Names, Faces, and Families
By Donella Meadows
–February 28, 1991–
A weeping Iraqi man approached a BBC reporter outside the bombed bunker in Baghdad and handed him six identity cards. “My wife and children were in there,” he said. The reporter looked at the cards — a 32-year-old woman, five children under the age of eight. Each card had a picture, except the newest, that of [...]
Dear Folks: February 24, 1991
Dear Folks, It’s a gray Sunday morning, six degrees outside, the ground war has started half a world away, and they’re not telling us anything about it. I am awed by the momentum of war. Once the people who love war are handed control, once they have made their plans, there seems to be nothing that will stop the unfolding of [...]
Speaking out in a Time of War
By Donella Meadows
–February 21, 1991–
January 16, 1991, was a day that divided time in ways we are only beginning to realize. In the Middle East it marked the time before which there was ominous quiet, after which there were alarms, the roar of airplanes, the blast of bombs. For the rest of the world it marked the boundary between dread [...]
Junk Mail Myths, Facts, and Creative Ideas
By Donella Meadows
–February 14, 1991–
Now that postage rates have gone up and we’re all mad, it’s time to revisit the subject of junk mail.
The problem, I hasten to say, is not shopping by mail. That can save resources, if, instead of each of us driving a one-ton vehicle to a store, we let an efficient delivery truck bring packages to [...]
What, More on Global Warming?
By Donella Meadows
–February 7, 1991–
“Don’t write any more about the greenhouse effect,” some of my editors are saying. “It’s an old, boring story.”
Sorry, but I think there’s no story more new or exciting. We’re living through climate events of tantalizing uncertainty, which could challenge our ingenuity far more than any war. There are political angles: will George Bush maintain his [...]
