Regular readers know my sidcha to pick up at least three pieces of litter from the northwest corner of Washington Square Park. While most of my sidchas I haven’t missed, that one I’ve missed, maybe one or two times per year. The park could use more people picking up litter. No, the point of picking up litter isn’t just the temporary removal of litter. Picking up litter makes not buying[…] Keep reading →

I keep meaning to write a post on the pattern I keep seeing, but for the time being, I’m just going to collect and list examples of it. The pattern isn’t perfect and anyone who thinks I’m suggesting it is misunderstands me, but the pattern I see is: When society conflicts with men, we say men have to change or take responsibility. When society conflicts with women, we say society[…] Keep reading →

Below is an idea for the new book that I probably won’t use so figured I’d share it here. I’m sure I’ll use it in conversations with the media. I may develop it more. I like the idea. I should probably specify the behaviors of environmentalists whose counterparts I show in the smokers’, though I hope it’s obvious. For example, vaping represents all the technologies and efficiencies that people want[…] Keep reading →

I posted this question before in A paradoxical consequence of considering animals, plants, and rivers people, but wanted to pose the question more directly: If rivers and animals are people, then are no human people indigenous, only colonizers? That is, if we consider animals people, doesn’t that they are indigenous and that humans who came into their territories are invading colonizers? I was reading about how humans crossed the Bering[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Tokyo Story, directed by Yasujiro Ozu: Someone in my meditation group recommended this movie after I spoke about how much Yi Yi and A Brighter Summer Day affected me. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never heard of the director or even the movie. I’m sure I’d seen the title since so many best-movie-ever lists include it. Many reviewers write how it is about a[…] Keep reading →

Two things I haven’t kept track of but happen over and over: Sure, I could go for the quick clicks as the guy off the grid in Manhattan. I could probably get a million followers, but to change global culture, continuing the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, requires a solid, deep foundation. I’m getting closer to launch all the time, but not there yet. The reason my material has value and[…] Keep reading →

I said the following words today and realized I had to post them here: Chasing shiny objects means you’re running away from what you value. For background, I describe passing fancies in my book Initiative: Passing fancies are things we enjoy in the moment but don’t bring long-term emotional reward. Since everyone’s values differ, your passing fancies will differ from mine. Our world is full of passing fancies like social[…] Keep reading →

I read an article, The Costs of the Cloud, by Ashley Dawson in the New York Review of Books and wanted to note for future reference how much artificial intelligence pollutes and depletes. When asked how they think AI will affect the environment, most people seem to respond to a different question: “Can you think of ways AI can help with the environment?” They’re doing what I wrote about in[…] Keep reading →

I was thinking about the people who manufacture addictive things like doof. If you believe that someone choosing to buy something means they valued what they bought more than what they paid for it, then you think that the more they buy, the more they’ve improved their lives. Then the more addictive you make the product, the more you sell. You can tell yourself that your profit means their life[…] Keep reading →