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Ceausescu’s Longest-Lasting Legacy — The Cohort of ’67
By Donella Meadows
–January 26, 1990–
In his wisdom dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided in the mid-1960s that Romania ought to have 25 million people. At the time the population was 19 million. He designated the title “Heroine Mother” for any woman who bore and brought up ten or more children. For seven to nine children a woman won the order of “Maternal [...]
The Cave-Man Approach to Cancer, Pests, and Noriega
By Donella Meadows
–January 18, 1990–
When modern doctors want to eliminate rogue cells that have formed a cancer, they bombard them with lethal radiation. They use linear accelerators, marvelous instruments that provide steady, reproducible streams of radiation from any angle at any dose.
Inevitably most of the radiation does not hit cancer cells. It hits healthy cells, killing them, deranging normal body [...]
Millions, Billions, Trillions, and the Peace Dividend
By Donella Meadows
–January 12, 1990–
Ever since the Cold War ended a month or so ago, politicians and columnists have been having fun figuring out what to do with the money we will save — the so-called “peace dividend.”
You would think ordinary citizens would be playing this game too. After all, we are the source of the money. But the public [...]
Many Opinions on Whether Wilderness Matters
By Donella Meadows
–January 4, 1990–
How much of the earth’s surface would you guess is still wilderness? According to a Sierra Club survey, about one-third of the earth’s land area can still be called wilderness (defined as at least one million acres upon which there is no road, powerline, airport, dam, or other major human construction). Over 60 percent of this [...]
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Glasnost?
By Donella Meadows
–December 28, 1989–
The outbreak of freedom in Eastern Europe can be traced directly to just one cause: glasnost, truth-telling. A new openness about the activities of government verified what every East Bloc citizen knew but could not say — that their governments were corrupt, inept, and intolerable. The truths, when fully revealed, were even worse than anyone suspected. [...]
