By Posted on Posted in Politics, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , ,

Yesterday, the fate of Minnesota’s Senate seat, undecided since the November election, was finally decided; the margin, out of 2.9 million votes cast, all of 312. Congratulations to Senator Al Franken.

In 2000, George W. Bush’s winning margin in Florida (and thus the presidency of the United States), was 537 votes, in an election whose legitimacy is still hotly debated (and to me, will never be legitimate). The hanging-chads issue alone could have swung the election to Gore by thousands of votes–just one among many irregularities. But in any case, it was close enough that it was possible to steal.

Years ago, I managed a friend’s campaign for local office; he was declared the winner by seven votes, and in the recount, his margin of victory slipped to four.

Four votes determined that election. If just five more people had shown up up to vote for his (entrenched incumbent) opponent, he would have lost.

Of course, it’s not enough that every vote counts. Who counts the votes is also an issue; witness the calamity in Iran.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Energy & Sustainability

Visionary futurist Amory Lovins recently spoke at the Virtual Energy Forum about how to make cars, planes, buildings, power transmission, etc. so much more efficient that we can actually lower carbon impact and reverse climate change. His delivery is not exciting–but his material is life-changing. (You probably have to register to watch it.)

A lot of this is stuff that is feasible to do RIGHT NOW. We could save 3/4 of US electricity for 1 cent per kilowatt, and building new power plants can’t touch that cost. He has 1000 ways to do it.

If the presentation is too technical or dry, or you have trouble accessing it, I profiled Lovins and some of his ideas several years ago, here. Of course, his thinking has advanced since then.

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics Tagged with , ,

Breaking news: Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his $50 billion fraud/Ponzi scheme.

Proving, yet again, that crime really doesn’t pay. He may have lived high on the hog, but he’ll spend the rest of his life and rather less comfortable circumstances. My heart goes out to all those scammed by him, and especially the many philanthropy and social change organizations that invested with him, whose missions are substantially compromised by Madoff’s evil deeds.

Want a better way? My award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, shows how to thrive and succeed as an ethical business. The Ponzi stuff never works in the long term–but my strategies do.

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By Posted on Posted in Democracy, Ethics-International, People Helping People, Politics

Like many others, I am appalled both by the apparently stolen election in Iran and by the repressive, violent response of the government to the mass protests.

And like many bloggers today who want to be cheerleaders for democracy and (to use Martin Luther King’s wonderful phrase) “drum majors for justice,” I’m joining in a worldwide campaign today to call attention to the problems with the Iran vote and its bloody aftermath. Click the link to see a long list of grievances and solidarity actions.

Thanks to @engagejoe on Twitter for calling this solidarity action to my attention.

Relevant Twitter tags: #FreeIran #IranElection #bloggersunite

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Ethics-International, Uncategorized

I love it that just about every scientific study ever conducted validates the opinions I’ve been expressing (without research stats to back me up) for years.

Here’s a fabulous study from Australia on whether ethics matters to employees. Conclusion: ethics does matter, big time:

* 84% of individuals believe being responsible environmentally is included in the definition of business ethics.

* A staggering 93% of individuals believe that organisations have an obligation to act ethically even if it occasionally harms their profits.

* And 91% agree that all organisations should make a formal commitment to acting ethically.

* 80% of individuals agree that they are willing to put in extra effort at work if they know that their organization is run ethically.

* 77% agree that if their employer acted in a way that contradicted their core principles, they would definitely leave the organization.

So, if you want some hard facts to back up the idea that ethics works better, here you go.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Advertising, Energy & Sustainability, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies Tagged with , , , , ,

Scott Cooney writes on Triple Pundit about ecopsychology…the correlation between sustainable lifestyle choices and happiness (which seem to focus, in this particular article, on how much happier Germans are than Americans, even though Americans earn and consume so much more. But Germans have a lot more time off work, and presumably spend some of that time getting close to nature.

While he doesn’t exactly connect the dots–in fact, relying on the reader to make some rather big leaps in assumptions–there is a key takeaway here: that beyond the feel-good aspect of doing what’s right for the earth, sustainable lifestyles also offer inherent psychological benefits, because being outside in a clean and well-functioning environment reduces stress, increases feel-good hormones, etc.

And the implication for marketers–and this, I think, is extremely important–is that when marketing a Green product, you should have some hooks not only about saving the world, but about the better mental state that results in doing what’s right for your soul and your psyche, as well as the earth. I bet some very powerful campaigns could be shaped around this message.

For more on marketing Green,I recommend my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. It includes profiles of people like Amory Lovins and some unique, holistic ways of looking at Green issues in the marketing world.

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By Posted on Posted in language, People Helping People Tagged with , , , , , ,

Along with a similar campaign around business ethics, I’ve long been on a campaign to reclaim “family values” as a value that progressives can rally around. And to me, that means seeing the family as inclusive. I am not concerned about whether a family has two parents, whether it has different genders or where/how/if that family chooses to worship–and much more concerned that a family be a place of peace, love, support, and very deep connection. And the Left needs to take a firm position in favor of these true family values-to say unequivocally that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, domestic violence, and the ludicrous don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy are NOT in keeping with our family values.

