If one more Californian tells me how "progressive" California is, I am going to scream. "Progressivism" is the term applied to a variety of responses to the economic and social problems that were introduced to America by industrialization. It began as a social movement and grew into a political one. Early Progressives rejected Social Darwinism, believing that the problems … [Read more...]
About Sherry Ackerman
Derrick Jensen has Inspired Me to Question Civilization
I rode my horse out through the woods the other day. It was a beautiful Autumn afternoon as golden light filtered through the trees. My horse was keen to graze in an open meadow, so we found a spot where he could forage for some greenery among the late season grasses. On my ride out, I had been thinking about the widening gulf between the natural world and contemporary … [Read more...]
Presuming to Care about the Earth
There are times that I find myself wandering pensively in the woods, asking aloud, “so how should I presume?” I just read about the land sinking -- up to thirteen inches a year in some places -- in the Central Valley of California. I also just read about there being no mountaintops left in certain areas of West Virginia anymore. None. And, the coal companies are pulling … [Read more...]
Relying on the Government will Make Climate Change Worse
Twenty-five years ago, existentialism was a hot piece of intellectual property. A literate public was buying up such books as William Barrett's Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy and Viktor Frankl's From Death Camp to Existentialism (later republished under the title Man's Search for Meaning). American psychologists were being introduced to the movement by … [Read more...]
Local economy or local-washing?
"Local" has become a buzzword. Today there’s eco-localism, local food and local farming, local media movements, as well as regional, state, and even national ad campaigns urging us to “eat local" and "buy local.” Local's gone global, but what exactly does the term mean anymore? David Levine, of the American Sustainable Business Council, discusses the “triple bottom line” … [Read more...]