America Should Default: It just might be crazy enough to work

Although, most media sources, politicians and economists are telling us that a default by the US government would be the worst-case, world-ending scenario, I’m a bit disappointed to see that hardly anyone is discussing what will happen if they just continue to raise the debt ceiling.

What does Development mean?

My lifelong exploration of what it means to be sustainable and why our current way of being, as a civilization, is unsustainable has led me to the question of "What does development mean?".  No matter what sphere of the world you live in or what culture you come from, it seems that the number one priority of all societies is to develop.  Individuals, businesses, and nations all have the goal of developing.  I would posit, then, that it is utterly important for us to question what we mean when we use this word.  What does the word "development" mean?

Ode to Athens, Good Luck to Greece

Few things have changed my life and my perspective of the world to the extent that Athens has.  It's the rawness of human nature and the contradictions within that human nature that are so glaringly obvious in this city.  One feels it instantly upon arriving.  I misinterpretted it in the beginning as a city emenating "negative energy".  But, no, it's not that simple.  It never is, is it?

Homemade Cleaning Products

Why Switch from "Traditional" Cleaning Supplies?

First, I would like to note that I put the word "traditional" in quotations because they've only been considered traditional for a couple of generations.  In fact, my mother, who is only in her fifties, remembers cleaning the first apartment that she moved into when she was 18, in the late 1970's, with baking soda and vinegar.  So, there's really nothing traditional about these chemical cleaning products.  They are new products that have become embedded in our culture only recently as a result of the very ambitious and convincing marketing industry.

Going Shampoo-less

What's Wrong with Shampoo?

There is a large variety of reasons to reconsider using shampoo regularly (if at all).  First, shampoos are detergents that contain harsh chemicals that throw your body's natural balance of oils out of whack.  Second, they usually create a vicious cycle of dependency (ie- shampoo causes your scalp to overproduce oils, so you need to shampoo more often, which causes your scalp to produce even more oils in an effort to keep a balance, etc.) Third,  shampoos and conditioners are quite expensive. Why pay so much to throw a bunch of harsh chemicals into your hair that create a vicious cycle?   Fourth, corporations who produce shampoos and conditioners often use less than environmentally-friendly procedures, and make a huge profit doing so.  Fifth, many of the producers test their products on animals in very inhumane ways.  Sixth, the "disposable" bottles contribute to a huge waste of energy and oil (to produce them) as well as making the garbage heaps of non-biodegradable waste even bigger.  Ok, I'll stop there because I think you see what I mean.