[This is an edited version of the article that first appeared on January 23, 2026. It has been edited for geographic accuracy in the first two paragraphs.]
Pennsylvania is known for its public lands and forests. Beautiful Elk County, Pennsylvania, is no exception. It boasts rugged, forested scenery with rolling hills, deep valleys, numerous streams, and vast woodlands. Part of the Pennsylvania Wilds,
Say what you will—pro or con—about the nutritional merits of the Trump Administration’s new food pyramid, but the thing is a masterclass in political artistry. It systematically serves vested interests, a political party, and an ever-competing president. And, I’ll argue, it’s subtly designed for a surge in GDP.
On its face, it certainly is an artistic endeavor, designed to grab you from several angles. The first thing to catch your eye is its surprising disposition.
In industrially advanced countries, we have massively overshot the limits to economic growth. Climate change, peak oil, soil erosion, mass extinctions, and groundwater depletion are already biting into our well-being. Economic and social collapse seems to be the default.
We need “simple living”—the voluntary reduction of consumption—but on a massive scale. We need other things too, like social justice and cultural changes. But let’s focus on the economic logistics of simple living.
Today, we see endless suburban sprawl and no shortage of stories about the U.S. affordable-housing crisis. So, why aren’t there enough homes yet?
The story is one of “artificial scarcity,” in which there are plenty of means to close the affordable-housing gap, but scarcity is created by investment companies buying up homes. Investors own 20 percent of single-family homes in the United States. Loopholes in the U.S.
Editor’s note: This annual essay originally appeared December 23, 2020 as “Christ Didn’t Shop…Much Less Jets or Guns.” The version herein is updated, and pets have replaced guns as one of the peeves.
With Christmas looming, folks are making tough decisions about last-minute Christmas presents. The public is rattled by inflation, credit card debt is through the roof, and gift-giving is a real strain for many.
While U.S. federal land management agencies have seldom been bastions of conservationist vision, their level of regulatory capture has reached a new high in the Trump era. From opening up protected areas to oil and gas development to efforts to sell public lands outright, the current administration and Congress are looking to turn over public lands to extractive industry for its private profit.
We are in a new era of public lands mismanagement,
The fight to save Sledge Forest in New Hanover County, covered in the Steady State Herald this past spring, continues in earnest. As reported then, Hilton Bluffs—a massive, 4,000-unit development—pits county residents against Copper Builders, an outside developer. The proposal threatens what locals refer to as “The Last Forest.” The community’s resistance, spearheaded by the group Save Sledge Forest, has continued and grown,
As Edwin Starr once sang: “War, what is it good for?” If we’re to believe the United Kingdom’s Labour Party government, it’s good for boosting GDP and protecting your population from the existential threat of Russia.
But one thing increased militarisation most certainly isn’t good for is the environment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced his plan to steadily increase the defence budget over the next decade.
In our paradoxical society of excess and dissatisfaction, dedicating a day to gratitude is a powerful gesture.
There is abundant evidence of the importance of gratitude for well-being. A dearth of gratitude is a critical component of Western society’s epidemic of dissatisfaction and mental illness.
It’s no coincidence that this epidemic has been accompanied by economic growth beyond planetary boundaries.
(With apologies to Johnny Cash and Ira Hayes.)
Once upon a Pleistocene evening, AI, just below the ridgeline, tracks were everywhere. So was the scent. Mammoth! Cupping hands behind ears, the hunter pointed them like parabolic amplifiers. The mammoths were close; he could hear them tearing grass with their massive molars.
But there was a problem, AI. The horizon was reddening,