What images might represent our time best? Here are some images I’ve thought of while considering the cover for my book. Just ideas. Not sure how likely I go with any. Still, I think they represent our times well. References: Planet of the Apes’ final scene: Hudson River School paintings: Babies drinking from bottles that could be labelled Coca-Cola, Oxycontin, heroin, or Exxon: Rosie the Riveter: A four-legged stool that[…] Keep reading →

They put up umbrellas to be less obvious in one sense since you can’t see they syringe as easily, but more obvious if you know the reason for the umbrella. I post about addicts because I only see quantitative, not qualitative, difference between this behavior and McDonald’s, Starbucks, or other behavior that people can’t stop despite it harming others. If we drive when we can walk or bike, or use[…] Keep reading →

I follow podcast guest Maya Van Rossum on her work on constitutional amendments protecting a clean environment. You may have heard of the legal victory in Montana, Held versus Montana, earlier this year (yay!), Montana being one of the three states with such an amendment. Maya appeared on a panel, Securing Climate Justice Through Green Amendments: The Held v. Montana Victory, that discussed that case. The more I learn, the[…] Keep reading →

I wrote the notes below while watching the documentary Bonhoeffer (2003) directed by Martin Doblmaier. I want to learn from history to apply what people did to now. I don’t want to sleepwalk into disaster that everyone can see happening. The tens of millions of people dying today annually from pollution and being displaced from their homes to get the fuel and minerals under their land are being killed not[…] Keep reading →

Many people opposed slavery. Even slaveholders acknowledged their feelings of guilt, but nearly everyone within our polluting, depleting, imperialist, addictive culture supports it even as we suffer from its growing damages. We blind ourselves to the downsides of polluting and depleting. Even residents of Cancer Alley fly and drive, funding their own cancer. Japan built a nuclear reactor forty miles from Hiroshima. We cover parks with plastic AstroTurf and still[…] Keep reading →

I wouldn’t mention the folly of putting growth and efficiency before values if I didn’t have an alternative, which is to put values first—that is, to create a strategy based on values and honestly verifying results, then use efficiency when it helps. I verify results to avoid stepping on the gas, thinking it’s the brake, wanting congratulations. Amsterdam’s citizens organizing based on their values over those promoting razing its downtown[…] Keep reading →

I finished this week: Bonhoeffer (2003), Directed by Martin Doblmeier: Wow, I knew of him before, and 90 minutes can only cover so much, but this documentary showed the challenge of living by your values in a corrupt system. While safe in the U.S. during the war, he chose to return to Germany to continue acting. He struggled with his conscience. He led others. The documentary also shows some of[…] Keep reading →