THOMAS HOMER-DIXON ~ THE UPSIDE OF DOWN ~ 2006

~ W-STCMABD-AW-IITKWSTMAWD-PTFBFD-TIETOHA ~ When – Small Things Can Make A Big Difference – And When – It’s Impossible To Know Which Small Things Matter And Which Don’t – Predicting The Future Becomes Formidably Difficult – This Is Especially True Of Human Affairs

~ TBO-CS-H-S/E/P-IOES-T-S-T-F-A-TWOL-AT-S-T/E/P/E-D ~ The Behavior Of – Complex Systems – Human – Social / Economic / Political – Is Often Extremely Sensitive – To – Serendipity – To – Fad – And – The Whims Of Leadership – And To – Sudden – Technological / Economic / Political / Environmental – Developments

~ WCKE-WOH-A-CS-TCAOL-WCA-CT-A-FTANMOB ~ We Can’t Know Exactly – When Or How – Any – Complex System – That Crucially Affects Our Lives – Will Cross A – Critical Threshold – And – Flip To A New Mode Of Behavior

~ T-WE-HN-PB ~ The – World Economy – Has No – Plan B

~ ‘ST’-ADIOPOAEOSCD-AOU-ISIOP-LTCOEOSC ~ “Stress Triggering” – A Disturbance In One Part Of An Economy Or Society Can Dramatically – And Often Unexpectedly – Increase Stress In Other Parts – Leading To Cascades Of Economic Or Social Change

~ IPC-ASAPMAACALPOT-L/W/F-WMPHATVL-TWE-HLII-ROPTL-STLB-EDATSROC ~ In Poor Countries – A Small And Powerful Minority Almost Always Controls A Large Portion Of The – Land / Water / Forests – While Most People Have Access To Very Little – The Wealthy Elites – Have Little Interest In – Replanting Or Protecting The Land – So They Leave Behind – Ecological Devastation And The Shattered Remnants Of Communities

~ LNO-RPP-W-CGT-C/W/FW-TN-BTRADOBECT-MTTSNEMCIPC ~ Large Numbers Of – Rural Poor People – Who – Can’t Get The – Cropland / Water / Fuel Wood – They Need – Because These Resources Are Degraded Or Because Elites Control Them – Move To The Slums Now Engulfing Most Cities In Poor Countries

~ WNSLIONASPWOTTWBA-PF ~ We’re Now So Large In Our Numbers And So Powerful With Our Technologies That We’ve Become A – Planetary Force

~ ALFAW-WCGGWFO-B-DDNC ~ At Least For A While – We Can Generate Great Wealth For Ourselves – By – Drawing Down Nature’s Capital

~ P-B/W/F/B-STBISD ~ Pollinators – Bees / Wasps / Flies / Butterflies – Seem To Be In Steep Decline

~ MOO-EE-RHQATPEW-BISTS-A-BTGBTTATSTT-S-I/G/D-TCTOAAEFSVACOMITRUSOOS ~ Members Of Our – Economic Elite – Rarely Have Qualms About The Prevailing Economic Worldview – Because It Sustains Their Status – And – Because They Generally Believe That They’ve Achieved That Status Through Their – Superior – Intelligence / Guts / Drive – The Conviction That One’s Advantages Are Entirely Fair Seems Virtually A Condition Of Membership In The Rarefied Upper Strata Of Our Societies

~ TS-LAP-IONAMDW-H-WNTOOMTTPOFCIOL ~ To Survive – Let Alone Prosper – In Our New And More Dangerous World – However – We Need To Open Our Minds To The Possibility Of Fundamental Change In Our Lives

~ SORTTPBITC ~ Societies Often Respond To Their Problems By Increasing Their Complexity

~ WAFEECE-WMAAHATITAFTE ~ When A Favorite Explanation Encounters Contradictory Evidence – We Make An Ad Hoc Adjustment To It To Account For This Evidence

~ WO-IEME-TM-APOTWTAVWR ~ We Often – Invest Enormous Mental Energy – To Maintain – A Perspective On The World That’s At Variance With Reality

