Category Archives: Quotes

Natural Resource Valuation (NRV)

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A topic that deserves more attention is natural resource valuation. I am looking for books on the subject.

“Natural resource valuation studies are often aimed at assessing economic values that represent the public good characteristics of natural systems. Willingness to pay measures are typically used to estimate ecosystem goods and services that benefit not only a select few but wider society. There are a two types of valuation including market valuation and non market valuation. Market valuation estimates the total willingness to pay based on price (demand) whilst non market valuation estimates willingness to pay either through examining behavior of respondents or demand for related goods. Most of the environmental resources are valued using the constructive approach. There are number of methods involved in natural resource valuation including revealed preference and stated preference method.”

Natural resource valuation – Wikipedia

Neither Immigrant nor Indigenous

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That said, this does not mean that French Canadians are French Immigrants. We cannot just get back on the boat and return to France. We are no French, we are French Canadian. We have been here for seven generations, but that does not make us indigenous, either.

Sebastien Brodeur-Girard, Quebicois, PHD candidate in Law, Professor of Indigenous Studies, University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue

–Quebec Was Born in My Country: A Diary of Encounters Between Indigenous and Quebecois Peoples by Emanuelle Dufour

Fake Questions

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Stop offering up fake advice with a question mark attached. That doesn’t count as asking a question.

If you’ve got an idea, wait. Ask, “and what else?” and you’ll often find that the person comes up with that very idea that’s burning a hole in your brain. And if she doesn’t, then offer your idea — as an idea, not disguised as a fake question.

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Agree in Principle

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Rule 33: Agree in principle and work out the details later

“Sometimes the parties can agree on the principle of an idea and work out the details later. It is often easier to agree in principle rather than getting bogged down with working out every word and every possible contingency. Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s can get very tiring and frustrating when there is an impasse. Agreeing in principle can be a moral booster and a shift in thinking can take place. This approach also can buy time. If there are any other issues to work on, the actual language can be worked on at a later time. One party could write a draft and bring it to a later session. When both parties have already agreed in principle, it is a lot easier to work out the details.”

–How to Mediate Like a Pro by Mary Greenwood, J.D., LL.M.

Authoritarian Management

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…authoritarian decree and micromanagement. Both approaches have been applied widely in enterprises over the last century, but mostly for maintaining existing systems, not transforming those systems into something better. When the goal is behavior change, unless the boss is extremely powerful, authoritarian decree often works poorly, even in simple situations…Increasingly, in complex organizations, this approach doesn’t work at all.

Leading Change by John P. Kotter

History depends on who tells it

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We, the Huron-Wendats, have always been allies of the French, so that was positive; but when I went out West, to British Columbia, well, the story was told quite differently. The English were the allies of the Iroquois, so there, it was the good Iroquois and the bad Hurons! That certainly gave me a different perspective on things. And that is when I realized that history is not always the same from one side to the other and that it all depends on who tells it.

Pierre Martineau, Wendat, Guidance Counselor, Center de developpment de la formation et de la main-d oeuvre Huron-Wendat.

–Quebec Was Born in My Country: A Diary of Encounters Between Indigenous and Quebecois Peoples by Emanuelle Dufour

Bayview Massacre of 1886 – Wisconsin Union History

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“Wisconsin’s most historic and bloody labor incident occurred on May 5, 1886 on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Bay View area of Milwaukee. That day dawned after four days of massive worker demonstrations throughout Milwaukee on behalf of the creation of eight-hour day laws.”
Bay View Tragedy 1886, Wisconsin Labor History

“That year, labor organizations nationwide were demanding an eight-hour work day, and they wanted it by May 1. Many Milwaukeeans were working 10-hour days, six days a week for paltry wages, Milwaukee historian John Gurda noted in his book “The Making of Milwaukee.” 

“As companies balked at the demand, strikes grew. By May 3, about half of Milwaukee’s men were on strike, Gurda found. They marched through the city, urging more workers to join them. Panicked officials called in militia from across the state after police were unable to “quell the disturbance,” the Milwaukee Journal reported…

“On the morning of May 5, about 1,500 marchers returned to the mill. When they were about 200 yards out, the militia fired. Among the seven dead was a 12-year-old boy. 

“The next day, streets were deserted. Local officials conferred about how to prevent “socialistic agitation,” deciding to arrest as many demonstrators as they could, the Journal reported. 

“Labor leaders, meanwhile, had public opinion on their side. They turned their focus to winning elections.

“That year, the labor-backed People’s Party of Wisconsin won elections up and down the ballot, with priorities including progressive taxes, child labor restrictions, and arbitration of labor disputes, Gurda wrote. While socialist leaders initially supported that party, they later split and ran their own candidates, launching Milwaukee’s socialist era in 1910.”

The History of the Bay View Massacre and the Rolling Mills plaque, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, May 2024, by Rory Linane

“The striking workers spent two years building their movement for an eight-hour workday, warning noncompliant businesses that they would call a nationwide strike if they didn’t meet the demand by May 1886…

“”People have always stood up for labor,” Larson said. “That has happened for 50 years. People have been spat on, beat up, punched, shot at for protecting their rights. We’re just part of that.”

“The Senator from Bay View: Chris Larson Fights for Worke Rights in Wisconsin”, We Are Wisconsin, by David Dayen, edited by Erica Sagrans, February 2011

Culture Creates Strength and Unity

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“Imagine a group of several hundred sleep-deprived, hungry people crammed into a confined, noisy, bright, uncomfortable space for weeks on end. There are no showers, no reliable food supply and no proper beds. They’re surrounded by police day and night. And they’re mere inches away from the chamber where the devastating legislation they’re gathered to protest is being rammed through right in front of their faces. Surely, a recipe for total meltdown.
“And yet there hasn’t been a single episode of serious conflict between protesters or with the police. And there’s no sign of any such confrontation to come. How is this possible? It’s not an accident, and it’s not a miracle. It’s the product of sophisticated unbreakable culture that has evolved in the hallways of the occupied capitol. And that’s exactly why Walked is so desperately tightening the screws.”

“The Unbreakable Culture of the Occupied Capitol”, We Are Wisconsin, by Ben Brandzel, edited by Erica Sagrans, March 2011

Those who applaud terrible things

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What I felt at the time in 1990, and which has remained indelible in my mind, is the great shame of seeing the inhabitants of Lasalle throwing rocks at the cars of people fleeing Kahnawake for fear that things would get worse. Shame, because it was not just the citizens of Lasalle who were throwing stones. There were many other Quebecois who were applauding too.

–Quebec Was Born in My Country: A Diary of Encounters Between Indigenous and Quebecois Peoples by Emanuelle Dufour

Even the Police Are Protesting

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“Some of the most visible union members in there are police and firefighters, who are exempts from the collective bargaining restrictions under the bill. I saw a guy walking around with a sign reading, “Private Sector Nonunion Employee – I Stand with Labor.” High school and college students are extremely active as well.

“One person said to me that the outpouring here is paradoxically similar to the outpouring that ended up sweeping Walker into office. People are tired of losing jobs, of seeing wealth float to the top, of being part of a generation falling behind that of its parents. They want something different, but they don’t know what that is. Now they see the true agenda of the Republicans who got elected, and the same energy has gone into fighting that. It’s an interesting theory, and I think there’s a bit more nuance than that…It has consumed the town and, in many ways, has consumed Wisconsin and the nation. We’re finally talking about thinks that matter to the mass of people.”

“The Incredible Ecosystem of the Wisconsin State Capitol”, We Are Wisconsin, by David Dayen, edited by Erica Sagrans, February 2011