December is a good time of year to remind ourselves that our consumerism as a society is a choice; it’s not a requirement. On a related note, when we support the thrift-store economy, we’re reducing the amount of resources that …
Category: Sustainability
Peace on Earth
Thucydides’ statement here implies that war has been a permanent, 365-day-a-year feature of Western society for at least the last 2500 years. Occasionally we run into small groups of people who are trying to change that, like the organizers of …
Fox News Doesn’t Play Well in Dallas, But What Exactly Does that Mean?
I’m happy to hear this, but I would make this prediction: Go 40 miles in any direction from downtown Dallas and repeat the experiment. Don’t be surprised if the bartender is cheered. This is the same phenomenon that we see …
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Tagged with: Fox News
U.S. Education Is Slipping, to Put it Kindly
Below is a performance of Frederik Chopin’s waltz in G flat. I bring it up because a dear old friend who grew up in the Netherlands used to play it, and when I asked him how he could get through …
Tagged with: US Education is slipping
Here’s a Store with Principle
Where do you break the chain of single-use plastic? The manufacturer? The distributor? The retailer? The consumer? There is no correct (or incorrect) answer, but, as shown in the photo, there is no good reason that it can’t be the …
Tagged with: single-use plastic
Respecting Those Who Protect Us
In response to the meme here, Eddy Oriente Balzola writes: Not when they act like thugs. Otherwise, respect indeed. Exactly, Eddy. All good people respect soldiers and police personnel, but, at the same time, hold them accountable for abiding by …
Tagged with: respecting police
Boycotting Home Depot
I haven’t spent a dime in a Home Depot in decades. I hope readers feel and act the same.
Tagged with: Boycotting Home Depot
Investing in America’s Future
Here, Frederick Douglass provides us one of the best justifications for investment in quality education. We’re raising a generation of people who are going to be unable to compete in the global economy, and have tendencies towards racism, violence, and …
Tagged with: Investing in America's Future
Why Trumpism Is So Entrenched
The thought expressed here represents a serious challenge for humankind, and it’s precisely the mechanism that keeps Trumpism so firmly rooted in place. The MAGA crowd is organized in lockstep around the principles of hate, violence, and exclusion. As MLK …
Socialism Is Coming, But What Does That Mean?
Americans tends to overlook the fact that all of us benefit a great deal from our government’s programs. Few of us spend any time at all asking ourselves where capitalism ends and socialism begins, or vice versa. Snow removal is …
Tagged with: socialism
