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Being Homeless is More Than Being Without Shelter
By Donella Meadows
–December 22, 1988–
Last Christmas I was homeless, in a way, for awhile. I FELT homeless anyway, and the pain was sharp enough to give me a small insight — perhaps as much as we who have never really lacked a home can have — of what homelessness means and why it demands a larger response than building shelters.
In [...]
Let’s Do the Environment Story Better This Time
By Donella Meadows
–December 15, 1988–
The media are buzzing with ecological consciousness. Garbage barges and the greenhouse effect are on Page One. PBS and CNN are making documentaries on the state of the planet. A researcher for “Entertainment Tonight” even called me the other day, asking whether I think television covers environmental issues adequately.
College environmental science enrollments have tripled this year. [...]
Number Seventeen in Infant Health, Number One in Garbage
By Donella Meadows
–December 8, 1988–
Throughout the past campaign the United States was Number One, the Envy of the World, the Strongest Nation on Earth. The candidates would have been stopped in mid-rhetoric if anyone had asked: In what sense are we Number One? Exactly what about us do others envy?
Now it’s transition time, a fleeting period when harmony rules the [...]
The Tragedy of the Commons on Georges Bank, and Elsewhere
By Donella Meadows
–December 1, 1988–
In the Massachusetts State Capitol there is a wooden statue of the Sacred Cod, a tribute to the massive fishing ground called Georges Bank. For 200 years codfish from Georges Bank have enriched New England. Now, says the Northeast Fisheries Center, the cod population of Georges Bank is collapsing.
This unnecessary tragedy-in-the-making is directly parallel to other [...]
Dark Thoughts on a Bright November Morning
By Donella Meadows
–November 10, 1988–
The morning after the election I woke up feeling bruised all over.
The networks were being celebratory and conciliatory, appropriate for the day when the nation has to come back together again. Dukakis was unemotional (no surprise) and gracious. Bush was saying nice things about him, finally. The pundits were drawing the obvious lessons: 1. Negative campaigns [...]
