Dear Folks: October 24, 1999
Dear Folks,
It’s a brisk Sunday morning, 40 degrees, half-cloudy. The sun, just lifting over the eastern hill, is turning Mount Ascutney brilliant red. As I look out my window (probably the last time I will be looking out this window as I write this newsletter), the land is revealing itself again, as the leaves stream down and the long views [...]
Americans are the World’s Guinea Pigs for Bioengineered Foods
By Donella Meadows
–October 21, 1999–
News about genetically engineered crops breaks so fast that it’s hard to keep up. For those who look upon biotech foods with suspicion, most of the latest news is surprisingly good. The companies who splice strange genes into our corn and potatoes and soybeans are pushing their products so recklessly that they are alarming not only [...]
Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System
By Donella Meadows~
Folks who do systems analysis have a great belief in “leverage points.” These are places within a complex system (a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything.
This idea is not unique to systems analysis — it’s embedded in legend. The silver bullet, [...]
What Happens When You Believe the Prophets of Doom?
by Donella Meadows
— October 14, 1999 —
Of all the tragic characters in Greek myths, the one who gives me the most shivers is Cassandra. The god Apollo gave her a wonderful gift — the ability to foretell the future — then followed it up with a terrible curse — no one would ever believe her. I can just imagine Cassandra, [...]
Six Billion of Us: Boo? Hooray?
by Donella Meadows
— October 7, 1999 —
Months ago the United Nations decided to make an event out of the fact that the human population meter would soon click over another billion. They picked an arbitrary date — October 12 — and declared it the Day of Six Billion.
What kind of event should this be? A day of repentance? A celebration? [...]