And therefore I was delighted today to get a bulk email from none other than Michelle Obama, touting a 2-minute video of Barack Obama (and another father with four children) celebrating “responsible fatherhood”. Barack Obama noted once again that his father was largely absent in his life, and because of this, he’s made an intense commitment to be there for Sasha and Malia. Of course, Obama is a master marketer, and this video is an example of his marketing prowess. It shows him as not only charismatic but enormously likable.

Oddly enough, I just finished re-reading the complete Harry Potter series. Harry’s parents are killed when he’s a year old, and late in the series he castigates another character for wanting to stay and defend Harry rather than being there for his newborn child. Harry tells him that if he can be his child, that’s where he should be.

Anyway, the video is very sweet.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Energy & Sustainability Tagged with , , , ,

Triple Pundit’s been getting lots of comments on a post questioning whether nuclear power plant decommissioning schemes can work in today’s economic climate, and stating that this is a reason NOT to build more nukes.

It’s shocking to see how many nuclear defenders have commented. Back in 1979, I wrote my first book about why nuclear power was a terrible idea, and I remain convinced that it is a terrible path. Decommissioning is only one of dozens of serious problems. Just to name a few:

  • Waste disposal that requires secure storage for a quarter of a million years
  • Enormous consequences in event of accident, and insurance coverage that won’t even begin to cover claims (thanks to a very dubious US law called the Price-
    Anderson Act, which both subsidizes the insurance premium and sets wildly unrealistic caps on liability    )
  • Poor safety record to date
  • Net power loss over the entire fuel cycle from mining through waste disposal (and transmission to end-users)
  • Susceptibility to terrorist attacks all along the fuel cycle (not just the heavily protected plants themselves)
  • Loss of liberty due to centralization of police-state force to protect the plants
  • Thermal pollution
  • Radiation leakage
  • Health effects…

    To those who say nonpolluting renewables are just as if not more expensive… 1. Take a look at the work of people like Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, who demonstrates over and over again that when you take a whole-systems approach to locally-grown solar and wind power, economies show up that conventional design and engineering miss completely–like the ability to eliminate a furnace. 2. Count the true costs of nuclear, without all the subsidies and hiding costs by moving them into other budget streams, and the picture is different.

    I put solar hot water on the roof of my 260-year-old farmhouse in cloudy Massachusetts and the system paid for itself in about five years. I admit that the pv system we put in a couple of years later has not performed as well, but I suspect some poor siting choices have much to do with that.

    But even so, solar is widely applicable, environmentally inoffensive, and, coupled with an aggressive program of conservation, could remove the “need” for many nuclear and coal plants. The days of centralized power generation and remote transmission to user sites are probably coming to a close; far too much energy is wasted in transmission.

    On the conservation side, I happen to have written a short, inexpensive ($9.95) e-book called Painless Green: 111 Tips to Help the Environment, Lower Your Carbon Footprint, Cut Your Budget, and Improve Your Quality of Life—With No Negative Impact on Your Lifestyle: – this is stuff you can put into practice immediately, and most of the tips cost nothing or almost nothing.

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    By Posted on Posted in Copywriting, Energy & Sustainability, language, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , ,

    From a Starbucks press release–the second sentence in the first paragraph, and within the quote, I’ve linked to the full press release:

    With the goal of prioritization and agreement on criteria for a comprehensive recyclable cup solution, discussions will address obstacles and opportunities.

    Who writes this crap? I’m sorry, but that’s not English. Will someone please tell Starbucks that the purpose of a press release is to communicate, not to obfuscate? Especially when there actually is real news buried under the blather: First, that the chain is committing to 100% recyclable cups within three years, and second, that systems theorist Peter Senge will moderate a summit on the topic.

    So why not say so without making people dig for it? If it had been my assignment to write this press release, you can bet it would have gotten right to the point and been understandable by ordinary people.

    Starbucks of course is not the only offender. But a press release like this is useless. You want to tell the story, not hide it.

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    By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Ethics-International, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, Social and Economic Justice

    Answer: I just read provocative articles on BNET on these two topics.

    First, Stacy Blackman, while supporting cause marketing, notes that these products are often more expensive, because the company has to cover the cost of the donation. However, I commented that a successful campaign would bring in enough extra sales volume that this shouldn’t be an issue.

    Second, Jeffrey Pfeffer makes a fascinating case for lowering healthcare costs by improving US workplace conditions and decreasing job stress caused by anticipated layoffs and other factors. He notes lower stress levels AND better working conditions for many European businesses.

    Plenty of footnotes for those who want to check his sources and assumptions.

    Of course, there are many other factors–not the least of which is that most other industrialized countries have shifted healthcare from a privilege of the wealthy to a right for all, using a single-payer system that in many cases pays doctors on salary rather than fee-for-service. HR 676 in the US would bring this sensible system to our shores as well, and by some estimates slash health costs around 30 percent.

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