Journal of Sustainability

  An ''old lefty'' friend of mine has retired to an idyllic  Caribbean isle. Sort of idyllic, if you ignore the cardboard shanties. Ken built himself a castle, [fortified.] There he putters in his garden, writes his Marxist blog and plays the stock market. He also gives lots of money to good causes, which makes him feel very good. Curiously I happen to have another friend here in the US, a native of this island. His feelings about Ken are somewhat different. "I hope he understands, that when the revolution comes, we will kill him."

   May has dedicated her career to avant guard installation art. Her most recent show featured an artist who piled 13 tons of some unspecified industrial waste on the gallery floor. It smells. The critics were thrilled. "Ms. X's installation deals with issues of consumption and toxicity."  One might ask just how it "deals" with those issues. It doesn't really say anything. It's just there. My suggestion that one might actually consider these very issues in selecting a piece was met with a firm refusal.

"Good art is never polemical."

  And Kim, an Albanian-American albino atheist, who has become quite wealthy selling insurance. But nevertheless quite bitter. "If I had been a white, [instead of WHITE,] Presbyterian I would be much richer." Kim sees this as a massive social injustice, somehow equal to that suffered by victims of actual famines and wars. [Sadly the other children did say mean things back in grade school, but today Kim does belong to the country club.]

   And Martin. Heir to a big hunk of a major timber fortune, He also feels very good about all the money he gives to the Sierra Club. The way he sees it, is that if he didn't make all that money from the bad things daddy's company does, he wouldn't have it to give to the good causes. Or take "eco-vacations" with the carbon footprint of Godzilla. The mind boggles.

   So----------- I am Mr. Critical. I do not shy away from judgement. I will happily  point out that something is wrong here. [As I learned from Mr. Wilbur, when someone tells you that being judgemental is bad, something fishy is going on.] But just what is wrong here?I am not suggesting, for example, that making money is evil. I would like a great deal more of it myself.

   When you talk with Ken, what quickly comes to the surface is his bitterness. He is a brilliant guy. An astute political analyst. And a very witty writer. And no one pays any attention. But then, why would anyone pay attention to the rich guy  spewing  Marxist rants? It's the guy in the street, in the trenches, who has the authority, who gets the respect as a revolutionary. [And the rich guy who gets respect as an investment advisor.]

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• Social Sustainability & Improved Standard of Living - Is it Achievable? Part 5.
• Social Sustainability & Improved Standard of Living - Is it Achievable? Part 4.
• Social Sustainability & Improved Standard of Living - Is it Achievable? Part 3.
• Social Sustainability & Improved Standard of Living - Is it Achievable? Part 2.
• Social Sustainability & Improved Standard of Living - Is it Achievable? Part 1.
• Is there any potential of increased environmental performance through ISO 14001 in manufacturing companies in Pakistan? Part 3.
• Is there any potential of increased environmental performance through ISO 14001 in manufacturing companies in Pakistan? Part 2.
• Is there any potential of increased environmental performance through ISO 14001 in manufacturing companies in Pakistan? Part 1.
• Nationalization as Privatization in Reverse: Understanding the Nature of the Commons to Identify a Possible Point of Optimal Nationalization, Part 4
• Nationalization as Privatization in Reverse: Understanding the Nature of the Commons to Identify a Possible Point of Optimal Nationalization, Part 3

• Issue 3 Number 1 [14]
• Issue 2 Number 4 [13]
• Issue 1 Number 4 [14]
• Issue 1 Number 1 [5]
• Issue 1 Number 3 [3]
• Issue 2 Number 3 [13]
• Issue 2 Number 2 [9]
• Issue 1 Number 2 [12]
• Issue 2 Number 1 [18]
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