This Sustainable Life

I recorded a preface to episode 142 because I got the backstage pass, attended the meet and greet, shook Sam's hand, and asked him if he was open to alternatives to conversation and violence.I won't be able to do his answer justice here, but his views of conversation and violence were broader than mine, so if he hears episode 142 without this preface, I suspect he'll think I don't understand his views.In a funny way, I hope he sees I misunderstood what he meant by conversation and violence because, as he'll recognize, I recorded that episode before his explanation, but more because I hope my being open to his more expansive view will open him to mine.He asked me about alternatives. I suggested a few, closing my answer with Mandela, Gandhi, King, and Havel. He described, as I recall and my hearing and memory aren't perfect, nonviolent civil disobedience as a mix of conversation with the people going to do it and violence in the form of disrupting others.But my not being able to give alternatives in the moment isn't a statement about there being alternatives, but my talking to him for the first time in a pressured situation, given the dozens of people waiting to talk to him.Episodes of my podcast I mentioned:John Lee DumasBeth ComstockDov BaronReviews of my famous no-packaging vegetable stews.The video review of my book by the Anapolis graduate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This conversation is about joy, responsibility, community, and values you undoubtedly share.Rob Greenfield lived like an average American. He saw the environmental problems we all see on headlines and dismissed them as most do.Then he decided he could no longer abdicate the responsibility of how he affected others and our world.I consider him a role model. Nearly everyone I talk to describes what I do as a big deal. I'll grant I'm far from mainstream -- about 10% of the pollution of the average American -- but it's not a big deal.The more you act on your environmental values, the more you'll find typical American behavior is extreme. An aberrant from how humans act. Once not polluting was normal. It's returning that way to me. Rob helps reset my bearings away from accepting what America has become as what it could be.Rob finds joy in living sustainably and responsibly toward others. He creates joy. I recommend getting to know people like him to learn what you can do.Rob is not buying food, yet gives food away. He lives in abundance. Statements like “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” have stood the test of time for a reason.As you listen, note how much he's already done to act sustainably. More than almost anyone. Do you think he'll therefore not be able to come up with a challenge? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While Nikole's being a celebrated director and writer is a great reason to feature her and listen to her, I approached her because she graduated from Sudbury Valley School. I hope you've heard of Sudbury. If not, it's likely a different school than any you've heard of.Learning about in inspired me to learn as much as I could about it. Here are many of the links I read on it. As an educator I am as fascinated by its success and how it overturns my view of childhood, education, and humanity, as well as my own childhood.What better background could I find and feature on it than a student who loved her experience there and shares it.Nikole shares openly about herself, her childhood, her education before Sudbury and at Sudbury. This episode is longer than most, in part because I believe you'll find self-directed learning as fascinating as I do. I recommend learning about self-directed learning as part of learning about yourself, democracy, systems, . . . many important things in life.This conversation was beautiful to me. I relived trials and things about my childhood I couldn't stand. I don't know if self-directed learning would work for me, but I would love to have tried it.Her describing democracy in action made me think about the authoritarian-based schooling I experienced. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I reached the pinnacle of education and did well.I teach now, but not rooted in authority. Not self-directed, though, either, since for college students who are making their way in the world based on their interests, I prefer project-based learning.By the way, speaking of the environment, walking around Silver Lake after this conversation, I kept passing taco stands and asked if I could get a taco without disposable anything, but not one could. So I missed out on Silver Lake tacos.Here's the link for a teachers' experiences following students for a day, Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns.Short answer: it's torture. We give students less break than prisoners. We give them more more than adults. In service of test scores that don't help them live better lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about a negative peace, where a problem exists but people don't face it or deal with it, and a positive one, where people solve the problem, which requires facing it. He used non-violent civil disobedience to lead people to face problems that affected others, but as voters and citizens, they could do something about.People didn't always like it, but you can't get change otherwise. Nonviolent civil disobedience works with human laws but doesn't apply so much