
You may have heard this piece of wisdom in Econ 101. “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.
The mass material affluence that characterizes much of American society is a testament to the power of our economic and political system. The cities we inhabit, the cars we drive, the gadgets we use, the ways we communicate, the food we eat, and the energy we consume are all products of its success.
But remember, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.
Allow me to modify that statement. There is no such thing as a dollar menu. Transactions inflict costs on the real world that are not reflected in a market pricing system.
A friend of mine is particularly fond of McDonald’s Dollar menu, and makes a habit of...
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I recently had the pleasure of shepherding a group of elementary school children around a Water Festival. The day’s myriad events focused on everything from salmon habitats to sea kayaking lessons. It was great to watch little kids get excited about nature in its most basic forms. I think it’s something that I, and maybe others, forget when we’re working on globe spanning issues like climate change. Remember that we were once little kids too, our minds being blown by the simplest joys nature could offer. To watch a room full of a hundred kids all imitating the sounds of a Killer Whale is pretty awesome.
The day made me realize/remember how important it is to reach kids at this young age when a love of nature is still embedded deep within their inherent nature. Kids...

Yesterday I had a very interesting discussion with a professor at my college about sustainable development. Sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland Commission in Our Common Future, is “meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their needs”. He asked me, “How do you convince the community to work for sustainable development, and delay gratification?”
I did not have a good answer, since that is the question on everyone’s mind. How do you tell people they need to think about tomorrow when today they are starving, or thirsty, or without energy? The root problem, as my professor believes and I agree, is the culture of entitlement. We were having this discussion the in context of post-Apartheid...