We’ve got a lot to learn ourselves. Most importantly, our children and budding leaders have a lot of important skills and values to learn. Although many fortune 500 companies include some sustainability disclosure in their annual reports, and apparently incorporate those concerns in their operations, there are very few institutions that train the masses and [...]
Archive for July, 2010
Sustainable Finance Education – What the World Needs Now
Posted in General economic, Sustainable Economics on July 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »
My initiation into the engineered life
Posted in Energy policy, Ethics, General economic, Space heating and lighting on July 21, 2010 | 8 Comments »
I’ve had severe medical problems before and been the beneficiary of scientific advances in medical treatment. (I had a non-cancerous growth on my inner ear in 1996, called an “accoustic neuroma”, which required 11 hour surgery, and artistically sequenced immediate and subsequent recovery. It didn’t save my hearing though in one ear. That’s just gone [...]
My prediction for economic “improvement”
Posted in General economic, Space heating and lighting, Transportation on July 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It won’t come immediately, likely even soon. There is still a downward drag on home values due to a still large inventory of unsold homes and many homes in foreclosure. There is still a bubble in business to business economy, money chasing after activity and profits. (Thats where the highest compensation is and that is [...]
Exploring Racism – Political
Posted in Ethics, Israel/Palestine, Jewish reflection on July 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There is an obvious reciprocal connection between racism that expresses in the form of collective attitudes, prejudices, and individuals. Individuals derive what “everybody” knows from their neighbors, and neighbors derive “what everybody knows” from us. We individually can affect the tenor of prejudicial attitudes, even if only incrementally. The political signficance occurs when racism changes from [...]
Exploration into Racism – Social
Posted in Ethics, Israel/Palestine, Jewish reflection on July 12, 2010 | 2 Comments »
There are three aspects to racism. 1. Individual – How do I personally interact with individuals from different races and cultures? My personal attitudes are my personal responsibility. I express them. The consequences result from my own actions. 2. Social – What am I a part of? How do collective attitudes affect the experience of [...]
Exploration into Racism
Posted in Ethics, Jewish reflection, Spirituality on July 11, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’ve been invited to explore racism. The stimulus for the inquiry was a discussion on another blog, Mondoweiss, by an old friend (I hope he is still), Philip Weiss, who has opened up a similar inquiry there. I want to take this time to first explore what racism is, how it plays in my inter-personal [...]
Ensuring that social capital remains social
Posted in Assertively Responsible Investing, General economic, Sustainable Economics on July 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
How do we know that our tax dollars end up serving the nation’s and communities’ good, rather than for other purposes, or donations to a not-for-profit, or investments in a social venture fund? Its a dilemma whether the social capital is raised widely or are created by the social elite. Even organizations that have governing [...]
Raising Social Capital
Posted in General economic, Regional Economy, Sustainable Economics on July 5, 2010 | 2 Comments »
There are two meanings of social capital in use today. One is the meaning that people are assets, general and specific skillsets and networks of relationships. Investment bankers love to use the term “social capital” in this meaning. It is them, the combination of “who do you know” and “what do you know” that allows [...]
Agenda for Economic Change
Posted in General economic, Regional Economy, Sustainable Economics on July 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There are three main categories of participants to economy that each need both encouragement and guidance. 1. Consumers/citizens/people – How we choose to live, earn, spend, save, donate. The conventional Keynesian social contribution wisdom (my father actually rationalized this) is to spend during a recession. I don’t buy it. I think the oppossite is the [...]
