Analects are selected miscellaneous written passages, often words to live by. Here are ones on sustainability leadership, many I created. I’ll keep update the following as I develop new ones. You can’t lead others to live by values you live the opposite of Systemic change begins with personal change To cross the finish line of the marathon of changing a system, you first have to cross the starting line of[…] Keep reading →

How many times have I heard about polluting and depleting less, “You can do those things because you’re single.”? I know when people rationalize and justify their inaction, say by saying it’s easier for me or particularly harder for them, they aren’t speaking rationally. They’re protecting their vulnerabilities, suppressing and denying that they are hurting others, acting against their deepest values. Still, it seems worth it to list a few[…] Keep reading →

I see American culture moving toward increasing isolation. Compared to any time in human existence, we spend more time alone. Our paltry amount of skin-to-skin contact between parents and infants might be considered child abuse in other cultures. We talk about visiting other cultures, but even when in-person, we generally look at them from the outside through curated experiences like going to zoos. All that visiting is homogenizing culture more[…] Keep reading →

“But why did everyone work so hard except to improve our lives,” asked a woman I spoke to about my having reduced my pollution. In her view, civilization may have had its ups and downs, but overall it’s led to progress. We’re living in the best times ever. The only better times will be the future, as long as we keep progressing. I believe she and most people view civilization[…] Keep reading →

We invented washing machines and things like it to remove the need for backbreaking labor every day just to survive. We created vaccines to cure and anesthesia to remove pain. Why would anyone consider reverting to the Stone Age, risk it, or even move in that direction? Moving backward is the last thing we should do. Why give up on what we worked so hard for? Yet cultures remain that[…] Keep reading →

The scene: We’re walking along and see a bunch of helpless children drowning. Instead of helping them, scientists study the situation, educators teach about what the scientists learn, journalists write stories about tragedy, politicians seek funding to solve, CEOs see all the activity and find ways to sell products about the situation, and activists protest that something like this shouldn’t happen. But none help. As they study, teach, write, raise[…] Keep reading →

Everyone says GDP has to grow or everything will fall apart, based on economic theory. When Captain Cook found Hawaii in 1778, people had lived there for at least 500 years. 500 years before now, the human population was 450 million, suggesting that 500 years was enough for Hawaiians to overrun the islands and cause them to collapse. They didn’t, meaning they must have stopped growing, for centuries. Yet they[…] Keep reading →

We’re in an orchestra with a command performance impending. No one knows how to play even a scale. Instead of practicing their instruments, they’re saying learning to play their own instruments would distract from the orchestra playing together. We have to practice as an orchestra without knowing how to play ourselves. They keep pointing at the musical score and reciting musical theory, but not putting their fingers on their instruments.[…] Keep reading →

Peter Singer is one of the best known philosophers. He’s won many awards. As a vegetarian since 1990 and vegan about a decade (I didn’t note the date I stopped eating cheese, the last animal product I still ate for a long time; also I ate less animal product than anyone I met who called themselves vegan for much of the time I was still vegetarian), I’ve known about his[…] Keep reading →