LATEST BLOG POSTS

This week I finished: Ulysses S. Grant—A documentary on the 18th President, part 1: Grant plays a big role in my new book as a role model. He was a broke farmer recovering from malaria. His wife’s family owned slaves, giving him an easy way to recover if he chose it. Meanwhile, his father refused to help him as long as he stayed with slaveholders. He had acquired a slave[…] Keep reading →

People consistently say they don’t do what they believe is right regarding pollution and depletion because it won’t change the system. I point out that independent of what anyone else does, their personal pollution and depletion will hurt people who have not consented. They rarely even minimally decrease their pollution and depletion. I’m curious what people think they would have done under slavery, the Holocaust, Stalinism, or other dominance hierarchy.[…] Keep reading →

I recently met with an environmentalist. The name isn’t important, but this person founded an organization devoted to justice around climate. The person and organization are highly regarded in their fields. Our conversation followed a common pattern. This person is pursuing standard practices of legislation, market incentives, and innovation to promote things like more scientific research, innovating efficiency and new legislation, but most of all, a transition to “renewable” energy.[…] Keep reading →

I was talking to a coaching client about leadership, which works with people’s intrinsic motivations. Since our greatest motivations and passions tend to be our greatest vulnerabilities, we tend to protect ourselves by hiding them. A challenge, then, for the leader who wants to go beyond just managing, beyond just leading, to inspire people, is to learn their deepest motivations, which they often protect the most. I was working with[…] Keep reading →

This post shares a long series of legitimizing myths. Why cover these beliefs so comprehensively? Recall the response of a wise person who was asked, “If you had one hour to save the world, how would you spend it?” The reply: “I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and 5 minutes solving it.” Another wise person said, “If I had 4 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend[…] Keep reading →

I may update the acronym, but I’ve created one for my upcoming book that I’ve found relevant to many people’s views on pollution, depletion, and the prospect of life and culture without either. I’ve found useful the acronym TYMCALM (pronounced: Tim-calm, for “That’s Your Mind Creating A Legitimizing Myth”) useful for when people respond reflexively to rationalize or justify a behavior that violates their values. For example, when I say[…] Keep reading →

I posted last month about a Spodek Method commitment to walk in a park with my sister in Queens based on walking in the park with my dad. Yesterday, I walked in the same park I did with my dad, this time with my other sister, plus her husband and son, my brother-in-law and nephew. To refresh your memory, that post, Another Spodek Method commitment: a walk in the park[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Gulag Archipelago, volume 2, by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn: I think this book has changed my view of the world as much as it will, then it changes me more. The end of this volume becomes more reflective and introspective. It describes how it changes and corrupts society outside the archipelago. As horrific as the archipelago is on the inside, and how far beyond what I would[…] Keep reading →

When I talk about pollution and depletion, people keep telling me about their reductions. They are invariably among the greatest polluters and depleters in humanity’s existence, but they compost their food scraps, avoid meat, or some feel-good minor act. When they talk, it sounds like they’re making a big difference. When you ask about it making a difference, if they see a path to making a difference, or if they[…] Keep reading →