“If we wish to diminish the love of money which, we are told, is the root of all evil, the first step must be the creation of a system in which everyone has enough and no one has too much” Bertrand Russell. A question I have asked before: Do you Read more
“Market capitalism says freedom is isolation: a house, a fence, and enough money to ignore the world. Real freedom is knowing your neighbor has your back. The land is thriving, and our collective future is secure” Powwows.com. One of the great challenges with localizing electrical power generation is not the Read more
I was talking with some colleagues recently, and we expressed our concern at Al ChatGPT. It’s one of those modern quandaries of technology. You plug in your topic parameters and the program writes the text for you. While the program might pick (cherry pick perhaps) the items included, the lack Read more
I’ve been told that I had a lot of typos on my last post – and that I have occasional typos on most posts. My apologies. Grammar check on my system it seems is misbehaving. Usually, I read through to copyedit my posts, but it’s hard to do on the Read more
“If [humanity] is to survive, [it] will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. [Humanity] will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety, not something to fear” Gene Roddenberry. This is not meant to Read more
Why did farming become such a profit-making business, especially with the global system that ships it all over the planet – if you can afford it that is. Can’t afford it? Just die because you are not a customer – even for that cheap stuff we process and euphemistically call Read more
We’ve spent a long time looking outside of ourselves for reasons and explanations for the myriad problems we face globally, whether that be social, economic, or ecological, or all of these. We are so fixated on trying to pin blame that we forget that we are the co-creators of our Read more
As I was typing up this week’s post about Agriculture, I got this question from a friend, “Why will anyone give up the convenience of modern living and start doing all this work towards a sustainable world that you talk about – because it entails work and also seems to Read more
Here we are at Item four, which is not fourth most important one but perhaps the most primary. To be honest, all five items I am covering have to happen pretty much at the same time, but the order of which to prioritize depend a lot on the urgency of Read more
In biomimicry, engineers are learning to study organisms for their evolutionary engineering to problems. After all, nature has had billions of years to develop unique solutions to problems we see today without creating more problems. Economically, nature works to maximize its natural currency (energy capture using photosynthesis) through a circular Read more
I recall a kid’s TV program from 1969 where a bumbling wizard from the 11th century comes to the future and is enamored with the magic of “Electrickery.” He would flip a light switch and act as if he cast a spell so that the light turned on. Now a Read more
As we move into a new economic future, we will not leave manufacturing behind for some mythical utopian agrarian society. We still need ‘stuff’ for a good techno-sustainable standard of living (SOL), but the focus will be on a much broader quality of life (QOL) and not simply SOL. As Read more
As we move through the coming global political and economic upheavals, re-localizing our lives is the best way to re-establish our sovereignty and begin to live sustainably. This is not going to be a tweak of what is now, or even a variation of how we live, (e.g., greener and Read more
To overview briefly about the idea of ownership. Nowadays, especially in the developed countries, we own lots of ‘stuff.’ Some people have so much stuff that they cannot store it in their home and rent storage space at specific rental facilities (the 11th largest growth industry at this time). Now Read more
“Our destructiveness has not been, and is not, inevitable. People who use that excuse are morally incompetent, they are cowardly and they are lazy. Humans don’t have to live by destroying the sources of their life. People can change; they can learn to do better. All of us, regardless of Read more
“We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world” Howard Zinn. Here in the USA, I just submitted this year’s tax return. Whether I like or dislike taxes, they are a fact of our Read more
“There is a purpose behind distorting history to make it seem like only great men achieve significant things. It teaches people to believe they are powerless and must wait for a great man to act” Noam Chomsky. As I wrap up my advice on how to create a sustainable future through Read more
I have talked many times about the need for Mindfulness (e.g., see links 1 and 2) to create a sustainable world. Too many people react to life instead of mindfully observing it and then responding with Love and Compassion that celebrate our differences as strengths, not affronts to be challenged. Read more
I was talking with some friends and what came out of the discussion was why I believe that localization matters so much. Another comment that arose out of that discussion was the notion that we must rebel against the globalized society to become sustainable. Let me say straight away, I Read more
“There is a purpose behind distorting history to make it seem like only great men achieve significant things. It teaches people to believe they are powerless and must wait for a great man to act” Noam Chomsky. As I peruse the internet for ideas on sustainability and spirituality, one thing Read more
For years I have been talking about change that will sweep over us as I see the various human and natural systems respond to chaotic energies. For more than a couple of centuries humanity has been living in a dystopian system that was pushed as normal. Have you ever seen Read more
I gave a talk last week about community resilience. As usual I came in from an academic 30,000ft overview perspective. While the group found it interesting and thought provoking. My sense was that they are still in the mind pattern of thinking all we need to do is tweak the Read more
In 2010, I spent several weeks travelling around the British Isles looking at various kinds of Sustainable Communities to understand how they functioned. What I came away with was a lot of ideas for my Sustainable Living text (2012). There were a lot of ideas that never made it into Read more
If you are reading this blog, the odds are that you are already on broad with much of what I am saying. I am being more of a cheerleader to help you move ahead and to understand the rest of the like-minded people around you who just need a nudge Read more
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom” Issac Asimov. Last May, I attended my grandson’s college graduation where he got a degree in Sustainability. What I found interesting was the graduates obtaining degrees in Complex Adaptive Systems Science (CASS). This Read more
“We are not going to be able to operate our spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody” Buckminster Fuller. Ultimate power used to reside with the monarchies and emperors in Read more
“Caring for the Earth isn’t some ‘weird hippie’ thing. It’s more of a badass survival thing. If we don’t have a healthy planet, there won’t be a healthy anything” Give a shift about Nature. I advocate that the only way to heal ourselves, and thereby save the planet from our Read more
“If you want evidence that the world is a terrible place, watch the news and surf the web. But if you want to remember how incredible this planet is, go outside and into nature. Unlike social media and the news, nature has no incentive to keep us agitated, angry and Read more
“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of [men]. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news” John Muir. John Muir was a philosopher that spoke for the natural Read more
“Ecology and Spirituality are fundamentally connected, because deep ecological awareness, ultimately is spiritual awareness” Fritjov Capra. Look at the list of words following describing negative emotions: Sadness; Disappointment; Despair; Hopelessness; Depression; Discomfort; Guilt; Shame, Anxiety; Anger; Fury; Hate; Wrath; Resentment; Rancor; Contempt; Animosity; Outrage; Malice; Revenge; etc. If you feel Read more