~ OCSODATSOOS-AAABPSITBFTSQ-KUFRSWHORCOPOWMF ~ Our Chronic State Of Denial About The Seriousness Of Our Situation – Aided And Abetted By Powerful Special Interests That Benefit From The Status Quo – Keeps Us From Really Seeing What’s Happening Or Really Considering Other Paths Our World Might Follow

~ EEIETSR ~ Exuberant Experimentation – Is Essential To – Social Resilience

~ ALASMCIITPIAS-B-IMCBRAPATPE ~ A Large And Successful Middle Class Is Important To Peace In Any Society – Because – It Moderates Conflict Between Rich And Poor And Tempers Political Extremism

~ WO-I/H/S-TT-WSHD-O-NE-EM-PI-A-OCAGA-ID? ~ Will Our – Incaution / Hubris / Stupidity – Transform Things – We Should Hold Dear – Our – Natural Environment – Engineering Marvels – Political Institutions – And – Our Culture And Great Art – Into Dust?

~ OCITPTSQ-BR-TAT-TI-A-SFTB-AWOCC ~ Our Challenge Isn’t To Preserve The Status Quo – But Rather – To Adapt To – Thrive In – And – Shape For The Better – A World Of Constant Change

~ IEEITW-TPOH-BE-FTI-EATFOGWL-TC-T-O-CAG ~ In Every Economy In The World – The Price Of Hydrocarbon-Based Energy – Fails To Incorporate – Even A Tiny Fraction Of Global Warning’s Long-Term Cost – To – Our Children And Grandchildren

~ WNTBCW-CC-RS-AE-B-B-TANIFOOW-A-WMCAAWVOF ~ We Need To Be Comfortable With – Constant Change – Radical Surprise – And Even – Breakdown – Because – These Are Now Inevitable Features Of Our World – And – We Must Constantly Anticipate A Wide Variety Of Futures

~ WNTEOISTWCCTUACTI ~ We Need To Exercise Our Imaginations So That We Can Challenge The Unchallengeable And Conceive The Inconceivable

~ I-AIUADW-WSSGU-EEAP-IOTG-R ~ In – An Increasingly Uncertain And Dangerous World – We Should Sometimes Give Up – Extra Efficiency And Productivity – In Order To Gain – Resilience

~ WCKEW-B-WLL-A-WDKWIWH-B-WCSSFONHWR ~ We Can’t Know Exactly What – Breakdown – Will Look Like – And – We Don’t Know When It Will Happen – But – We Can Still Start Figuring Out Now How We’ll Respond

~ PWAEFAHDIAKOPSWE ~ People Who Aren’t Extremists Face A Huge Disadvantage In Any Kind Of Political Struggle With Extremists

~ ARO-GP-ANR-TO-T-PP-FWCO-V/I/P-SB-SU-A-BW-DMI ~ At Root Our – Global Problems – Are Not Really – Technical Ones – They’re – Political Problems – Fraught With Conflicts Over – Values / Interests / Power – Surrounded By – Scientific Uncertainty – And – Burdened With – Deep Moral Implications

PETER WOHLLEBEN ~ THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES ~ 2015

~ MITOTSSGITSS-ACTEOTTRS-IATNEAHNITONITR-A-TLTTCT-FASWIMLAC ~ Most Individual Trees Of The Same Species Growing In The Same Stand – Are Connected To Each Other Through Their Root Systems – It Appears That Nutrient Exchange And Helping Neighbors In Times Of Need Is The Rule – And – This Leads To The Conclusion That – Forests Are Superorganisms With Interconnections Much Like Ant Colonies

~ ATINAF-OIO-ATCEA-CLC-IIATMO-WAW-BT-MT-CAE-T-MEOHAC-SAGDOW-A-GAGDOH-A-ITPE-TCLTBVO ~ A Tree Is Not A Forest – On Its Own – A Tree Cannot Establish A – Consistent Local Climate – It Is At The Mercy Of – Wind And Weather – But Together – Many Trees – Create An Ecosystem – That – Moderates Extremes Of Heat And Cold – Stores A Great Deal Of Water – And – Generates A Great Deal Of Humidity – And – In This Protected Environment – Trees Can Live To Be Very Old –

