Failures of imagination and leadership in sustainability are the hallmarks of our time. They mean that when even sustainably-minded people try to imagine people with political or business authority acting for sustainability, they can’t think past how to make sustainability profitable or get votes. I’m going to lead CEOs to see themselves as humans first, CEOs second—politicians, journalists, celebrities, and so on too. Oskar Schindler didn’t save those Jews from[…] Keep reading →

We thoughtlessly value efficiency and chase it places it doesn’t make sense. I call it Speed reading bedtime stories to your kids. It makes sense: if you read your kids bedtime stories faster, you can move on to other things. Or rather, it obviously doesn’t. Yet we do it with takeout food, doof, packaging, social media instead of spending time with people in person, flying around the world when there’s[…] Keep reading →

I’ve heard parents say about the environment “I want to be able to look my child in the eye and say ‘I did my best.’” I think it means something darker than they mean, and that they know it, but won’t acknowledge it consciously. I will. When do you say such a thing? Not when things are fine. If the problem is solved, you don’t have to say something like[…] Keep reading →

Most times governments intervene in population, they push population growth. Why? Because they believe more people means more workers and consumers, which they believe will create jobs and help everyone. Podcast guest Jane O’Sullivan‘s 2017 paper “The contribution of reduced population growth rate to demographic dividend” concludes that population growth costs more than it benefits. It requires paying for infrastructure and more. She points out that lowering population growth were[…] Keep reading →

Here’s a preview of my annual pictures of Washington Square Park after the Pride March and Queer Liberation March. More pictures and commentary below. Also, pictures from last year: After the Pride and Queer Liberation Marches 2022: Washington Square Park wrecked again. I could cry. and the year before: “Pride Destroyed the Park”, Washington Square Park after a parade (Video). The camera can’t capture the smell of urine and already-rotting[…] Keep reading →

On June 24, 1988, the New York Times posted in its front page: Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate You can say corporations and governments hid the problem from us, but not after June 24, 1988. From then on, we had no excuse to say we didn’t know. We already knew of habitat loss, deforestation, plastic pollution, and tons of other problems. I’m curious, though. What are your excuses[…] Keep reading →

While reading ProPublica’s story How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S., I came across these paragraphs about Lauren Davila finding a newspaper ad from 1835 announcing someone having sold 600 slaves in one auction: A sale of 600 people would mark a grim new record—by far. Until Davila’s discovery, the largest known slave auction in the U.S. was one that was held over two[…] Keep reading →