Why Doesn’t Anyone Ever Say That?
By Donella Meadows
–December 14, 1995–
Back a decade or two ago when we weren’t paying much attention, the advertising industry took over American politics, reducing debates to soundbites, using polls to tell politicians what to say, polishing image while banishing ideas.
Worst of all advertisers taught government leaders their central trick. Say any fool thing over and over and over, and it [...]
Let’s Take Back Christmas
By Donella Meadows
–December 7, 1995–
The holiday shopping season has gotten off to a bad start, they say. They don’t say it, actually, they moan it, as if no worse tragedy can be imagined. The problem is, they say, that too many of us have maxed out our credit cards. The solution is to send out more credit cards.
Correct me if [...]
An Early Morning Conversation with Gandhi
By Donella Meadows
–November 30, 1995–
This morning before daylight my radio clicked on and I heard, through a sleepy haze, that Congress has passed and the president has signed a little-noticed edict permitting the export of Alaskan oil.
I pulled the covers over my ears. The oil industry wins again, I thought. The export ban was passed in the 1970s to prolong [...]
Dear Folks: November 26, 1995
Dear Folks,
Nearly always when I sit down to write this monthly letter to you, it’s a Sunday. I have been immersed in farm activities, and I am suffused with happiness — my normal state when I’ve spent a day or two putzing around outside. So I usually start off with farm stuff, descriptions of nature and animals and gardens and [...]
An Instrument Panel to Help Seattle Fly Sustainably
By Donella Meadows
–November 23, 1995–
When you fly a plane, you need an instrument panel in front of you, with lights and dials telling you how well the parts are working, what direction you’re headed, whether there are obstacles ahead, and how much fuel you have.
If you’re guiding a complex social mechanism like a city, you need even more lights and [...]
