An anecdote reveals how we stifle innovation and entrepreneurship. Regular readers know I lowered my ecological footprint over 90 percent in under three years, improving my life. Governments and corporations can do what I did—once they choose longer to profit from hurting other people by polluting, even if legal. A reporter profiling me said she wanted to pollute less too but couldn’t figure out what to do about disposable Keurig[…] Keep reading →

I’ve asked people lately to come up with examples they consider major advances in life in their lifetime not requiring extracting more fossil fuels. Or even the last century. People come up with antibiotics, but they started long before; solar energy, but it requires fossil fuels; nuclear energy, but it requires fossil fuels; and then start giving up. I can’t think of much either. The Green Revolution fundamentally burns fossil[…] Keep reading →

Anyone can do it. It cost me nothing. Cleaning my backup hard drive, I found a file with the text of how I started coaching professionally: by offering free coaching on Craigslist. Below is the text. It led to a few clients. One eventually told me he found it valuable enough he insisted on paying me. I insisted on staying with free, as that’s what I offered, but he said[…] Keep reading →

People are proposing wealth taxes People are talking about taxing wealth. Everyone relies on society so if you own more, you use more and benefited more, they say, so should pay more. Besides, they add, the wealthy can structure what anyone would call income so it doesn’t look like income on taxes so avoid paying any taxes. Moreover, they further add, there’s no “natural” law that makes wealth untaxable, so[…] Keep reading →

I haven’t posted a great business idea in a while, but I got one. Context: you probably heard how supermarket chains in the U.S. discard produce that doesn’t fall within their constraints of size, color, not being bruised, and so on. After shopping at farmers markets enough, grocery store produce looks plastic and fake. It lacks flavor. You’ve probably also heard of companies that buy the rejected produce and use[…] Keep reading →

In preparing for my podcast conversation with Mechai Viravaidya, his team sent extra material. I think you’ll value knowing more about him. First, given that We Can Dance Around Environmental Problems All We Want. We Eventually Reach Overpopulation and Overconsumption, I consider Mechai’s work on family planning among the most important work in the world, beyond the Green Revolution. He lowered birth rate through voluntary, fun means that increased health,[…] Keep reading →

My first business was based on an invention of mine that looked amazing—an optical device that animated still images to people in motion. For the business, we installed them on subway tunnel walls to show ads to riders between stations, sharing revenue with the subway system, before everyone had animation devices in their pockets. Outside the business, I also explored the medium as an art with properties unlike any other,[…] Keep reading →

Many New Yorkers know Robert Moses from Robert Caro’s book The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, which won every award it could. At over 1,000 oversized pages, I thought I’d browse it at first, but couldn’t put it down. Robert Moses may have shaped New York City more than any other person, holding multiple offices from the 1920s to the 80s. Residents loved him early[…] Keep reading →

Thanksgiving means eating, often to excess, even if not with family during the pandemic. How about a post on food? I stumbled on a site with the Average Household Cost of Food, categorizing purchases, citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013. Out of 30 categories, I buy from only 4! Here’s the average American budget. I put mine below. Before looking at mine, can you tell which 4[…] Keep reading →