A Trapdoor In The Sun

by Paul Hawken When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there. Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades. This  planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously de...

I'm going on the record as of now and stating implicitly that I do not support the health care bill as it was passed by Congress and signed in by the Obama Administration. Do I believe that health care is important and a necessary security blanket for all individuals? Absolutely! However, what was passed in DC is so far removed from the original concept of a single-payer system that, in my opinion, it is nothing more than a give away to the Insurance Industry and Big Pharma. So what if they have to drop their pre-existing conditions clause? Insurers don't care because THEY HAVE MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF NEW PEOPLE ENROLLED! And for those who can't afford their premiums, Uncle Sam will subsidize them and pay for them with borrowed money.  Quite frankly, I find it disgusting and I feel betrayed. We voted for change, but it seems that Obama is picking up the baton of corporatism dropped by Bush Jr. and sprinting for that finish line. Along with the recent SCOTUS decision to gi...