I begin today’s post with a paragraph by poet Allie Michelle, because it is so poignantly on point about our need to stop accepting victimhood as normal and to claim back our power instead of waiting for others to create changes that we want. “We yearn for connection, yet isolate Read more…
I recently had a friend ask why I am talking about propaganda instead of giving more direct insights about sustainability. The reason, as regular readers of the blog will already know, is simple; our modern world is a result of how we live destructively to the planet because of the Read more…
“Propaganda works best when those who are being exposed are confident that they are acting on their own free will” Joseph Goebbels. I watched the historic series The Last Kingdom and what struck me was the way that it was all about the fight for power. That is the power Read more…
“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth” Garry Kasparov A revisiting to explain more why I spend time talking about propaganda and personal sovereignty in connection to Sustainability. Years ago, when I was an Read more…
“You are afraid to die, and you’re afraid to live. What a way to exist.” “There is no truth except the truth that exists within you. Everything else is what someone is telling you” Neale Donald Walsch. A bit of a deep rabbit hole dive today. Many of the modern Read more…
One of humanity’s greatest problems, and the one that has led us to creating the massive ecological crisis we now face, is the hubris in believing that we are the most intelligent species on the planet. Humans are definitely smart, no doubt about that, but with intelligence comes wisdom, and Read more…
One of the clichéd statements from modern environmentalists and spiritual gurus is that ‘we are all connected.’ But, ‘what if’ we all are? Most of our modern world is run on a scientific-materialistic paradigm (a theory that physical matter is the only or fundamental reality and that all being and Read more…
I was recently talking with an old friend about another friend of mine who is unwilling to discuss anything outside of her belief structure – either agree with her or don’t discuss it. This friend I was out with said, “that’s a shame, but at least we can agree to Read more…
Research shows that collective human Intellect is rising but collective human imagination is declining. This is being brought on by increased and continuing stress, anxiety, chaos, and trauma. While stress can be useful in very short term-threat situations, we live in a way such that we are essentially being forced Read more…
Why do we have governments? Not a simple question. Depending on whom you ask you will get a variety of answers. Five of the more common answers are: 1. The government serves the interests of the ruling classes; 2. The government balances the goals and decides the mixture of policies Read more…
In one of my university classes I used to show a picture of people in chains – Slaves. Then I would show a picture of people in cubicles doing their 9-5 drudgery. The difference I explained was that the first picture showed people who knew they were slaves. The second Read more…
Most governments around the world have been offering financial recovery packages to their people following the nearly two years of lockdown and what can only be innocuously termed as the Covid economic crisis. It’s all very noble, trying to help people get back on their feet, but the global economic Read more…
I often talk about potential ideas for creating a sustainable human culture on this planet. Technological sustainability is an exciting field with amazing innovation and potential. Yet, even 50 years after international recognition of our ecological problems (UNCHE, 1972 and 30 years since UNCED (Rio, 1992), all we have had Read more…
In the last post I overviewed stupidity that causes socio-cultural harm and if left unchecked can lead to totalitarian systems of manipulation and control. According to the Cipolla quadrant scheme, I interpret the world being run by a small group of the Bandits with lots of stupid people supporting them. Read more…
“Wisdom and knowledge is everywhere, but so is stupidity” Trudi Canavan Strange times we live in. Someone I know well recently called me stupid because I disagreed with her (she ardently trusts the MSM). I was merely asking her to consider a different perspective that countered her well entrenched beliefs. Read more…
I recently watched a news pundit on the MSM justifying the censorship about Covid. How noble of him to want to safeguard people from misinformation and from having people to think for themselves with more than the singular narrative. Could that be because they are truly concerned about the public Read more…
Part of our social contract with authorities is that we be told the truth about events going on in our world. Once upon a time the news media were our only source of information and we little option but to trust that the news pundits were generating their points of Read more…
“You are only not responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say when it is your duty to say something” Martin Luther. In my introduction to this blog, I talked about my transition from being a biochemist to environmental communicator and then Sustainabilitist. I was Read more…
“The most confused we ever get is when we try to convince our heads of something our hearts know is a lie” Karen Moning. If I had to use a one word to describe what is going on in the world at the moment I would use ‘Trust,’ or alternatively, Read more…
A bit of a swing off my usual path today. I have readers all over the world, so, this post is not trying to be an affront to any religious beliefs (whatever they may be) but a comment on how many religious autocrats over the centuries have worked to keep Read more…
When medical doctors take the hypocritic oath, they vow to ‘Do No Harm’ when they practice medicine, because human life (and by extension, all life) is sacred and to use your skills to harm anything living is a crime against humanity and the natural world. The Oath is an ancient Read more…
If anything, 2021 has shown us how technology has taken on a sacred aspect in how we let it dominate and control our lives – as much as money has become a central component in how our lives are determined. As religiosity has declined, technology has supplemented itself to become Read more…
I have talked about how science and spirituality separated during the Renaissance period (e.g., The New Physics and Cosmology part 1 – The Problem of Variable Constants {September 2020}) and how logic and reasoning set us on a cultural course of thinking that science can cure all ills. It began Read more…
I have addressed appropriate technology many times throughout this blog. For the developing world it is easier to see what extra technology will do to help people that are in many cases living at or just slightly up from preindustrial age technology. Do they need iPhones and upper end Tesla Read more…
I was talking with a group of supposed environmentalists about a future sustainable society, and what struck me was how they kept going back to talking about a centralized global system to make everyone do the ‘right’ thing, namely being sustainable. I remember feeling a tad stunned that they felt Read more…
I have been accused of talking about sustainability as a form of fantasy utopia. OK, forget about some Hollywood fantasy with everyone singing Kumbaya in some idyllic community that looks like heaven on Earth. Not that picture couldn’t exist, but not in any world humanity lives within for the foreseeable Read more…
I love reading about billionaires telling us how magnanimous they are in giving away their money to help better human the condition. The big game for these people is called ‘philanthropy.’ Once upon a time, businesses before globalization created a new ruling class of billionaires had an expectation that some Read more…
If you are making a fortune doing something, and that something was harmful to the planet but in a somewhat invisible way, what would it take to get you to stop completely? What would make you pick your better angel, especially if you were already a sociopath, or worse a Read more…
I many times make reference to going down the rabbit hole. To do so with any expectation of success, fully requires an open and discerning mind. I believe I have that, but even then, I am often faced with things that stop me in my tracks and make me have Read more…
I have written about needs hierarchies and the need for purpose in our lives (e.g., PERSONAL SOVEREIGNTY 3 – Overcoming Life’s hurdles and Becoming Happy and Free yet still Connecting, Contributing and Creating Positively {}). The needs models (e.g., Maslow, Alderfer, Murray, Atkinson) all state that sense of purpose or Read more…