Word choice matters. Why speak if you don’t want to be understood? It’s not their responsibility for me to be understood, even if I get mad at them for not understanding me. I recently wrote how I was Replacing “sustainability” with “not hurting people” and “polluting” with “hurting people” since “sustainability” is too abstract in many cases, as is the “environment.” I’m not trying to help some abstract environment. I’m[…] Keep reading →

You’ve heard “the people most affected by our environmental problems are causing it the least, and those causing it the most are the least affected by it.” It sounds unfair. People who say that sentiment seem then to suggest we should help those hurt the most—the disadvantaged. They sure do try to explain to me that if I don’t focus on them, I’m out of touch. No one wants to[…] Keep reading →

It’s nice to know about problems and people seem to like complaining about them, but these reactions don’t compare with solving them. Acting takes resolution. Gandhi wasn’t just thrown off a train. He resolved to fight the injustice. Some historical heroes who transformed cultures wrote their experiences of such moments of resolution. We can learn from them. I find their words inspirational. Robert Carter III Robert Carter III freed his[…] Keep reading →

Almost ten years ago in this blog I wrote about an experience of art expressing something I didn’t know could be expressed. Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander captured an emotion I felt with my father and no one else. That emotion hit me hard. It was powerful. It influenced big decisions in my life, especially to learn and teach the social and emotional skills of leadership. I just experienced a[…] Keep reading →

Following up my post a couple days ago Some early thoughts of a new way to quantify population and overpopulation, we would all benefit from developing ways to speak about population calmly. Currently, people think others with differing views risk destroying humanity and act as if their lives were at stake, willing to say and do what it takes to win. I’ve come up with a view I think may[…] 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 →

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 →

I’ve written about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and you can learn more about him from my podcast conversation with Martin Doblmeier, who directed a documentary about him, which I learned a lot from. I included Bonhoeffer in my upcoming book as a historic role model. He could have passed through WWII unscathed. Instead he chose to engage. In particular, he participated in an attempt to assassinate Hitler. On the face of it,[…] Keep reading →

Would you drive a car that sent its exhaust into where you sit? Would you fly in a plane that sent its exhaust into the cabin? Would you dispose of all your garbage by digging a hole in your yard and keeping it there forever? If you send the exhaust and garbage into the rest of the world, it doesn’t go away. You’ve made your problem your neighbors’ problem. If[…] Keep reading →