I experiment on how more effectively to describe changing culture from mainstream American to more sustainably. I’m not talking about some abstract “environment.” I’m talking about restoring living by doing unto others as I would have them do unto me and of loving my neighbor as myself, the opposite of polluting. I found a better way of describing the shift than just saying I’ve changed culture, I’ve passed a cusp,[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Two podcast guests created works on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Eric Metaxas wrote a book on him. Martin Doblmeier created a documentary. I confess (no pun intended) to have learned about him only recently, but everyone who knew about him valued his influence on their lives. Learning about him as a Lutheran helped me understand things about my mom, who was[…] Keep reading →

When people hear I take years to fill a load of garbage at home, after their incredulity passes, they often ask, “What’s in your garbage?” It’s weird for people to be interested in your garbage. I mean, how often has anyone asked you what’s in your garbage? I guess it makes sense as a knee-jerk response, but the more interesting question isn’t what remains in mine but what fills up[…] Keep reading →

People who agree with me that to achieve sustainability, we have to change our culture, still struggle to see why making things more efficient not only doesn’t change our culture, it accelerates it. That is, it will lead us to create more of the results we get now. Imagine going back to 1942. We are fighting the Nazis and imperialist Japanese. We know every German isn’t a Nazi nor does[…] Keep reading →

I don’t understand how people associate Elon Musk with sustainability or invention. He didn’t start Tesla. Sustainability would come with fewer roads and cars. Musk is building more roads, including underground with the Boring Company, and as many cars as he can. For comparison and context, Eli Whitney invented a new type of cotton gin. As I understand, his goal was to decrease the need for labor in picking cotton.[…] Keep reading →

“What about ambulances, fire trucks, and hospitals?”, some people ask. “Don’t they help us and require polluting?” “Checkmate,” I can almost hear them thinking. “We can’t get rid of them, so we have to keep culture going as is.” Meanwhile Hawaiians lived sustainably over centuries, long past when Malthusian collapse, if inevitable, would have happened. Hawaiians lived on their own for centuries, longer than the time since the Enlightenment to[…] Keep reading →

People erroneously contrast individual action with systemic change, like doing one hampers you from doing the other. Do they think musicians practicing their instruments prevent the orchestra from practicing together? Systemic change is not the opposite of individual action. If you rationalize and justify living against your values because in some way you’re doing what culture around you does, you’ve been corrupted. If you don’t live by your values, you’ve[…] Keep reading →

The opposite of pollution is loving your neighbor as yourself. After all, do you keep your garbage in your house forever? No, you get rid of it. That means you have your neighbors deal with it, as you would not deal with it yourself. Does it matter that those neighbors aren’t your next door neighbors but are poor and distant? How can you love your neighbor as yourself except not[…] Keep reading →

You’ve heard me on the America Out Loud network’s podcast After Dark with Rob and Andrew before. They hosted me again (just Rob these times) to ask about my becoming an auxiliary police officer. Here’s the first of two episodes, “How sustainability led to protecting and serving the community”: Rob was very interested in my motivations and my concerns: why didn’t I tell people about it until I finished? What[…] Keep reading →