Status

The “Practical Peacemaker” web site is now undergoing major changes.  When it’s done, which should be by about Friday, February 5, there will be a blog, book reviews, implemented with WordPress.

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

How to Give All Your Food to the Hungry, and Eat It Too

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

With over seven billion people crowded onto the planet and increasing numbers of them hungry, what can compassionate people do to help?  The most important action we can take, beyond being careful not to waste food, is to go vegan, because growing plant foods for direct human consumption is the most efficient use of farmland, water, fuel and other resources.  But what if we could make even more food available?  Beyond even the efficiency that veganism provides, what if we could make 100% of our food available to the hungry?  That is, be able to offer the same amount of food we eat every day to the starving?  (In some cases, this might not mean that food would get sent anywhere, but it would free up the resource potential to grow and ship an equal amount of food.)  And what if we could compound the additional food with 100% of our water consumption, 100% of the fuel we use for cooking, heating and transportation, 100% of our cars, household appliances, clothing, and everything we use as an average American? Did you ever stop to think that remaining childless does exactly that?  Let me explain. Continue reading →

Posted in Overpopulation | Leave a comment

Challenging the “Religion” of Economic Growth

Posted on January 19, 2012 by

GrowthBusters

For those of us concerned about poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change, the idea that economic growth underlies these problems will probably not come as a surprise. Growth–higher production of consumer goods, stepped-up extraction of resources, more and bigger houses, freeways and shopping malls–has been accepted almost unconditionally as the best way to run governments and assure prosperity. It is seen as the most potent answer to lifting people out of poverty and assuring full employment. Go out and shop more, we are told. Few people dare to publicly challenge the American religion of growth, and those who do should be read, supported, and discussed.

Or in the case of one new documentary, watched. I’m referring to Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth (remember Ghostbusters?), in which Dave Gardner, a courageous citizen of Colorado Springs, Colorado, becomes sufficiently fed up with the development, congestion, and depletion of resources he sees around him to run for his city council. Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism | Leave a comment

The Positive Side of Aging

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

Nearly every display of birthday cards features several that exploit the downside of aging as funny. These jokes primarily concern loss of appearance, loss of health and energy, loss of sex appeal and potency, or may view just the state of being old itself as amusing. I have found myself laughing at some of these gags, because I too have inherited our society’s view of the old, but in this post I want to point out some of the advantages and strengths elders possess. Continue reading →

Posted in Simple Living | Leave a comment