ime to have a talk / it will not be fun / buckle up. Feel free to skip to the end at any point for pleasant pictures of adorable animals. You and I are witnessing the twenty-first century’s great crime: a global holocaust whose first victims have already perished. And I mean holocaust, from Greek holókaustos, translated as “whole” and “burnt” – the whole enormity of life … [Read more...]
Personal Actions Can Fix Climate Change…That Recent Study Didn’t Mention Them
Every now and then, articles like this get passed around on Facebook telling us that if we stop [eating meat / flying in airplanes / driving cars / having children / having fun] we can have an impact on climate change. This is complete nonsense. First, despite these articles calling them “individual” actions, these are very much not “individual” actions, they are … [Read more...]
Cost of Democracy
Fair or Unfair, High Wealth Taxation is Necessary for a Functional Market Economy and Democracy
t the heart of the debate on taxation is the question of whether it is fair or unfair to heavily tax extreme wealth. The fact is, it does not matter. We must reinvest most of the money currently held by the wealthiest Americans into public revenue. We need to do this in order for our country, economy, and democracy to function. No country can maintain a functional economy or … [Read more...]
Protecting Science and Public Health
In the Trump Era, Citizens Need to Defend Science and Health Research
cience welcomes skepticism. It also welcomes dissent and criticism. Before being published, new scientific ideas go through layers of review by people who are experts in the field. Old ideas aren’t safe either. Researchers can build their careers on challenging commonly held assumptions. But when convincing, rigorous evidence and theory accumulates, it should be considered … [Read more...]
What We Can Learn from Improv in the Time of Trump
We need to support each other, throw everything at the wall, and make hard commitments.
I’m terrible at improv, but I love one of the golden rules behind it. "Yes, and..." The idea that you don’t block what somebody else is saying, but instead accept it and move the story forward with your own contribution. We need to be a "yes, and..." movement right now. We need to be throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. We need to all be dreaming and … [Read more...]