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The Land Doesn’t Put the Kids in the Schools
By Donella Meadows
–April 10, 1997–
Vermont is in a tizzy over a set of gnarled-together problems that plague every state — schools, land, property tax.
I don’t suppose any place can boast of a happy solution to school funding or land taxes. Most of us live with a set of compromises that endure only out of habit. No one questions the status [...]
Industry Could Be a Clean Air Good Guy
By Donella Meadows
–April 3, 1997–
If the EPA carries out its plan to strengthen the Clean Air Act, that will be the end of Fourth of July fireworks.
Backyard barbecues will be banned.
You will probably lose your job.
The economy will crash.
All for a few asthmatic kids, who should just stay inside on smoggy days.
So industry ads and spokespersons are saying. It’s astonishing. [...]
Millennium, Shmillennium
By Donella Meadows
–March 27, 1997–
On April 6 it will be 1000 DAYS TILL THE YEAR 2000!!! There will be press conferences and a global sing-along. Countdown clocks will be set ticking, aimed for the turning of the millennium.
(Purists will point out that the actual millennial change will occur on January 1, 2001. They will keep saying that for the next [...]
As Individuals We Learn, As Organizations We Resist
By Donella Meadows
–March 20, 1997–
Though we humans grandly call ourselves Homo sapiens, “man the wise,” we also carry on a constant debate about how smart we really are. The argument goes on, because the answer isn’t obvious. There’s plenty of evidence of our brilliance and of our enduring foolishness.
The ultimate intelligence test is coming from the environment. Are we smart [...]
The Secret Life of My Computer
By Donella Meadows
–March 13, 1997–
Usually, as I boot up my computer to write this column, I’m thinking about the column, not the computer. Today, though, I’ve just finished reading “Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things,” and I’m looking at my computer with awe.
“Stuff” tells how the things that fill our lives — coffee and newspapers, T-shirts and hamburgers — [...]