~ TCLTBVO-TGTTP-TCMRINMW-ET-T-IVTTCAWKAFALAP ~ Trees Can Live To Be Very Old – To Get To This Point – The Community Must Remain Intact No Matter What – Every Tree – Therefore – Is Valuable To The Community And Worth Keeping Around For As Long As Possible

~ BTRAIDWTAP-TI-PF-BLLASFTI ~ Because Their Roots Are Irreparably Damaged When They Are Planted – Trees In – Planted Forests – Behave Like Loners And Suffer From Their Isolation

~ T:HACDWOC:TUS ~ Trees – Have A Completely Different Way Of Communicating: They Use Scent

~ LT-SO-ES-SAHTD-H-TSINTIM-AHSA-I-TPSTATSSO-ATOAIPM ~ Leaf Tissue – Sends Out – Electoral Signals – Just As Human Tissue Does – However – The Signal Is Not Transmitted In Milliseconds – As Human Signals Are – Instead – The Plant Signal Travels At The Slow Speed Of – A Third Of An Inch Per Minute

~ TCRP-TS-SBP-TBPHTBEDTITABT ~ Trees Can Release Pheromones – That Summon – Specific Beneficial Predators – The Beneficial Predators Help Trees By Eagerly Devouring The Insects That Are Bothering Them

~ T-AWEOUCSSTTFNATRT-NOBMO-CC-BABMO-EI-TT-ATSOATOAIPS ~ Trees – Also Warn Each Other Using Chemical Signals Sent Through The Fungal Networks Around Their Root Tips – Not Only By Means Of – Chemical Compounds – But Also By Means Of – Electoral Impulses – That Travel – At The Speed Of A Third Of An Inch Per Second

~ TREALW-MTTTSOTC-S-TRSONTIIAGIOA-UTAFPTAAITGQDO-N-A-I-D-A-OD-T-‘WWW’-WAHMIIEASWHOJBTR ~ Tree Roots Extend A Long Way – More Than Twice The Spread Of The Crown – So – The Root Systems Of Neighboring Trees Inevitably Intersect And Grow Into One Another – Usually There Are Fungi Present That Act As Intermediaries To Guarantee Quick Dissemination Of – News – About – Insects – Drought – And – Other Dangers – The – “Wood Wide Web” – What And How Much Information Is Exchanged Are Subjects We Have Only Just Begun To Research

~ PCBMOSW? ~ Plants Communicating By Means Of Sound Waves?

~ WTGT-NAW-CBODATASTETCGITBTICB-IY-‘H’-IT-BGROT-SC-TRTAB-TSMOTTNIV ~ When Trees Grow Together – Nutrients And Water – Can Be Optimally Divided Among Them All So That Each Tree Can Grow Into The Best Tree It Can Be – If You – “Help” – Individual Trees – By Getting Rid Of Their – Supposed Competition – The Remaining Trees Are Bereft – They Send Messages Out To Their Neighbors In Vain

~ THSUTOBTIAGDOGDWES ~ Trees Have Survived Until Today Only Because There Is A Great Deal Of Genetic Diversity Within Each Species

~ WCCICTPTT-TALTFABTCOBITMS-ETITIADD-TFLLAGODSA-‘DF’ ~ Where Climate Change Is Causing The Permafrost To Thaw – Trees Are Losing Their Footing And Being Thrown Completely Off Balance In The Mushy Subsoil – Every Tree Is Tipped In A Different Direction – The Forest Looks Like A Group Of Drunks Staggering Around – “Drunken Forests”

~ T-IHFTTET-H-B-TCSTHWTW-U-P ~ Thirst – Is Harder For Trees To Endure Than – Hunger – Because – They Can Satisfy Their Hunger Whenever They Want – Using – Photosynthesis

~ WTART-TBT-S-A-UL-VOITTWTFOWFTRTTLII-TIA-PME-A-IPDMA?-AY? ~ When Trees Are Really Thirsty – They Begin To – Scream – At – Ultrasonic Levels – Vibrations Occur In The Trunk When The Flow Of Water From The Roots To The Leaves Is Interrupted – This Is A – Purely Mechanical Event – And – It Probably Doesn’t Mean Anything? – And Yet?

