LATEST BLOG POSTS

You’ve heard “the people most affected by our environmental problems are causing it the least, and those causing it the most are the least affected by it.” It sounds unfair. People who say that sentiment seem then to suggest we should help those hurt the most—the disadvantaged. They sure do try to explain to me that if I don’t focus on them, I’m out of touch. No one wants to[…] Keep reading →

People call my behavior extreme, though I’m just acting in service of others. To be more precise, I’m acting in love for others. When people suggest what I’m doing is too hard, I sometimes remark how during America’s Civil Rights era, some people went to jail for different people’s freedom. Nobody looks forward to going to jail, yet people did. Their actions make mine look easy and fun. Still, I[…] Keep reading →

If something destroys life, liberty, and property, making it more efficient leads it to destroy less life, liberty, and property, not zero. Stopping doing it would stop destroying life, liberty, and property. We know life doesn’t require pollution, despite our cultural beliefs. The quality of life of people who live sustainably doesn’t appear lower than ours and in many cases appears higher, also despite our cultural beliefs. Let’s look at[…] Keep reading →

NHK is a public broadcaster in Japan. For a weekly segment NHK@nyc, they interviewed me, recorded me charging from solar in the park, at my home, volunteering, and more. Click here for the page. There’s a video, pictures, and text. Most is in Japanese, but plenty of the video is in English and the web has plenty of translator tools. You get to see pictures and video of me picking[…] Keep reading →

The difference between an externality and coercion. An externality is a cost imposed on someone else. A cost is something that if you pay for it, you undo the cost or make them whole. An example might be if in doing my work, I undo some of yours and it takes you an hour to redo it. You could in principle consent to the work if I compensated you enough[…] Keep reading →

It’s nice to know about problems and people seem to like complaining about them, but these reactions don’t compare with solving them. Acting takes resolution. Gandhi wasn’t just thrown off a train. He resolved to fight the injustice. Some historical heroes who transformed cultures wrote their experiences of such moments of resolution. We can learn from them. I find their words inspirational. Robert Carter III Robert Carter III freed his[…] Keep reading →

People like hearing me share my vulnerabilities. I’m not special. People like hearing anyone share their vulnerabilities too, but I noticed it this week about myself. At the beginning of this week, I thought about blind spots. We all have things we do or don’t do, or know or don’t know, and we aren’t aware of the consequences differing from what we expect. Learning about them can help us improve[…] Keep reading →

This post is about how to think about fixing historical wrongs, like reparations for past injustices. Imagine playing soccer on a tilted field. Amazingly, I found an image of it online, but it shows a field tilted sideways. I mean tilted so one team has to run uphill on offense. Almost surely one team will have an advantage, though my soccer-playing friends can’t tell which. Imagine all the players on[…] Keep reading →

Some people in my workshops describe early times practicing the Spodek Method as causing them anxiety. From my experience with performance arts like acting or sports in front of a crowd or, in attraction, learning to approach women, I know performing where others can see you can cause people without experience anxiety. I also know that mastering that art can transform that anxiety into joy and glory. Everyone who became[…] Keep reading →