The Nike way, “Just Do It,” is not the solution to the many addictive consumption patterns in the US. The core of my book is an argument that these patterns are deeply embedded in the cultural environment, so deeply that the best intentions of individuals fail in the struggle against the cultural pressures. Writing in the New York Times, Natasha Singer finds this true in the particular case of obesity. Unfortunately, behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Beauty of Summer
Summer is winding down and I will soon have to get back to the real world. I have been blessed for any years to be able to head for Maine every May, and linger there until the beginning of the Fall. This season has been memorably spectacular for the long succession of perfect days. Last year was also memorable, but for the torrents of rainfall that seemed to cascade down almost every day. Today the sky was cloudless and the bay sparkled, but the wind was much too strong to chance going out on the water. Tomorrow morning, I will… Read More
Continue ReadingThe 0.1 Percent Solution
The most recent issue of the New Yorker has two articles that piqued my interest. The first is the periodic financial column by James Surowiecki, titled “Soak the Very, Very Rich.” The second was a longer article (subscription required) about a dealer in exotic foods located in Las Vegas. I found this second piece more about how these very, very rich folks manage to spend all their money. Surowiecki presents some startling statistics. I knew the top of the income spectrum lived in rarified air, but I was stunned with the numbers. The top 0.1% earn as much as the… Read More
Continue ReadingAwaiting My “Guaranteed” Millions
My wife asked me to complete the entry form for the Publishers Clearing House (PCH) periodic sweepstakes that just came in the mail. This one is all about useless things, not the old standard list of publications at reduced rates. I look on the process as a game, “How can I find all the hidden sticky things I have to put on the form without noticing any of the objects for sale?” The contest designers already know about this game that I and others play, and have designed the package so that it is virtually impossible not to scan the… Read More
Continue ReadingDoes Slum Tourism Count as Experience-based Consumption?
One of the alternatives to materialistic, status-driven consumption is said to be activities that provide experience-based satisfaction, like travel, services, and activities that bring people together. That may be true, but I do not think the kind of travel described in an article headlined, “Slum Tourism,” fits the bill. The article paints a picture of rich folks traveling to see how the “other half” lives, a practice that that has roots in antiquity. Even sovereigns went out into the streets in disguise to see how the hoi polloi lived. The article mentioned popular destinations like Mumbai and Rio, both with… Read More
Continue ReadingFrom Genetic Engineering to Geo-engineering
Yale’s Environment 360 reported this little, but very significant, squib a few days ago. Reporting a finding from the just concluded Ecological Society of America, the [article](http://e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2538&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29) was headlined, “Scientists Find First Evidence Of GM Crops Reproducing in the Wild.” This is not supposed to happen as these crops are designed to be infertile, requiring farmers to buy seeds every year. I know it’s not kosher to copy stuff more or less in its entirety, but the Yale report is very terse. Scientists conducting research in North Dakota have found the first evidence of established populations of genetically modified crops… Read More
Continue ReadingCognitive Dissonance
I came home late last night from a 2-day gathering of the faculty of the Marlboro College Graduate School MBA in Managing for Sustainability. It was the first time we have met in numbers more than a few at a time for a year or so. The program is just about three years old, but has greatly matured judging from the richness of the conversations that took place. As we exchanged details of each of our courses with one another, I realized how complex and challenging the program is. An MBA degree implies that the holder will most likely work… Read More
Continue ReadingBusiness and Sustainability: Still Not Getting It
Deloitte recently published a survey of business sustainability aspirations and practices. Titled, “Sustainability in business today: A cross-industry view,” the report showcases the responses from businesses in a wide range of sectors. Deloitte’s header highlighted the following arguments for paying attention to sustainability: “Increasing regulation, investor activism and changing consumer behavior have increased the importance of “going green.” Not a whisper about the state of the world. I get from this that business lives in a corporate cocoon with its sensors tuned only to those that affect its bottom line or stockholder value (or more likely, the salary of its… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Pursuit of Happiness
One of the students in my course at Marlboro College posted a link to Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, a work from positive psychology containing a taxonomy of traits that connect to the “good life.” The student suggested that these might form the basis for defining human flourishing. I agree. The authors describe the work as: > The classification is the result of a thorough study of the philosophies of the antiquities, the major world religions, the distinctions offered by historic and current social organizations. Twenty four specific strengths under six broad virtues consistently emerged across history… Read More
Continue ReadingWalMart’s Sustainability Index Program–Too Hard or Just Misguided
The Walmart Sustainability Index project is one year old and the bloggers, and newsy sites are flying. It is clear from the news that the project has moved slower than Walmart’s initial enthusiastic send-off heralded. I looked back at my own blog posts and see that I expressed at that time a good deal of skepticism that seems to be borne out a year later. It seems that even a company as large and powerful as Walmart can stumble a bit when taking on an issue as challenging as sustainability. But that’s not surprising. The smarts that have made Walmart… Read More
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