~ TAVSB-A-THEOO ~ Trees Are Very Social Beings – And – They Help Each Other Out

~ TAMLFIAHOFSTTAPOTP ~ There Are More Life Forms In A Handful Of Forest Soil Than There Are People On The Planet

~ S-TOTT-TMQIG-FOEAHP ~ Surprising – The Older The Tree – The More Quickly It Grows – Full Of Energy And Highly Productive

~ IWWT-UFAAWITFACC-TWM-ATTGO ~ If We Want To – Use Forest As A Weapon In The Fight Against Climate Change – Then We Must – Allow Them To Grow Old

~ TFCIOIH ~ The Forest Creates Its Own Ideal Habitat

~ TMLADWTIITF-TTTLOHOTGATMWISITTFM ~ The More Living And Dead Wood There Is In The Forest – The Thicker The Layer Of Humus On The Ground And The More Water Is Stored In The Total Forest Mass

~ MATDOT-DTT ~ Most Animals That Depend On Trees – Don’t Harm Them

~ TDT-IAIFTCOLITFA-TLT ~ The Dead Trunk – Is As Indispensable For The Cycle Of Life In The Forest As – The Live Tree

~ INAGITGITFDAS ~ It’s Never A Good Idea To Go Into The Forest During A Storm

~ TCW ~ Trees Can’t Walk

~ EDIS-TRA-29TOOTTAPSMOF-APBIN2POOAD-B-ODTD ~ Every Day In Summer – Trees Release About – 29 Tons Of Oxygen Into The Air Per Square Mile Of Forest – But – Only During The Day

~ MTJAC ~ More Than Just A Commodity

CHARLES WRIGHT MILLS ~ THE POWER ELITE ~ 1956

~ TPE-AIP-TMDHMC ~ The Power Elite – Are In Positions – To Make Decision Having Major Consequences

~ TE-OAGSOSPUIAB-HBDB-TOTHGC-AAPI-WT-HTKTED ~ The Economy – Once A Great Scatter Of Small Productive Units In Autonomous Balance – Has Become Dominated By – Two Or Three Hundred Giant Corporations – Administratively And Politically Interrelated – Which Together – Hold The Keys To Economic Decisions

~ TPO-O-D-HBA-C-E-E-WHTUIIMPPS-A-NEIEAECOTSS ~ The Political Order – Once – Decentralized – Has Become A – Centralized – Executive – Establishment – Which Has Taken Up Into Itself Many Powers Previously Scattered – And – Now Enters Into Each And Every Crany Of The Social Structure

~ TINL-OTOH-AE-A-OTOH-APOCAME-TIA-PE-L-IATW-W-MIAD-A-PWE-B-A-PIE-IAPV ~ There Is No Longer – On The One Hand – An Economy – And – On The Other Hand – A Political Order Containing A Military Establishment – There Is A – Political Economy – Linked – In A Thousand Ways – With – Military Institutions And Decisions – A – Permanent War Establishment – By – A – Privately Incorporated Economy – Inside A Political Vacuum

~ T-TFOPAEEADC-MT-TDOSGANMC ~ That – The Facilities Of Power Are Enormously Enlarged And Decisively Centralized – Means That – The Decisions Of Small Groups Are Now More Consequential

~ T-PC-ITCRO-TSSO-ASTMAFOC ~ The – Professional Celebrity – Is The Crowning Result Of – The Star System Of – A Society That Makes A Fetish Of Competition

~ VITFSOPATFROTWWCI ~ Violence Is The Final Support Of Power And The Final Resort Of Those Who Would Contest It

~ AECAPWP;ICRPWR ~ An Elite Cannot Acquire Prestige Without Power; It Cannot Retain Prestige Without Reputation

~ ATW-TUWCBD-A-TAHKC ~ Along The Way – The Unstraightforward Ways Can Be Delegated – And – The Appropriator’s Hands Kept Clean

~ WNOTTPI-B-TAT-MNOFG-‘GW’ ~ Wealth Not Only Tends To Perpetuate Itself – But – Tends Also To – Monopolize New Opportunities For Getting – “Great Wealth”