with our environmental problems.So how do we face these problems? How do we get people who are already aware that they are polluting and emitting greenhouse gases way beyond what risks undermining society, yet people using 90% less are more happy to stop choosing doing what they've been doing?Environmental leaders are struggling to find a strategy that works for us as non-violent civil disobedience did for other problems, however uncomfortable it makes people in the moment.If you hear about straws recently, Dune and her work have reached you.We'll hear in this conversation how happy she is, talking about gardening for example or reusing things. Acting relieves guilt. It doesn't causes it, at least if you act on your values. Responsibility means you can't do what you used to. Ask any parent, responsibility for what you love improves your life.Dune speaks with humility, honest, and humor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In End of Faith Sam Harris says "We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence."I like his podcast, listened to most episodes, read several of his books, support him with cash. I will see him in person this week for the first time at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan with Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman. It looks like I'll get back stage passes so may meet him.One of my goals with today's recording (that isn't obviously about the environment) is to prompt the chance of meeting in person.I support his initiatives on free speech, not just for myself and people who agree with me, freedom from religious oppression, identity politics, and more. I'm glad and grateful that he's approaching issues others fear to, even when I disagree with him..Anyone who knows me knows I support and act for equality, diversity, freedom, environmental stewardship, universal education, healthy food, and access to all these things. Also empowering the individual, integrity, honor, personal responsibility, not victimhood or blame.As much as I support him and his message, this view that conversation is the only alternative to violence, or even the main one, is holding him back. In fact, he knows this. Where he has experience influencing other ways, he doesn't rely on conversation.For example: meditation. He created an app at great cost in time and money to give people experience meditating. He changed tremendously as a person from his experience meditating. As with many fields, he learned by practicing the basics and teaches that way. He would never consider propagating the practice of meditation by lecturing or merely sharing conversation about meditation except to promote acting on it. Acting is where change and learning comes from. Same with Brazilian Jujitsu.This episode is about how I believe Sam can reach potential beyond his current horizons, by leading, by which I don't mean manipulating, seeking compliance, and so on.In the end I invite him to appear on each other's podcasts. Cheeky? Gumption? I'm not sure, but I think we'd mutually benefit and be glad we did. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Right off the bat, we talk about Olympians, Americas cup winners, and a Crossfit games champion. The places Dawn brought me to were elite -- this time a fundraiser on Wall Street, the first time the New York Yacht Club, the next time her sailing facility for world-class athletes, Oak Cliff.Yet Dawn is as down to earth as anyone I've met -- scrappy, as she put it. She makes pickles for world-class athletes. She already reduces waste and tours composting facilities.So hear how someone like her, probably busier than you and I and responsible for people's hopes and dreams, takes on environmental challenges many people consider distracting. She makes it fun.On another note, I recommend learning to sail. You meet people like Dawn. Humans have been doing it for 7,000 years. In my case, it's brought everything flying did, of exploring the world, cultures, people, and so on.If you're think you're too busy to act on your environmental values, how many America's Cups have you won? Or led others to win? How many Olympians follow you?If you answered not as many as Dawn, maybe it will help you create in your life what Dawn created in hers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've heard about avoiding straws -- if you're actively avoiding straws -- Dune Ives and the Lonely Whale, the organization she's the Executive Director of, have influenced you.If you've asked yourself, why straws or what the point was, that's what she wanted: for people actually to talk about things on a human scale.If you've taken the next step from straws, Lonely Whale has influenced you all the more. When Dune co-founded Lonely While, she didn't know the untapped demand. They just started and finding one change leading to another.Her approach helped change my views about straws and small changes. I no longer see them as just the one act any more than playing scales is too small to learn to play piano. Nor do I see them as small things that might add up. I see them as practice. If you don't do small things, you may never get to big things. Mastering small things makes big things easier.If straws connect with a value of yours, start with straws. Act on your values. Talk about them. Once you master them so that no straws come your way, then take the next step.Or if you're thinking of starting your own