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What the American People Really Want
By Donella Meadows
–October 24, 1996–
Every day in this crazy cartoon campaign the politicians tell us what the American people want. A 15 percent tax cut. Welfare reform. Education. Whatever.
They pay fortunes for polls, these politicians, so you’d think they know what we want. But have you ever been polled? Did you notice what a cramped set of choices you were [...]
The System is Rotten, but Vote Anyway
By Donella Meadows
–October 17, 1996–
Bill Clinton says the Republicans want to cut Medicare.
Bob Dole says stop scaring old folks, I just want to make Medicare grow more slowly.
There, in the so-called “debates,” the matter rests. No neutral party says clearly that under either Clinton’s or Dole’s budget total expenditures on Medicare would go up, so technically that’s not a cut. [...]
How Do We Keep Pesticides Out of Our Foods, if the Government Doesn’t?
By Donella Meadows
–October 10, 1996–
“Have you ever known a pesticide to kill anyone?” a neighbor asked me the other day. She’s a good farmer. She uses pesticides lightly, only when she really needs them. I pick apples at her place, because on my own, where I use no pesticides, I do fine with every crop except apples.
No, I had to [...]
The New Food Safety Law — A Bit Better, But Only a Bit
By Donella Meadows
–October 3, 1996–
If you are a purist who would just as soon not have any harmful chemicals in your food, you will not feel protected by the new “Food Quality Protection Act of 1996.” If you’re a political realist, though, you might say, “Well, heck, it’s better than the law we had before. It’s probably the best we’re [...]
Farewell to the Delaney Amendment
By Donella Meadows
–September 26, 1996–
Over centuries we have written innumerable laws to protect ourselves from each other’s foolishness, negligence, incompetence, or evil. Few of those laws forbid anything absolutely. Murder we can get away with, in self-defense or insanity. We can build on floodplains, if we really want to. The law is strict about robbing banks, but there are plenty [...]
