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The Unnatural World Moves Too Quickly

I’m dreaming about my great-great-great granddaughter. “Shame,” she says, “How could you?” Of course she’s talking about the ruination of the world, and I know that. “What can I tell you,” I say gently, “The unnatural world moves too quickly.”… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Philosophy Leave a comment August 24, 2015 2 Minutes

Williams-Sonoma as Catalyst

At last night’s Sonoma City Council meeting my appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval for a use permit allowing Williams-Sonoma to hold 15 events with as many as 80 guests in the garden at their retail location was upheld. This decision has an effect on Williams-Sonoma, of… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Land Use, Politics Leave a comment August 18, 2015 2 Minutes

The horror, the horror

The recent GOP debate made me want to vomit. That the state of American politics has fallen so deeply into a trench of ignorance is appalling, and leaves me feeling embarrassed and ashamed. Outright lies, intentional deception, bloated arrogance, false piety; all these and more were on display, along… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Politics 1 Comment August 12, 2015 2 Minutes

The Age of Airnarchy

Airbnb has ignited a firestorm of opinion pro-and-con regarding its facilitation of rentals of residential property for commercial purposes, even when that property is zoned for residential use only. The overnight or short-term rental of virtually anything is a commercial activity; money changes… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Land Use 1 Comment August 6, 2015 2 Minutes

El Niño is not our friend

“Climate’s capacity to inflict misery rises steeply when imperial arrogance and ideology hinder a society’s adjustments to extreme weather.”
Eugene Linden – The Winds of Change

Four years into persistent drought, California is now being told an El Niño is forming… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, History Leave a comment July 29, 2015 2 Minutes

Not, but also not not

It seems as if human beings are on the brink of knowing everything. Ours is the history of accumulated knowledge, beginning with fire and now extending to exoplanets circling suns many thousands of light-years distant. We’ve jumped from one understanding to the next, each built on the one before;… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Philosophy Leave a comment July 22, 2015 2 Minutes

Why the public water business sucks

The State Water Resources Board has told the City of Sonoma to cut its use by 28%; the Valley of the Moon water District by 24%. Given the current drought, these target cutbacks make sense; there’s only so much water and it must be conserved. But here’s the rub: both the City of Sonoma Water … Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture Leave a comment July 17, 2015 2 Minutes

Why do people put up with all this crap?

I was sitting around talking with two friends when one of them asked me this question. He was talking about the ridiculously low minimum wage, cost of housing, unavailability of rentals, wealth inequality, biased tax code, dissolving social safety net, billions spent on our war machine, and the general… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture Leave a comment July 10, 2015 2 Minutes

Global OCD: Greece, Germany and Palestine

The current crisis in Greece, the role of Germany in imposing austerity programs, and endless ongoing conflict in the middle east reveals how deeply the western world suffers from a case of mass-obsessive-compulsive disorder. Generation after generation these regions have been the focus of attention… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Politics 1 Comment July 7, 2015 2 Minutes

Ritual killing and the death penalty

We no longer sacrifice human beings in ritual killings for the sake of a good harvest, though given their effects on human health we could view the use of agricultural poisons and pesticides from that perspective. Capital punishment in America, however, which objectively is unnecessary to protect… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture Leave a comment June 30, 2015 2 Minutes

A Tendency to Tamper

My granddaughter, aged seven, and I were watching an animated movie about a curious fairy who is told by her Fairy Master not tamper with Pixie Dust. She does, of course, and an accident caused by one of her experiments wreaks havoc with the Fairy Village.

As we usually do, we talked about the movie, and … Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Recollections Leave a comment June 24, 2015 2 Minutes

On Being Transcategorical

Part of being human is being categorical. This means putting ourselves and things into endless categories, assigning names and establishing hierarchies. Our penchant for fragmenting the nameless whole into named parts and then using these named parts to construct a newly-named whole is deceptively… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Philosophy Leave a comment June 17, 2015 2 Minutes

The Mindfulness Mess

By the time things get “trendy” they’ve become clichéd, and as we all know the hallmark of a cliché is its loss of authenticity and meaning. Having become a mere trope of its former self, a craze quickly wears itself out and fades away, destined to return at a future date in the sentimental… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture Leave a comment June 11, 2015 2 Minutes

The coolest geriatric generation in history

The largest single demographic generation in the history of America, the 75-million strong baby-boom population is now entering it’s final 20-year run. Avid consumers, boomers have fueled our economy at each stage of its varied history; as post-world-war-two children we prompted an elementary… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture 3 Comments June 3, 2015 2 Minutes

Homelessness and our fictional economy

Our fixed-city way-of-life has created a problematic situation: homelessness. Those who cannot afford to own or rent a home are left to wander the highways, alleys and shelters of our urban environments in search of safe spots in which to rest and sleep. The reasons for their poverty vary: personal … Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Politics 1 Comment May 27, 2015 2 Minutes

No Neighbors/No Neighborhood: The Vacation Rental Problem

We all know times have changed; our world has simultaneously gotten smaller and our communications infrastructure has gotten larger. Communities are no longer restricted to physical proximity but to affinities of interest.

For all that, however, there is much to be said about getting to know one’s… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Land Use 1 Comment May 18, 2015 2 Minutes

The Happiness Habit

Certain memes – persistent thematic constructs which achieve near ubiquity – emerge from the noisy background of culture and assume prominence for a long while, decades or even centuries. Democracy is one such meme, and it’s been spreading through social contagion for several… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Philosophy Leave a comment May 13, 2015 2 Minutes

Sonoma’s Creeping Urbanism

Broadway in Sonoma, California

Preserving Sonoma’s town character is a challenge. Describing that character generates a wide range of opinion; our world is complex and changeable, and Sonoma is not immune from the tidal forces of cultural and social transformation taking place around us.… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Land Use Leave a comment May 6, 2015 2 Minutes

Sustainable Ethics

The current discussions surrounding the topic of sustainability generally revolve around systems analysis and a scientific approach which evaluates resources, utilization rates, waste production, economies and other quantifiable and measurable elements. As far as this goes it’s useful… Read the rest

Larry Barnett Culture, Philosophy Leave a comment April 29, 2015 2 Minutes

Council deafness on Broadway Oaks

Last night’s City Council consideration of a proposal to remove Broadway’s oak trees was notable less for its action than the conduct of the City Council. Though only four could participate, Gary Edwards having stepped-down due to the proximity of property he owns to the subject trees, each … Read the rest

Larry Barnett Land Use Leave a comment April 21, 2015 3 Minutes

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