Consumption levels slowing. More territory being occupied by protestors. Bipartisan agreement in the Senate on a small jobs bill aimed at veterans. Pipeline decision postponed. Are these recent headline signs of a slowing or reversal of our march toward unsustainability and away from flourishing? Is sustainability coming closer? Can we lower our guard? The answer is clearly NO. This is not any kind of skeptical or cynical response. All of these actions are positive, but simply insufficient to change the drivers of unsustainable individual and societal behavior. Cultures operate on top of deeply embedded structure and tend to reinforce that… Read More
Continue ReadingFinding Sustainability in Occupation
Returning from a three-week absence from the US, I see the Occupy groups are still in place and growing. This incipient movement has surprised many with its staying and spreading power. Its cause has gotten some lip service from others expressing solidarity, but its voice still lacks punch and general appeal. Gus Speth penned a very timely and powerful charter for the Occupy participants. Others have also offered such proposals. Here is a link to Speth’s work. Speth notes that the issues being aired focus on the symptoms of a deeply seated tangle of broken parts of our political economy.… Read More
Continue ReadingTwo Millennia Later
I am back, but a bit tardy. I returned to much more immediate stuff to do than I ever expected. But I hope to get back on the same schedule of blogging as earlier (more or less). Before I get back to the subject of sustainability, a few words about my travels. My wife and I went from Crete to Zagreb with stops in Athens with a cruise on a small ship stopping at ports all along the Adriatic. The region was a crossroads for centuries and contains the northern boundary of the Ottoman Turkish empire and the boundary dividing… Read More
Continue ReadingGone for a While
I will be away and out of Internet range until November 7th. My wife and I are off for a tour taking us from Crete to Zagreb with stops all along the Dalmatian Coast. The history of the region is rich, full of lessons of the rise and collapse of many nations. Maybe I can capture some of the wisdom and the hubris from the remnants of these civilizations as I travel along. It will be most welcome to escape the volatility and raucousness permeating my everyday life these days.
Continue ReadingThe Autumn of Our Discontent
The protests of the growing number demonstrating their anger at the “system” will not disappear even if the protesters tire and dissipate. The New York Times (10/14/11) carried an article on the front page of the business section and prominently on their web site telling how the barons of Wall Street are largely dissing the protestors and dismissing the whole thing. They call the OWS people “unsophisticated” and “gullible.” But they are afraid to say this publicly for fear of being make targets. By remaining anonymous they also cut off any opportunity for a conversation in which they might be… Read More
Continue ReadingHitting a Tender Spot on Wall Street
In a piece of delicious irony, Paul Krugman, speaking through his oped column in the New York Times, the elitist of newspapers, took on the oligarchs that are desperately trying to ward off the daylight of truth about inequality and unfairness.The [article is](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/panic-of-the-plutocrats.html?hp) one of many trying to guess what will be the impact of the surprising (to some) and growing protests against the super-rich and the institutions that have made them so. I have written earlier about this. He pulls no punches in castigating the those against whom the protests are being directed for using the most outlandish, and… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Protests Are Not Class Warfare!
“Romney: Wall Street Protests ‘Class Warfare’” reads a headline from the National Journal, among other media sources reporting on a statement by Mitt Romney made during a visit to a retirement community in Florida. Here’s the gist from this [source](http://nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/romney-wall-street-protests-class-warfare–20111004). > Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Tuesday compared the current anti-Wall Street protests to “class warfare.” > > “I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare,” Romney said to an audience of about 50 people in response to a question about the protests over such issues as high unemployment, home foreclosures and the 2008 corporate bailouts. > > He made… Read More
Continue ReadingGoing to a Wedding
I will be gone until Tuesday to attend a nephew’s wedding being held in the California wine country. This [item](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/business/washington-considers-sale-of-spare-properties-to-raise-revenue.html?hp) in the NYTimes caught my eye. > Washington, Seeking Revenue, Is in a Mood to Sell > Like Americans trying to raise quick cash by unloading their unwanted goods, the federal government is considering a novel way to reduce the deficit: holding the equivalent of a garage sale. > > Deep within President Obama’s proposals to raise revenue and reduce the deficit lies a method that has garnered bipartisan support, something rare in Washington these days. It involves selling an… Read More
Continue ReadingMr. Fixit Is Out
The cover of the September 19th issue of Newsweek carries this imprecation in bold red: “Let’s Just Fix it.” The subhead reads: Move over, Mr. President. Everyday Americans Can Turn This Country Around.” Inside are 29 solutions, each one coming from someone with an narrow interest.The founder of Zipcar says, “make cars smarter.” The CEO of Nasdaq want more visas for high-level workers. The founder of Linked In suggests that “Young people need to think about their careers more like a business, and think about their brand.” Having just written a post on the need for systems thinking, the approach… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Need for Systems Thinking at the Top.
David Brooks must be reading my blog again. His[ op-ed piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/opinion/brooks-the-lost-decade.html?hp) today (9/27/11) was the clearest recognition that he understands that the world is complex and the “big” problems of today are not amenable to simple, technocratic, ideological solutions. The headline of the piece, The Lost Decade?, is a bit excessive. Maybe, just maybe, it will instead be the decade we find ourselves and turn to a path towards sustainable and the realization of our vision of flourishing. Brooks speaks of taking on the big institutions and begin to change them at the core. (My words, not his, but the… Read More
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