We organize about what is important, and what we can effect positively. My preference: social well-being. Individual/families/communities/regions/macro-regions. As I’ve written previously, I’m a gadfly on two prominent modern socio-environmental concerns. 1. Global warming – My feeling is that it is obviously occurring, and human induced, but that there is literally nothing that I or even [...]
Archive for the ‘Ethics’ Category
What do we organize about?
Posted in Energy policy, Ethics, General economic, Regional Economy, Sustainable Economics on June 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
How Do We Tell?
Posted in Ethics, General economic, Spirituality, Sustainable Economics on May 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Are we making progress individually? Our family? Our community? Our region? Our planet? How do we know? In order to tell, to compare, to decide how to use scarce resources, we have to measure in some way, and every measurement is going to contain cultural biases, be incomplete and contain some emphasis that becomes self-fulfilling. [...]
Economic Thanks
Posted in Ethics, General economic, Spirituality on April 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I have a very religious son, a chasid, who is visiting during a break from his studies at a yeshiva in Paris. We had a conversation yesterday (probably more me speechifying) on how to remember the sacred in work, and in the world. I’ve known many that have proposed approaches to accomplish that sanctifying of [...]
Measuring Social Welfare
Posted in Ethics, General economic, Simplicity on March 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I will be attending a presentation by an old friend, Tom Barefoot, tomorrow night in Northampton on Gross National Happiness. It is happening at the Media Education Foundation offices at 60 Masonic Street, Northampton, MA at 7:00 pm. Come. http://www.gnhusa.org/ A group of Vermonters have been meeting to formulate ways to assess whether their communities [...]
What Can We affect?
Posted in Ethics on January 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I/we can’t affect the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, other communities than my own. I/we can only vote and write to affect American foreign policy, our own. That is extremely limited. I/we can’t really affect the decisions of publicly traded corporations, even less so for privately held large corporations. There are things that I [...]
Growing Up?
Posted in Ethics, Spirituality on January 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been surprised that even at 56 years old, I can change, learn things, even fairly fundamentally change important things in my life. And, I’ve been made aware that the things that I have learned, I have to reinforce to continue to be functional. I like it. Just dreaming is over.
Commitment – The Fruit of Prayer
Posted in Ethics, Jewish reflection on December 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I love the evolved Jewish commitment, that of tikkun olam, which I understand has two respects: The intimate internal commitment of personal depth, sanctity, integrity, balanced mindfulness, humility before/in relation to God The external commitment to healing of the world, of social relationships, to help others in their need, “to love thy neighbor as thyself” [...]
Prayer
Posted in Ethics, Jewish reflection, Spirituality on December 9, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I’ve started praying regularly, Jewish prayer, three times per day per rabbinic instruction and guidance. Its changed me, for the good. It gives scope to my expansive and imaginative side, and at the same time reinforces the sober promise of living well and kindly and confidently in the actual world.
The Supply Trane – The Beginning of my Lunch Inquiry
Posted in Ethics, General economic, Locus on October 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I hope folks got my reference to the great JC (thats John Coltrane – “Chasing the Trane”). My wife made lunch yesterday and she made the exercise to “Chase the Trane”, too easy (I think). We had baked potatoes grown in our backyard, and some grown at friends’ around 7 miles away. That was grown [...]
Tracing the Supply Chain – (or Chasing the Trane – if your dyslexic)
Posted in Ethics, General economic on October 11, 2010 | 1 Comment »
We don’t have a clue where our products and services come from. We don’t know what materials they were made from, who did it – which real person, where, what unintended affects were caused. With technology, there are so many components, that it is difficult to track methodically. So, I’m going to start with food. [...]
