,
It’s Sunday morning, gray and misty. The summer continues cool. The garden is in slow motion. Only a handful of cherry tomatoes have ripened. The pepper plants have not even set fruit. The melons sit and shiver. Some of the cucumbers are molding on the vine — something I have never seen before. The sweet corn has been on [...]
Let’s Have a Little More Feedback
By Donella Meadows
–August 15, 1992–
The reason the market system and democracy work as well as they do is that they are designed around the principle of FEEDBACK. Feedback means, basically, giving people quick, accurate, emphatic information about the results of their own actions. A seller who sets a price too high gets no customers. A politician who thwarts the public [...]
How to Stop a Bloody Run of History?
By Donella Meadows
–August 13, 1992–
Almost thirty years ago I spent my honeymoon in Bosnia-Herzegovina. My husband and I and a group of Europeans kayaked the Drina river, which runs north from the heights of Montenegro and eventually joins the river Sava just before it flows into the great Danube at Belgrade, capital of Serbia — the source of the current [...]
If It’s Broke, Be Careful How You Fix It
By Donella Meadows
–August 2, 1992–
Just about everyone admits these days that the American democracy is both broken and broke. Many ideas are circulating about how to fix it, most of which, as far as I can tell, would make things worse.
The most popular fix seems to be term limits. Fifteen states are putting term limit options on their ballots this [...]
