Not my bad this time. I caught this statement when it was made back in October, but missed the whole colloquy with Congressman Henry Waxman. In a nutshell, this is why we are is the mess we are in, beyond the financial crunch. The way we explain how the world works, indeed, has serious flaws far beyond those Greenspan [used to justify his poor judgment](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/alan-greenspan-the-oracle_n_168168.html). > REP. HENRY WAXMAN: [T]his is your statement. ‘I do have an ideology. My judgment is that free competitive markets are by far the unrivaled way to organize economies. We’ve tried regulation. None meaningfully worked.’….Do… Read More
Continue ReadingIs Losing an Hour of Sleep Really Green?
One argument used in lengthening the duration of Daylight Saving Time has been that it will save energy. Early risers can get to work at home, on the farm, or at the office without switching on so many lights. Maybe the program will not work quite that way as this [article suggests](http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/03/05/daylight-savingsenergy-savings/). > This sounded good to me, so I did not further study this claim. However, these folks did… > – A [statistical analysis by the California Energy Commission](http://energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-200-2007-004/CEC-200-2007-004.PDF) showed little or no energy savings. – Scientists from the University of California-Santa Barbara [studied the state of Indiana’s energy… Read More
Continue ReadingCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Begins at Home
In my book, sustainability is defined as the possibility of flourishing. This means that each species, other than humans, maintains its evolutionary population levels within an ecosystem. It does not mean that the population is constant, but exhibits resiliency — it can recover from shocks to the system to return to its historic levels. Today many species are threatened or endangered under this definition. The human species, as a life form, is subject to the same category of threats to their existence and has responded to such challenges historically by devising technological and institutional systems to counter such threats. Because… Read More
Continue ReadingOops
A few posts ago, I used the Chinese word for crisis as meaning the combination of danger and opportunity. Gena Rotstein pointed out that this interpretation is not quite right. She linked me to an article by a Chinese language expert, Victor Mair, that explains: > There is a widespread public misperception, particularly among the New Age sector, that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of elements that signify “danger” and “opportunity.” . . . the damage from this kind of pseudo-profundity has reached such gross proportions that I feel obliged, as a responsible Sinologist, to take counteraction. .… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Market as God
A friend pointed me to an article in the Atlantic with this title, written by the theologian, Harvey Cox. Although now 10 years old, it is right on target. Written with a heavy dose of irony, it still makes great reading. I found the concluding paragraphs an apt coda for my last post. > Disagreements among the traditional religions become picayune in comparison with the fundamental differences they all have with the religion of The Market. Will this lead to a new jihad or crusade? I doubt it. > > It seems unlikely that traditional religions will rise to the… Read More
Continue ReadingIs Consumerism Dead?
It is very important to carefully parse the headline of this recent [article](http://www.alternet.org/story/128920/%22consumerism%22_is_dead_–_can_obama_lead_us_to_a_downscaled_lifestyle/) in Alternet. > **Consumerism” Is Dead — Can Obama Lead Us to a Downscaled Lifestyle?** Anyone that follows my book’s theses, would think I would be jumping for joy since I see consumerism as resting at the base of the present state of unsustainability. Here’s the gist of the column. > Among the questions that disturb the sleep of many casual observers is how come Mr. O doesn’t get that the conventional process of economic growth — based, as it was, on industrial expansion via revolving credit… Read More
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