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A Consciously Chosen Death in the Netherlands
By Donella Meadows
–May 21, 1998–
There are topics — abortion, guns, property rights — that Americans can’t discuss without high emotion and polarization. But other nations seem to have no trouble with them. Why is that?
I’m no psychologist, but I’d guess it’s because these subjects bring up enormous fears we are unwilling to face. In the case of one such subject, [...]
There’s “Pesticide-Free” and Then There’s “Organic”
By Donella Meadows
–May 21, 1998–
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has heard the people. Maybe. Sort of. For awhile, anyway.
The USDA has been trying to draft a definition of “organic,” so consumers can know, when they see that word on a food label, that it means something. Some states, such as California, New Hampshire, and Vermont, have strict organic certification standards. [...]
Don’t Get Into Evolutionary Races with Small Critters
By Donella Meadows
–May 14, 1998–
We of the industrial culture pretty much accept the laws of physics. We don’t waste time trying to make perpetual motion machines. We don’t expect water to run uphill or gravity to go away. These concessions to reality don’t stop progress, they just keep us, most of the time, from dead ends and disasters.
If only we’d [...]
Someone Will Have to Do Something About All This
By Donella Meadows
–May 7, 1998–
I refuse to wallow in despair. I firmly believe that human beings are sensible enough not to destroy their own life-support systems. But I have to admit, sometimes there’s a spate of news that makes me wonder.
In April a deadly “red tide” suddenly appeared on the China coast, where one had never been seen before. It [...]
Noise-Making Goop and the Carrying Capacity of the Earth
By Donella Meadows
–April 30, 1998–
It was a gorgeous April day, and I was hurrying home, heading for my garden. I stopped for gas, paid inside, walked out, opened the car door, stopped dead, wondered if I had really seen what I had just seen, turned around and walked back in.
There it was on the counter. “FLARP! Noise-Making Goop!” said the [...]
