It happens all the time. Someone is talking to me and happens to mention they flew somewhere, used disposable plastic, or the like. Then they apologize to me. For example, they might be talking about upcoming plans and say something like, “. . . and then I’ll go to Europe . . .”, pause, look at me, and say, ” . . . sorry, Josh, I’ll be flying there.” I[…] Keep reading →

I wrote a couple years ago about how I end up eating food that homeless and poor people throw away when given lunches. Like if you give them a bag containing a sandwich, bag of chips, and a piece of fruit or bag of baby carrots, you’re going to find a lot of uneaten fruit and carrots discarded on the street. Picking up litter daily, I can’t miss it. Today,[…] Keep reading →

I don’t learn of anyone like me in history books, but I’m told that’s all who is in them. I’ll link to a bunch of articles that history books are filled with dead white men. I’m told the best I can do is “shut up and listen.” Why do people who don’t know me tell me who I am? Should I think I’m represented because Hitler, Stalin, and Columbus were[…] Keep reading →

When I mention shopping at a food coop—a grocery store where the shoppers are the owners and workers—people kept saying not everyone had access to coops. I wondered why they suggested they were a privilege. I know there aren’t as many food coops as supermarkets and bodegas, but I didn’t understand why they acted like people without access were helpless. At last I realized people saying such things didn’t know[…] Keep reading →

Talk to people about sustainability and they’ll say “stop judging me” or that you’re making them feel guilty. If someone tries to judge me for something I don’t have a problem with, I don’t feel judged. When I lived in Paris and people tried to judge or make fun of me for being American, I didn’t have a problem with it. If they judged me simply for being American, I[…] Keep reading →

There’s no mystery what causes more forest fires than ever: our polluting, depleting behavior causing global warming. If your behavior causes fires like humanity has never seen before, you are extreme for causing extreme results, not me for behaving traditionally. Not flying is normal. Jesus didn’t fly. George Washington didn’t fly. Abraham Lincoln didn’t fly. Power grids are not normal. The Buddha never plugged into an electric grid, nor did[…] Keep reading →

I didn’t pay attention to it, but now that I do, people who pollute judge nonstop on sustainability issues. They also defend themselves even when the issue has nothing to do with them. I think they feel judged, which tells me they know they are doing something they believe is wrong. They can’t resolve this internal conflict so suppress and deny it. Then when the issue comes up, they feel[…] Keep reading →

Over and over people tell me they care about the environment but family comes first. Their parent is sick and they’ve chosen to live flying distance away, they married a spouse from another country and feel they have to fly there twice a year, and things like that. Okay, say family is important enough to disregard hurting other people. Imagine someone else wanted to see their parent, suddenly hospitalized, but[…] Keep reading →

Podcast guest James Oakes’s book The Ruling Race describes the demographics, beliefs, and views of slaveholders in the U.S. south. They are no more or less human than you. The book reveals how being on the dominant side of a dominance hierarchy corrupts one’s values. Following the What is Politics? podcast by podcast guest Daniel, I’ve learned that dominance hierarchies emerge when two conditions apply: one person or group can[…] Keep reading →