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The Latest Jokes from Eastern Europe
By Donella Meadows
–September 18, 1986–
“What’s the latest joke?” I always ask when I arrive in East Europe.
That’s a way of asking, “What do you think of Chernobyl? Is Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol policy working? How are things, really, in your country?” Political questions make people edgy east of the Iron Curtain, and public opinion surveys do not exist. But if you want [...]
Winter Is Coming, and So Is a Recession
By Donella Meadows
–September 11, 1986–
A recent headline reads, “Recession May be Looming on the Economic Horizon.”
But a market analyst says, “Job growth is the economy’s bottom line, and it is signaling an expanding economy.”
Page 20 of a recent Business Week tells us, “The early data during the third quarter do not support a major fizzling out of the economy into [...]
A Farm That Thrives Without Chemicals
By Donella Meadows
–September 4, 1986–
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear, for a change, about a Midwest family farm that is not in trouble?
Meet Dick and Sharon Thompson, of Boone, Iowa. They have worked their 300-acre farm, the one on which Dick was born, for 29 years now. They’ve raised four children. One son works with them, another has his own [...]
Six Hungarians Discover America
By Donella Meadows
–August 28, 1986–
I have just had the privilege of escorting six Hungarian visitors on a cross-country tour of the United States. All six are agricultural experts. They came to see our farms.
From them I learned a lot about America, in that special way I always learn from people who see my familiar world with eyes and minds conditioned [...]
Beyond Divestment and Sanctions
By Donella Meadows
–August 14, 1986–
“I can’t decide whether to go to crew practice or to the anti-apartheid rally,” one of the freshmen in my class sighed, very sincerely.
The others recommended the rally. They were all going.
As we talked about South Africa a realization dawned on one of the students. “You mean the blacks can’t VOTE there?” he exclaimed. They can’t, [...]
