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 →

I told a friend how sometimes when I wake up before the alarm I get my best ideas. Most of the time I don’t write them down, figuring if they’re important enough, I’ll remember them when I wake up for the day. I learned the habit of not trying to save everything during my first silent meditation retreat. They don’t let attendees bring anything to write with. At first I[…] Keep reading →

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this topic before. I say this phrase nearly every day: Living in the 21st century means there are a million ways to connect and they all break. Everyone agrees. No one even hints otherwise. On the contrary, they share stories. [EDIT: After posting this post I see I did post this topic before: The 21st Century: dozens of ways to communicate . . .[…] Keep reading →

You’ve heard my conversations with award-winning authors, scholars, and other experts on slavery. With a couple I’ve talked about the connection between that system and ours. Most of the time, I’ve thought of the connection as an analogy. For a while, I’ve seen the connection as closer. Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan professor in its business school and its School of Natural Resources and Environment, wrote of his discovering the[…] Keep reading →

Regular readers know I volunteer to bring food from stores that throw away stock at the end of the day to a community center. Nearly all that food is fresh. It hasn’t gone bad, they just have new shipments coming in and have to make space. The system is broken. I’m just trying to keep some waste from entering landfills and into peoples’ stomachs. Sometimes people donate food from other[…] Keep reading →

As the title said, today 34 years ago—Friday, June 24, 1988—the New York Times printed on the front page, above the fold as its main headline: Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate If Exxon Knew, So Did You A lot of people say Exxon knew and therefore are guilty of crimes for not acting on it. Well, front page of the New York Times means it’s no secret. You[…] Keep reading →

There are two types of political revolution, at least. One changes the type of government. The American Revolution replaced a monarchy with a democracy. The other changes the person in charge but keeps the system. Many coups result in the second type. I’m not sure they qualify as revolutions, but people call them revolutions. What does James Bond have to do with revolutions? I recently saw the last James Bond[…] Keep reading →

In Washington Square Park, I was sitting on a bench talking to a friend. A person came up and, unprovoked, started threatening me. I’ve written and recorded podcast episodes about the many times I’ve been assaulted and mugged, as far back as some of my earliest memories. I understand “battery” means physically hurting someone and “assault” means threatening it, which this person did. It began by him approaching and starting[…] Keep reading →