Jamais Cascio posted an article with the headline above. I agree with most of his points, but think his article still leaves us in a linguistic muddle. > My intent, from this point forward, is to stop talking about the “long-term.” No more long-term problems, long-term solutions, long-term changes. No more long-term perspectives. > > In its place, I’m going to start talking about “multigenerational” issues. Multigenerational problems, solutions, changes. Multigenerational perspectives. . . The advantage of the term “multigenerational” is threefold. > > Firstly, it returns a sense of perspective that’s often absent from purportedly “long-term” thinking. In a… Read More
Continue ReadingOops
Not my bad this time. I caught this statement when it was made back in October, but missed the whole colloquy with Congressman Henry Waxman. In a nutshell, this is why we are is the mess we are in, beyond the financial crunch. The way we explain how the world works, indeed, has serious flaws far beyond those Greenspan [used to justify his poor judgment](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/alan-greenspan-the-oracle_n_168168.html). > REP. HENRY WAXMAN: [T]his is your statement. ‘I do have an ideology. My judgment is that free competitive markets are by far the unrivaled way to organize economies. We’ve tried regulation. None meaningfully worked.’….Do… Read More
Continue ReadingIs Losing an Hour of Sleep Really Green?
One argument used in lengthening the duration of Daylight Saving Time has been that it will save energy. Early risers can get to work at home, on the farm, or at the office without switching on so many lights. Maybe the program will not work quite that way as this [article suggests](http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/03/05/daylight-savingsenergy-savings/). > This sounded good to me, so I did not further study this claim. However, these folks did… > – A [statistical analysis by the California Energy Commission](http://energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-200-2007-004/CEC-200-2007-004.PDF) showed little or no energy savings. – Scientists from the University of California-Santa Barbara [studied the state of Indiana’s energy… Read More
Continue ReadingCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Begins at Home
In my book, sustainability is defined as the possibility of flourishing. This means that each species, other than humans, maintains its evolutionary population levels within an ecosystem. It does not mean that the population is constant, but exhibits resiliency — it can recover from shocks to the system to return to its historic levels. Today many species are threatened or endangered under this definition. The human species, as a life form, is subject to the same category of threats to their existence and has responded to such challenges historically by devising technological and institutional systems to counter such threats. Because… Read More
Continue ReadingOops
A few posts ago, I used the Chinese word for crisis as meaning the combination of danger and opportunity. Gena Rotstein pointed out that this interpretation is not quite right. She linked me to an article by a Chinese language expert, Victor Mair, that explains: > There is a widespread public misperception, particularly among the New Age sector, that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of elements that signify “danger” and “opportunity.” . . . the damage from this kind of pseudo-profundity has reached such gross proportions that I feel obliged, as a responsible Sinologist, to take counteraction. .… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Market as God
A friend pointed me to an article in the Atlantic with this title, written by the theologian, Harvey Cox. Although now 10 years old, it is right on target. Written with a heavy dose of irony, it still makes great reading. I found the concluding paragraphs an apt coda for my last post. > Disagreements among the traditional religions become picayune in comparison with the fundamental differences they all have with the religion of The Market. Will this lead to a new jihad or crusade? I doubt it. > > It seems unlikely that traditional religions will rise to the… Read More
Continue ReadingIs Consumerism Dead?
It is very important to carefully parse the headline of this recent [article](http://www.alternet.org/story/128920/%22consumerism%22_is_dead_–_can_obama_lead_us_to_a_downscaled_lifestyle/) in Alternet. > **Consumerism” Is Dead — Can Obama Lead Us to a Downscaled Lifestyle?** Anyone that follows my book’s theses, would think I would be jumping for joy since I see consumerism as resting at the base of the present state of unsustainability. Here’s the gist of the column. > Among the questions that disturb the sleep of many casual observers is how come Mr. O doesn’t get that the conventional process of economic growth — based, as it was, on industrial expansion via revolving credit… Read More
Continue ReadingIs There No Place on Earth Without Ads? (ctd.)
One of the factors behind the rampant hyper-consumerism that so characterizes our culture is the ever-increasing presence of marketeers and the corporations that employ them. Ads appear everywhere — even as tattoos on shaved or bald heads, as I pointed out recently. Now Gail Collins, writing her regular op-ed column in the NYTimes, discusses the increasing use of product placement and mentions on television shows. We have long since gotten used to the idea that movies are awash with product placements, that the basketball game we’re watching is part of, say, the Doritos Home Classic at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.… Read More
Continue ReadingWater, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.
Here’s the skinny on a both widely debated and widely ignored topic. > Talk about an energy drink. The first comprehensive and peer-reviewed energy analysis of a bottle of water confirms what many environmentalists have charged. From start to finish, bottled water consumes between 1100 and 2000 times more energy on average than does tap water. [ScienceNow](http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/), the news magazine of the AAAS reports on a new study by Peter Gleick, President of the [Pacific Institute](http://www.pacinst.org/), and a colleague, Heather Cooley. Not only does this report confirm the outrageous disregard for the fundamental wasteful practice of drinking bottled water in… Read More
Continue ReadingBeginning to Get It?
Although I blanch at the overall idea of Greener Gadgets, it is encouraging that the sponsors of this year’s Conference recognize that what they are promoting is only relatively better that what is now available in the marketplace. A couple of years ago, this conference would almost certainly have been advertised as Green Gadgets. The program itself is not so discerning with sessions on MEASURING YOUR HUE OF GREEN and GREEN DESIGN FOR GOOD. Maybe in a few years, these folks will recognize that gadgets are part of the problem, not the solution. It is probably too much to expect… Read More
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