Fresh Start for Better Systems

I have not been well for some time; an iron deficiency has left me short of energy and easily out of breath. My wife’s health is even worse so I am her full-time caregiver, which means I have not caught up with the backlog of work from the year-end “holidays”, which added work for several gatherings in our home for guests we really wanted to do.

I have reluctantly abandoned several tasks for community give-back; I just don’t have the energy until we can fix this problem; I’m still awaiting several medical tests to try to determine the cause, though I have some relief from trans- and in-fusions.

But I have decided to keep up with writing my books, focusing on my Better Systems book. I have been working on it for 10 years, mostly for my own benefit in thinking about social systems. I have made—and fixed—enough mistakes while working on it that I think I should work towards publishing it, first on my website and then possibly commercially. To that end, I removed it all from the website because the content was getting inconsistent and I have just put the Introduction and top level Table of Contents back on the web and intend to fill in the content again as quickly as my energy-levels will permit. Since I’m in my final quarter-century, I don’t think I have another ten years left to work on it.

The table of contents also contains work on my autobiography and a planned book on philosophy.

Because it’s possible that I may try commercial publishing later, I am putting a copyright notice on the chapters, but will also put the main ideas on this blog under Creative Commons. After all, as I say in the Introduction, we owe almost all our ideas to the community. Since I read a lot of philosophy and history, “my” ideas have roots thousands of years old.

Any comments people make, that I use, will be acknowledged as theirs, and I may return the whole thing to the commons if it proves too much work to get it published.

I hope it proves useful to somebody, somewhere, sometime.

Fresh Start for Better Systems

Because of family health challenges, I have had to ditch some of my community work and focus on home. But I am going to try to keep going on my book on Making a Better World, in the hopes that some of it might prove useful. #socialSystems

http://ericlawton.org/2026/02/21/fresh-start-for-better-systems/

Labour thinktank close to Morgan McSweeney paid firm to investigate journalists

Political parties always become antidemocratic. It's a systemic problem

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/06/labour-thinktank-close-to-morgan-mcsweeney-allegedly-paid-firm-to-investigate-journalists?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

> Labour Together hired company to look at Sunday Times and Guardian reporters after article about donations, documents suggest

#systemsThinking #socialSystems #democracy

Mental health is plummeting in Toronto. Here’s what we can do to solve a ‘wicked’ problem

"He pointed to activities that are proven to lead to better outcomes: local clubs, healthy evening activities, volunteering and outside exercise."

“All of those things that people used to do ...need to be brought back,” he said.

But he added that we also need greater access to community mental health services, more affordable housing, and more support for families who are experiencing food insecurity or other financial pressures.

Funny how he didn't say "more cops to smash homeless camps and do 'wellness checks' with guns".

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-mental-health-plummeting/article_a448753f-b99d-4c2b-9799-aac4cd75d0f4.html

#socialSystems #systemsThinking

The NDP leadership race is a nail-biter. But is anyone paying attention? | CBC News

"The amount of dollars a leadership candidate can pull in tends to be a strong indicator of who will win."

This whole story is about money, organisational strength, campaigning experience, ability to "take on Conservatives"—whatever that means, factions, …

Almost nothing about policy.

The party political system doesn't work.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-leadership-race-front-runners-9.7040374?cmp=rss

#SocialSystems #CDNPoli