Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
It’s a frigid 18 degrees as I write here in Portland, Oregon, with the air so dry that the skin on the back of my right hand is brittle, cracking into little red lesions, despite my frequently rubbing lotion into them to keep them supple. In this same moment, Copenhagen, Denmark where the world climate [...]
Tags: alternative energy·climate·Copenhagen·Economist·GDP·weather
My heart is with the two million folks fleeing their homes due to Hurricane Gustav. How frightening and painful! I wish for all of them to be safe and secure. There is more, though; the head and the heart should always work together. Doesn’t it make more sense to flee permanently to more sustainable homes [...]
Tags: bipartisan politics·culture·development·economics·extreme weather·GDP·global warming·Gustav·land use·life·New Orleans
I posted my thoughts on Bear Stearns right after it collapsed. But a deeper problem even than the money-drunk nature of our culture is the way we count.
Our economic system hasn’t yet learned how to count in a way that reflects reality. Natural systems like air, soil and water (also known as the primary world) are holding up our whole civilization. Our economy is predicated on them
Tags: Bear Stearns·carbon market·carbon tax·climate change·collapse·culture·development·economics·GDP·global warming·happiness·markets·money drunk·natural systems
Bad news here for the advertising industry, but good news for human beings and all other species. Research from many countries shows that after people’s survival needs and some reasonable pleasure needs are met, consumption piled-higher-and-deeper does NOT create more happiness. Rich is not great. Greed is not cool. Working harder might be moving you backward.
Inconvenient, at least for 20th century notions of economic growth and GDP, but
Tags: carbon footprint·culture·economics·economy·environment·GDP·global warming·happiness·Jared Diamond·life·time management
For Thanksgiving I’ll suggest (and practice myself) a novel idea: to not eat a great deal. Just a normal-sized meal, with more sociability than usual.
“Unpatriotic!” I can imagine you criticizing me. “Killjoy!” “The economy would nosedive!” “Anti-consumption equals Anti-Christ!” (OK, pardon my drama.)
In truth, I’m very patriotic. I love our forebears. In fact I suggest we be more like them — by not being overweight and
Tags: eating·economics·GDP·patriotism
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