If you want to see just how stark the difference is between American and Canadian foreign policy (and for that matter the difference in policy on just about everything else) take a look at this exercise in participatory online democracy! http://www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca/en/discusspaper/index.html In the past year, I’ve seen the Canadian government make a 180 degree turn and endorse Kyoto, introduce truly radical electoral campaign reform (here) and distance itself more and more dramatically from the Bush administration’s positions on foreign policy, trade, civil liberties, and just about everything else. I’ve never been so proud to be a Canadian.
February 4, 2003
READINGS OF A RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALIST
I think I have always been a radical environmentalist, but my reading, especially in the last two years, has hardened my view that saving the world will require revolutionary, societally wrenching change, and may even be impossible. I challenge you to read these extraordinary books and articles and not see the world, and our human culture, in a new and terrible light: Full House and Rocks of Ages, by the late Stephen J. Gould. The biography for Gould can be found at http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/gould/ Ockham’s Razor, by Wade Rowland. Here is his official website and links to the interview referred to in my Weblog http://www.waderowland.com/ When Elephants Weep, by Jeff Masson. Here is his official website. http://www.jeffreymasson.com/ Mind of the Raven, by Bernd Heinrich. Here is a review of the book from the Smithsonian magazine http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues00/feb00/bookreview_feb00.html The writer who brought this to my attention, Bill Atkinson, can be reached at mailto:billatki@axion.net The Unconscious Civilization, by John Ralston Saul. The National Library of Canada site for this book, with online audio excerpts, is at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/3/8/t8-4007-e.html A good bio can be found at this bookstore site: http://www.nwpassages.com/bios/saul.asp When Corporations Rule the World, by David Korten. Profiled on the site of the People Centered Development Forum that Korten established: http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/corprule/corporat.htm The Wealth of Man by Peter Jay. A brief bio and review of the book by an online German economists’ forum is at http://www.economics.de/bookshop/book.php3?bid=72 The Freeman Dyson’s Brain interview, in Wired Magazine, is reproduced on the Wired website in its entirety at http://www.wired.com/wired/6.02/dyson.html The Developing Ideas Interview with Herman Daly, done for The Common Good web forum is at http://iisd1.iisd.ca/didigest/special/daly.htm State of the World 2002 edition, by WorldWatch Institute, is summarized on their site at http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/sow/2002/ World Scientists’ Warning, full text and other related links on the Union of Concerned Scientists’ website at http://www.ucsusa.org/about/warning.html A summary of The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki, along with reviews of his other books, and a new report showing that signing the Kyoto Accord is good for the economy, are at the Suzuki Foundation website at http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ Dream of the Earth by Thomas Berry. Bio and some lecture transcripts can be found at http://ecoethics.net/ops/berrybio.htm Ishmael and The Story of B, by Daniel Quinn. Discussion forum, bio and lots more at the Ishmael Community website at http://www.ishmael.com/welcome.cfm The Axemaker’s Gift by James Burke and Robert Ornstein. Burke Connection website with book summary at http://www.palmersguide.com/jamesburke/burke_book_axe.html A Language Older Than Words, by Derrick Jensen. Jensen’s personal website is at http://www.derrickjensen.org/
WHAT THIS BLOG IS ABOUT
This Weblog will offer commentary and hopefully useful links on:
1. Politics & Economics
2. The Environment, Animal Rights, and “How to Save the World”
3. Business Innovation
4. Music, Film, Television, Literature and the Arts
5. The Sciences 6. Blogs and BloggingLinks to my own essays and creative works will appear in the Navigation and/or Stories panes at the side of this Weblog.



