Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
Imagine that the basic needs of everyone on Earth were taken care of. What would society be like? American futurist Jacque Fresco, who turned 98 last week, has spent his life thinking about this. Needs are at the root of capitalism. You have something that somebody else needs; that person has something that you need; you trade these things directly … >>
Sometimes, no matter what you do, people just get on your nerves. Wouldn’t it be nice to get away from everybody and move to a house in the woods, where you’d have peace and quiet? This isn’t a farfetched idea. Henry David Thoreau did it. Grizzly Adams did it. In fact, thousands of people have done it in recent years. … >>
Suppose you wanted to send a message to someone living thousands of years in the future. How would you do it? We can forget about trying to express it in electronic form. Personal computers have been around for only 30 years, but already quite a number of file formats have become obsolete — and replaced by others that are much … >>
New Mexico is on fire. Again. It seems like only last year that we heard reports about… Wait. It was just last year. The difference is that back then, most of the fire was across the state border in Arizona, and it was called the largest fire in Arizona history. This year, it’s mostly in New Mexico, and it’s considered … >>
Suppose your country were offered unlimited energy for the rest of your lifetime (and beyond). What would it be worth to you? The recent discovery of a way to extract natural gas trapped within layers of rock has the energy industry and the politicians excited. In just the past five years, thousands of gas wells have sprung up above shale … >>
Women with abusive husbands make all sorts of excuses for them: “He’s normally not like that.” “He’s sorry.” “He’s trying to change.” “He provides for me.” “I don’t have to worry about things.” “I’d never survive without him.” “There’s no alternative.” (Men can experience this, too, as the target of emotional abuse. The scars are on the inside.) We can’t … >>
In politics, if you want to make a point, it’s best to do it in a way that gets as much attention as possible. In the US, this is easiest to do in three places. The first is the roof of the White House. In 1979, Jimmy Carter showed America he was serious about renewable energy when he had solar … >>
Barack Obama calls it “a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”. The explosion on a BP drilling platform on April 20 has led to an outpouring of oil from the sea floor which threatens not only wildlife, but also the important fishing and tourism industries, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Visiting Louisiana on Sunday, Obama said that “the federal … >>
You have to hand it to Americans — we know a thing or two about marketing. Would people really eat fast food and chug soft drinks if they weren’t told to do so all the time? Would consumers really rush out and buy iPads if they saw the price first and the features later? And would buyers put so much … >>
It says something about the state of the discussion on climate change that the skeptics haven’t spoken up this year. Usually it takes only a few days of cold, rainy weather — not an entire “summer” like this one in southern Germany — for them to start crowing and scoffing. But even those who don’t accept the idea of climate … >>