I found a podcast episode from the Cato Institute, where I spoke last year and met some wonderful people: How Does Libertarianism Deal with the Problem of Pollution?. I’m posting quotes from them mainly for future reference. Sorry if the post isn’t my most readable, but my main response: Lack of hands-on practical experience leads them to opposed their own values. They think no pollution means the end of civilization,[…] Keep reading →

If I’m going to post my certificates from Leadership Institute and Hillsdale College classes, you can bet I would post that I got certified in CPR. The training was provided to auxiliary police officers. It was optional, but once I heard it was offered, I knew I wanted to do it. I hope no one around me ever has their heart stop, but if it happens, I hope my training[…] Keep reading →

I responded to a blog I follow on zero waste cooking and didn’t think much of the response. I’ll give the context then what I wrote, then the author’s response. Context: The author wrote about how to use freezers to reduce food waste. I know from hands-on practical experience that home refrigerators and freezers may help leftovers from a given meal from going bad, but systemically, they lead to more[…] Keep reading →

I have a PhD in physics, the most advanced degree in the most fundamental science. It was my priority for most of a decade. I loved and still love the field. I believe if you want to understand our situation, you must understand science or at least its findings. I also consider nature among the most beautiful thing to learn about. Scientists found out about our environmental situation. They project[…] Keep reading →

Environmentalists constantly point out BP promoting personal carbon footprints and bizarrely use it as an excuse not to act. It would seem counterproductive except when you remember that people are less rational than rationalizing. Whatever their words, if they pollute and deplete without meaningful attempt to change, their deeds oppose their words. Environmentalists rarely have hands-on practical experience trying to live sustainably. Do you know any who are trying to[…] Keep reading →

Context: The United States has a region called Cancer Alley. Flint, Michigan is known nationwide, maybe globally, as a place where water is poisoned. We’re “solving” that problem with bottled water, which poisons others, so it’s more like kicking the can down the road. Actually, by accelerating a cultural distrust in municipal water, it accelerates bottling, so it’s more like accelerating a snowball or avalanche. Nobody consents to cancer, birth[…] Keep reading →

Why do my students give me reviews like: “This was the best course I ever took at NYU. There is no substitute for doing the exercises. Thinking I understand a concept and actually trying to execute the concept was difficult. Only in working through the exercises was I able to be aware of what I am currently doing. With these exercises, I now have a roadmap for how to be[…] Keep reading →

If you don’t know my apartment, this picture and why it makes me feel so joyful and free will take some explanation. You’re seeing the space below my window, which faces nearly due south. For the past two months, the sun hasn’t shone directly into my apartment. On the solstice one month ago it rose almost exactly to the left, went overhead, and set to the right. Now, a month[…] Keep reading →

Two people are walking down the street. There’s litter on the ground. One picks up some of the litter. The other doesn’t. Which person has more love in their life?