Whole Life Times: Expanding in the Right Places

March 2005 | Letters from Readers

Expanding in the Right Places

Make Love, Not Diets

Bravo to WLT for devoting space to facilitating awareness on the cruel, brutal reality of the insidious slave trade in our midst (“Modern Day Slave Trade,” Jan. ‘05) and to the inspiring words and wisdom of Satish Kumar. I was captivated and moved by both stories, crafted as they were with simplicity, clarity and cogency.

Imagine my surprise then to read the shallow words in the Letter from the Editor with the accompanying title “Don’t Worry, Be Skinny‚” calling on people to lose weight by eating less. I would expect something more from your magazine, which appears to possess a thoughtful, insightful voice and is clearly concerned with significant issues.

There is a plethora of media which propagate the message to people, especially women, that they need to lose weight and lose it fast. Only then will s/he be desirable and therefore lovable. Ergo, she will be happy. We are all aware of this mantra and perhaps one of the challenges of modern life is for the human to transcend this inanity and explore the true essence of life—beyond the physical and material.

I would hope that your magazine would help to expand—not limit—this consciousness, encouraging not the typical body-obsessed words we may read in any number of mainstream magazines, but rather something higher—helping others perhaps, or giving love in small, seemingly insignificant ways. — Riza Freeman, Los Angeles

Ed reply: According to The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders, two-thirds of all US adults carry extra poundage. Of these, 61.3 million are obese; 129.6 million are merely overweight. Most studies show this to be a significant health risk, in addition to being energy depleting. We cannot help others if we do not first help ourselves.

Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight loss products and services. Think what we could do with that $33 billion if we chose to get healthier by simply skipping bites.

Fab Food for the Four-Legged

Thank you for writing your article (“Do You Know What You’re Feeding Your Pet” Feb. ’05). The information is definitely an eye opener. — Marianne Borselle, via e-mail

I just wanted to thank you for your informative article in this month’s WLT. After reading it I checked the label on my cat’s food and found several of the no-nos like “chicken meal” and “beet pulp” listed. What a surprise! Here I thought by purchasing a “natural” brand that is more expensive I was doing my pet a favor.

Do you cook for your pets daily, or can you make a large batch and use it over the course of a week or so? Would you mind sharing a recipe with me? — Rachelle Pakes, West LA

Ed note: Our April issue will include basic recipes and info on preparing pet food. Stay tuned!

Oh We’re Praying For Him, Believe Us

I have enjoyed your magazine from time to time. However, I couldn’t help but be perplexed at the tone of the last issue I perused. Your articles and advertisers preach love, tolerance, forgiveness and other aspects of well-being that are of the utmost importance. Yet, over and over, our President was outright bashed. I can understand a difference of views and incredibly strong feelings about him. But what happened to, “I do not agree with our President or anything about his administration. However, we need to be praying for him and the direction of our country?” This will sound harsh, but it’s hypocrisy to do otherwise. I can’t imagine that’s the image you want presented. — Keri Scaggs, Pacific Palisades

Heading in the Wrong Direction

Paul Hawken’s welcome article on socially responsible (SR) mutual funds (“Is Your Money Where Your Heart Is? The Truth About SRI Mutual Funds,” WLT, Oct.’04) has stimulated a debate that seems headed in the wrong direction. SR mutual fund defenders respond to Hawken by arguing that the SR investment industry is doing the best it can within the limitations of the existing system. Missing from this discussion is an examination of equity investing as an effective model for promoting socially responsible business.

If we seek to identify a just approach to funding worthy enterprises, we should look to fixed-income investments. Loans, notes and bonds allow investors to know at the outset what return to expect from the investment, while borrowers understand what is required of them to fulfill their obligation. The advantage of debt financing for socially responsible business owners is that they maintain control over organizational values and operational approach. Socially responsible investors could exercise an activist influence by attaching conditions under which the loan is granted. These conditions, or covenants, could stipulate matters central to socially responsible business practice.

Unlike mutual fund investments, few opportunities exist to invest in loans or bonds that support social enterprises. Why? Underwriting loans is more comprehensive and costly than underwriting stock offerings. To cover these greater costs, global finance intermediaries typically engage in very large transactions (in the $1 billion range) that generate the greatest earnings per transaction. Social enterprises requiring financing from tens of thousands to several million dollars are too small to participate.

Investment opportunities in SR fixed-income vehicles are limited currently by the lack of social finance infrastructure to enable investors to rate, transfer and help to keep their investments liquid, which could help to funnel investor dollars to social enterprises too small to participate in the global finance marketplace. Work is already starting to create such structures.

The broad benefits of SRI will be achieved not by promoting the particular instruments of one aspect of the investment market, but by the broad education of socially responsible investors. The financial marketplace is dense and complex. Truly responsible actions will result when we understand exactly what our money does when it’s not stored in our mattresses. Thanks to Dragonfly for creating this forum for education and discussion. — Rupert Ayton and Stephanie L. Sarver, Center for the Development of Social Finance, San Mateo

Rupert Ayton and Stephanie L. Sarver are the founders of the Center for the Development of Social Finance (CDSF), a non-profit organization fiscally sponsored by the Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF). Mr. Ayton previously was chief financial officer of RSF, which also is a supporter of Dragonfly Media. CDSF is working to create the formation of a social finance infrastructure to increase funding to social enterprises.

This is an excerpt. To read the full text of this response and more of the ongoing SRI debate, click here.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: