What do black holes, hurricanes, tornadoes, eddies, and toilets all have in common? Each of these is a vortex, a downward, self-accelerating spiral, emptying into — what? …

Let’s start with the basics, in the form of a catechism: Q: What is the biggest single problem in the world today? A: The fundamental incompatibility between the production rules of Glomart and Gaia. Q: What is “Glomart”? A: The Global Market Economy, a self-organizing and self-propagating complex adaptive system…

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that we actually had a future. We don’t, of course, but we can lay all that aside, for a moment. And let us also pretend that we had the authority to create a curriculum for a hypothetical Gaian culture in some imaginary future — as…

“The wise is one only. It is unwilling and willing to be called by the name of Zeus.” — Heraclitus Recently, I have joined a community chorus here in Salem, Oregon called the Festival Chorale Oregon, where for our Christmas Concert, we are rehearsing two choral pieces by Benjamin Britten…

I have often been accused of “having an agenda.” I plead guilty as charged. In our increasingly paranoid popular culture, the phrase “having an agenda” is often used to mean “having a (presumably nefarious) hidden agenda.” But my agenda is not hidden in the slightest; it is an open book…

As most of us already know too well, the future prospects for our nation, our global civilization, and our planet are looking quite grim these days, especially for younger generations. …

Most dystopian fiction is set in the future, near or distant. But consider our present reality: a visibly accelerating rise in average global temperatures from year to year, leading to rapidly melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels, the collapse of ecosystems, and the relentless pounding of unprecedented storms…

The word “capital” has normally been taken to refer to available money, or — more precisely, “Wealth in the form of money or assets, taken as a sign of the financial strength of an individual, organization, or nation, and assumed to be available for development or investment.” …

“The weight of this sad time we must obey/Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say…” Shakespeare, King Lear. Once again, in what seems at times my perverse addiction to doomscrolling, I find myself reading yet another article by prominent climate scientists and professional, scientifically literate journalists who…