We’re Citizens, Not Consumers (Updated)

A pro­gres­sive talk show host who I admire recently stressed the impor­tance of pro­tect­ing the rights of the con­sumer. While I applaud his mes­sage, I bris­tle at his use of the word “con­sumer”. We’re cit­i­zens, not con­sumers, but Madi­son Avenue has pur­suaded us to see our­selves as some sort of new species. When did a […]

Lake Erie Windmills

There are wind­mills on Lake Erie. Eight of them, drink­ing in the full force of wind that blows east down the length of the lake. It’s strange, because green energy was once the pur­vey of lib­eral enclaves like Cal­i­for­nia and Scan­di­navia. Now wind­mills spin barely a mile from where the stacks of Beth­le­hem Steel once […]