Chugged this one, finished it in 3 sittings. I find it to be honest without being too doomerific. Attributing our polycrisis to modernity rather than Chugged this one, finished it in 3 sittings. I find it to be honest without being too doomerific. Attributing our polycrisis to modernity rather than trying to talk about green growth or any of that. Lots of references made to the work and writing of others, and lots of skillful description of elements of the climate change convo that I have struggled to put into words. It's given me some new ideas about how to talk to people about these things and possibly build some bridges.
Didn't love the downplaying of Covid's seriousness as an illness since I've personally experienced long Covid. But I've got to agree with a lot of the tangential points made about authoritarianism and science as a belief system decoupled from feeling or emotions.
One of the best parts of this book is the strong point made that the people who are "in charge" have no idea what they're doing and live lives entirely divorced from reality. The language we use to talk about climate change has been co-opted.
The word "sustainable" could be used to talk about people who want to live a relatively simple life within planetary boundaries. It could also be used to talk about a technocrat who wants to tax us to fund carbon capture technology that doesn't even work efficiently yet so that they can lower their emissions on paper so that they can drill for more oil or mine more cobalt.
We definitely have to start changing tactics when talking about what's going on w/ the planet....more
I really liked listening to this!! Shoutout for writing an accessible economics book that talks about econ as the world-shaping thing it is and addresI really liked listening to this!! Shoutout for writing an accessible economics book that talks about econ as the world-shaping thing it is and addresses how the "free market" is anything but what it sounds like. I also always appreciate someone willing to tell people about the Banana Massacres.
Good mixture of fun, personal food stories and educational examples of how the dominant western narrative about the way economics "works" has had a hugely negative ripple effect throughout the world....more