initiative, take a lesson from her that starting will lead to more success than just thinking about it.You'll hear some big names mentioned: Besides the Kardashians, co-founder Adrian Grenier, and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're in entrepreneurship in New York City, you know Joanne Wilson, especially among the women entrepreneurs I talk to. She's prominent in the New York entrepreneurial world, as well as art, travel, foodA lot of investors live stressful lives. Joanne doesn't. As you'll hear in our conversation, she also leads a rewarding life, which you'll also read in any of her blog posts or hear in any of her podcast episodes -- the happiness, fun, and emotional reward she describes her life with. I think it results from her focus on people, relationships, and community.Like any great leader, she focuses on people. The first thing she does after vetting people she invests in is to support them.Our conversation covers more personal leadership, but her success points to what I think environmental leaders could learn from her. Environmental work overwhelmingly focuses on science, politics, compliance, and facts. Until they focus on people, it's hard to call many of them leaders. Seeking compliance or browbeating people with facts, no matter how science-backed, or laws, no matter how well-meaning, won't get results. Nor will people enjoy it and keep doing it after your extrinsic incentives go away.That's why I could only start trying environmental leadership when I found reducing my waste to about 10% of the average American improved my life. Yes it took time, just like Joanne doesn't blindly invest but has to vet people and research.I didn't press her on taking on a new challenge, partly because she told me when I arrived to her office about just having reduced plastic in her office. Partly because she just built her house and is building other new homes that way.Also, I see her around New York, so the next time I see her, I'll ask her if she's done anything new by then. I predict she will have and I'll invite her for a second episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you think of negotiating, do you think of honesty, fun, and openness.How about hostage negotiation with terrorists?Chris Voss brings the experience of negotiating in some of the world's most challenging situations to teaching you to negotiate and honesty, fun, and openness are some of the top things he brings. How would you like to look forward to your next negotiation that way?He also brings social and emotional skills to a field long dominated by abstract principles, which help, but develop your performance.His approach, beyond just book learning, is relevant to all negotiation, particularly relevant to environmental leadership.His book has several effective techniques that overlap with mine (compare with Leadership Step by Step's chapters 18 and 19) though he has a couple decades more experience.If you like learning leadership, you'll find learning from Chris valuable. And fun. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's post covers a dramatic proposal I see as a clear winner. It's big and bold but everyone benefits from it. Its challenges are in garnering support and implementation, but once started I see it sustaining itself as a national jewel.First some context.I've talked about my return from Shanghai a few years ago to a crumbling airport, creaky trains, and crumbling train stations. Anyone can see this nation's crumbling bridges, roads, and infrastructure.Same with my train trip across the country. Amtrak is a third-world train system. It measures its delays in hours. First-world train systems measure delays in minutes and seconds.As a New Yorker I see our subway, which carries billions of rides annually, has fallen to disrepair. Its slipshod weekend repair schedule means you can't predict what lines will work or how long to plan a trip. First-world systems have built whole cities worth of systems. Other cultures update old systems instead of starving them like ours. We act like a few new stations are a big deal. That pride is a shame.From New Orleans after Katrina, Miami's regular floods at high tide, New York after Sandy, California after earthquakes, Puerto Rico, Flint, MI, the list goes on, of our poor preparedness. Same with the aircraft carriers we send around the world after natural disasters. We do the best we can, but far from our potential.The climate-based challenges are only increasing as the planet warms. The future's normal is a world where such challenges are normal. We'll have to move cities.The nation lacks readiness to respond to aging infrastructure and climate change. Those problems are our future.I propose a civilian service academy.Its goal would be to teach trades -- construction, carpentry, electrical, programming, engineering, and so on. What we'd need to rebuild cities -- in the style of military academies, requiring academics, physical training, sports, arts, but civilian, not military.It would embody a culture of rigor that would include uniforms, marching, honor, service, and military precision, but not military. More like engineering precision. Making beds, teamwork. Elite opportunities. Leadership through practice.It would provide the leadership among and for the millions of students, veterans, and young people of McChrystal's program.Listen for more depth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.