Beware the Sloshing of Loose Capital
By Donella Meadows
–July 25, 1991–
The fashionable solution to the economic woes of a community, state, bank, or nation, is to open its boundaries. The idea is that somehow a larger system, more capital, bigger markets, the involvement of more parties will solve the problem.
It would be wise, however, to look out the door before opening it, to see what’s outside [...]
When All Nature Flows Through Human Hands
By Donella Meadows
–July 18, 1991–
In 1986 a group of ecologists at Stanford published a paper in the journal Bioscience that made scientists’ hair stand on end. They calculated that human beings now control 40 percent of the planet’s land-based net primary productivity.
That number would have hit the front pages, if more people had understood what it meant.
The “net primary productivity” [...]
Nobody Ever Dies of Overpopulation
By Donella Meadows
–July 11, 1991–
In April 1991 a great storm roared from the sea into the river delta of Bangladesh and killed a number of people that will never be accurately known, but that is estimated at over 125,000. Hundreds of thousands of cattle were killed, nine million people were left homeless, 20,000 square miles of farmland (that’s almost 13 [...]
Lumber Company Journalism
By Donella Meadows
–July 4, 1991–
The newspapers are scapegoating again — or rather scapeowling.
Lumber prices have shot up. One month ago a federal judge halted logging licenses in old-growth national forests to protect the habitat of the northern spotted owl. So we find on the front page of our local paper a big diagram showing an owl gazing down on a [...]
Pick-Your-Own Land Use Planning
By Donella Meadows
–June 27, 1991–
This morning about 100 neighbors and I swarmed like bright-colored locusts over a strawberry field, gleaning fat red berries. Babies snoozed in the shade of their carriages. Bigger kids had strawberry juice from ear to ear. There was a low murmur of lazy chatter. “How many do we need for shortcake? It’s getting hot. Mommy, is [...]