~ TAOAATVT-PTVCOPATVB-FTCOAIPRAWAOO:JATLOLCASPPALOIAALOS-C ~ The Accumulation Of Advantages At The Very Top – Parallels The Vicious Cycle Of Poverty At The Very Bottom – For The Cycle Of Advantages Includes Psychological Readiness As Well As Objective Opportunities: Just As The Limitations Of Lower Class And Status Position Produce A Lack Of Interest And A Lack Of Self-Confidence

~ TCF TOCOCGWODTTAOOATFBITOOTDS-EALOASOF-A-C-P-F-CTNOTWTS ~ The Confident Feeling That One Can Of Course Get What One Desires Tends To Arise Out Of And To Feed Back Into The Objective Opportunities To Do So – Energetic Aspiration Lives Off A Series Of Successes – And – Continual – Petty – Failure – Cuts The Nerve Of The Will To Succeed

~ TWHRI-TVR-HB-EPAMOIC-WHBIP-PTTAFPU-OOTAOA ~ Those Who Have Risen Into – The Very Rich – Have Been – Economic Politicians And Members Of Important Cliques – Who Have Been In Positions – Permitting Them To Appropriate For Personal Uses – Out Of The Accumulation Of Advantages

~ T-BT-O-F-OWOA-AIOTMDTAR-ITTNBN-EX-A-CNTIP ~ The – Big Three – Or – Four – One Way Or Another – Are In On The Major Decisions That Are Rendered – In This There Need Be No – Explicit Conspiracy – And – Certainly None That Is Provable

~ TGAIOTC-A-ENOID-A-SAOTCOI-TUOOAP ~ The Growth And Interconnections Of The Corporations – An – Elaborate Network Of Interlocking Directorships – A – Sociological Anchor Of The Community Of Interest – The Unification Of Outlook And Policy

~ THI-TGWOOVATOOI-HNIAPC-OTC-THBMOACIAASHO ~ The Higher Immorality – The General Weakening Of Older Values And The Organization Of Irresponsibility – Have Not Involved Any Public Crises – On The Contrary – They Have Been Matters Of A Creeping Indifference And A Silent Hollowing Out

~ AMD-IIS-CAMOS ~ A Million Dollars – It Is Said – Covers A Multitude Of Sins

~ IASIWTM-MHHNSRFRAH-TW-‘P’-CTM-UFPG-A-‘CS’-TSTGAF ~ In A Society In Which The Money-Maker Has Had No Serious Rival For Repute And Honor – The Word – “Practical” – Comes To Mean – Useful For Private Gain – And – “Common Sense” – The Sense To Get Ahead Financially

~ IITPCOTHC-TTMAE-S-M-TITS-IATW-PM-PPOTIBOA ~ It Is The Proud Claim Of The Higher Circles – That Their Members Are Entirely – Self-Made – That Is Their Self-Image And Their Well-Publicized Myth – Popular Proof Of This Is Based On Anecdotes

~ KINLWFAAI-IISAAI-IA-SOPAW-KIVA-AIOPAW-AA-OC-A-AOIC ~ Knowledge Is No Longer Widely Felt As An Ideal – It Is Seen As An Instrument – In A – Society Of Power And Wealth – Knowledge Is Valued As – An Instrument Of Power And Wealth – And Also – Of Course – As – An Ornament In Conversation

~ MAM-TAO-TOS-E-AWATAO-TSLIOTWMDIP-WTP-NBCOE-INTK ~ More And More – The Area Of – The Official Secret – Expands – As Well As The Area Of – The Secret Listening In On Those Who Might Divulge In Public – What The Public – Not Being Composed Of Experts – Is Not To Know

~ TESODC-TPATUOAW-HBM-WAGPD-A-TFNTEITDIHBO-H/D/ELA ~ The Entire Sequence Of Decisions Concerning – The Production And The Use Of Atomic Weaponry – Has Been Made – Without Any Genuine Public Debate – And – The Facts Needed To Engage In That Debate Intelligently Have Been Officially – Hidden / Distorted / Even Lied About

~ PC-‘OS’ ~ Politically Convenient – “Official Secrets”

