All Global Citizens columns are licensed under a Creative Commons License. DMI encourages you to share this content by following these easy steps.
“Liberal” Isn’t a Dirty Word; “Conservative” Isn’t Either
By Donella Meadows
–August 20, 1992–
Everyone knows what a liberal is — a person who wants to ruin the nation by taxing and spending with no restraint. Furthermore, that liberal spends the money on wasteful, unpatriotic projects like education and roads and the environment and helping the poor.
Everyone knows what a conservative is — a person who wants to ruin the [...]
Let’s Have a Little More Feedback
By Donella Meadows
–August 15, 1992–
The reason the market system and democracy work as well as they do is that they are designed around the principle of FEEDBACK. Feedback means, basically, giving people quick, accurate, emphatic information about the results of their own actions. A seller who sets a price too high gets no customers. A politician who thwarts the public [...]
How to Stop a Bloody Run of History?
By Donella Meadows
–August 13, 1992–
Almost thirty years ago I spent my honeymoon in Bosnia-Herzegovina. My husband and I and a group of Europeans kayaked the Drina river, which runs north from the heights of Montenegro and eventually joins the river Sava just before it flows into the great Danube at Belgrade, capital of Serbia — the source of the current [...]
If It’s Broke, Be Careful How You Fix It
By Donella Meadows
–August 2, 1992–
Just about everyone admits these days that the American democracy is both broken and broke. Many ideas are circulating about how to fix it, most of which, as far as I can tell, would make things worse.
The most popular fix seems to be term limits. Fifteen states are putting term limit options on their ballots this [...]
How Long Does It Take to Make the Air Clean?
By Donella Meadows
–July 30, 1992–
The history of the Clean Air Act is worth knowing, not just to avoid repeating it, but to get a sense of how long it takes to solve environmental problems — or not solve them, as the case may be.
The first smoke control act was implemented in Los Angeles in 1905. It was strengthened thereafter at [...]
