Yesterday I purchased Lester Brown's "Plan B 3.0", and quickly realized that his book covers a lot of the same material as my book. However, his emphasis is on society, failing states and the potential collapse of modern civilization. Much more of his book is dedicated to Response (Plan B) than understanding the problems, i.e., he is more focused on policy change than on science. Also, he does not use equations or charts in his book. So I think our books will complement each other. My book focuses less on government and policy than Brown's because I think that the system is broken, and the only way we can affect change is to work outside the system. Perhaps power is centralized in an ascending state but becomes decentralized in a declining state. The approach to change that I am advocating is decentralized - it depends on individuals changing their lifestyles. The U.S. government is beholden to corporate interests and addicted to economic growth, so I believe it will never institutionalize the necessary changes.
Check out today's new blog "Reduce Your Waste". Also, I forgot to mention in my consumption/consumerism blog yesterday that a good online video to watch (20 minutes), if a bit liberal biased, is "The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard. Note: Tomorrow I will be a faculty marshall at commencement, so there will be no blog entry.
John . . .
ReplyDeleteI agree with your characterization of Lester Brown's approach. I've been following Lester from back in the earliest incarnations of the "response plan." He has an email newsletter that makes following the plan's continued refinement a little easier.
"The Story of Stuff" is a great hit with students. I've even sent it out to classes when there's no direct connection between its message and the course. I'm surprised to see that it has recently returned to the Internet video circuit after its success last year. I suppose criticizing the anti-capitalism message might be useful for some. Can we possibly not want more STUFF?