~ PC-F-TWMPD-O-WWHUVTISD-MP-MAM-TOTQO-MAM-W-CPAA-HCTE ~ Public Communications – From – Those Who Make Powerful Decisions – Or – Who Would Have Us Vote Them Into Such Decision-Making Places – More And More – Take On Those Qualities Of – Mindlessness And Myth – Which – Commercial Propaganda And Advertising – Have Come To Exemplify

JAMES RINEHART ~ THE TYRANNY OF WORK ~ 2005 ~ 171

~ WAASP ~ Work As A Social Problem

~ WHABACHAAOTDHBFAOFOL ~ Work Has Always Been A Central Human Activity And One That Differentiates Human Beings From All Other Forms Of Life

~ T-EAOSALO-TOTWHOTJ-WPDDTHOPTTVCOTP ~ Today – Employed Adults Ordinarily Spend At Least One-Third Of Their Waking Hours On The Job – What People Do During These Hours Often Penetrates To The Very Core Of Their Personalities

~ WCOASO-AOM-ICBASO-POS-AATCSALPOTCHBSOINSOL ~ Work Can Offer A Sense Of – Accomplishment Or Meaninglessness – It Can Be A Source Of – Pride Or Shame – An Activity That Consumes Such A Large Portion Of Time Cannot Help But Spill Over Into Nonwork Spheres Of Life

~ RFTD-T-DOOTLF-GPF-O-WWBMDAI-T-ACO-MP ~ Responsibility For The Day-To-Day Operations Of The Large Firm – Gradually Passed From – Owners – Who Were Becoming More Distant And Imperious – To – A Cadre Of – Management Personnel

~ NFO-HR-OWINMCC-HRM(HRM)-CA-A-MC-‘D’-A-P-TLP-B-RAR-OIAP ~ New Forms Of – Human Relations – Or What Is Now More Commonly Called – Human Resources Management (HRM) – Constantly Appear – As – Management Consultants – “Discover” – And – Promote – The Latest Panaceas – By – Repackaging And Renaming – Old Ideas And Practices

~ OT-CA-C-WP-ETRSMOEASJ ~ Only Through – Collective Action – Can – Working People – Expect To Receive Some Measure Of Economic And Social Justice

ROBERT FRANK ~ THE ECONOMIC NATURALIST’S FIELD GUIDE ~ 2010

~ PTWOCT-SJMTACWTAV-B-TINSC-GTR-OBOITHAICA-WSWWFGTP-A-WSBTTPFT ~ Perhaps Those Who Oppose Compulsory Taxation – Should Just Move To A Country Where Taxes Are Voluntary – But – There Is No Such Country – Given That Reality – Our Best Option Is To Have An Intelligent Conversation About – What Services We Want For Government To Provide – And – Who Should Be Taxed To Pay For Them

~ C-RS-TN-PSAHM-ETTMSTTFTAMORITLR-ITSR-BRCTOAEY-MOTF ~ Citing – Revenue Shortfalls – The Nation – Postpones Street And Highway Maintenance – Even Though That Means Spending Two To Five Times As Much On Repairs In The Long Run – In The Short Run – Bad Roads Cause Thousands Of Accidents Each Year – Many Of Them Fatal

~ TNS-IM-WEUTETWIO-OBOTWIUAW ~ The Narrow Self-Interest Model – Which Encourages Us To Expect The Worst In Others – Often Brings Out The Worst In Us As Well

~ S-I-IAIHM-PETMIMMOTT-B-IINTOIM ~ Self-Interest – Is An Important Human Motive – Perhaps Even The Most Important Motive Much Of The Time – But – It Is Never The Only Important Motive

~ AC-WAGNBTCI-CE-CEHAT-TAR-RSTTTRM ~ Any Country – With A Government Not Beholden To Corporate Interests – Could Easily – Curb Environmentally Harmful Activities Through – Taxation And Regulation – Redirecting Spending Toward Things That Really Matter

~ WWM-I-WWD ~ What We Measure – Influences – What We Do

~ WDWN:BCOBS? ~ Which Do We Need: Bigger Cars Or Better Schools?