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Bill McKibben is relentlessly American, but let's not hold that against him. His prose is clean and inviting, and he's convincing about the whole '... (show more)
Deep Economy
"The bestselling author of The End of Nature issues an impassioned call to arms for an economy that creates community and ennobles our lives. In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better"--indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things... (show more)
"The bestselling author of The End of Nature issues an impassioned call to arms for an economy that creates community and ennobles our lives. In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better"--indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases, he says, need not be at odds with the things we truly value. McKibben's animating idea is that we need to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction, with cities, suburbs, and regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. He shows this concept blossoming around the world with striking results, from the burgeoning economies of India and China to the more mature societies of Europe and New England. For those who worry about environmental threats, he offers a route out of the worst of those problems; for those who wonder if there isn't something more to life than buying, he provides the insight to think about one's life as an individual and as a member of a larger community. McKibben offers a realistic, if challenging, scenario for a hopeful future. As he so eloquently shows, the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own." (show less)
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This was a good read, nothing too technical, nothing too poetic. All in all, McKibben does a great job of fleshing out his argument on economies of... (show more)
This was a good read, nothing too technical, nothing too poetic. All in all, McKibben does a great job of fleshing out his argument on economies of scale in way that is accessible and engaging. (show less)
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This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. McKibben writes in a very accessible way and provides lots of examples of wonderful things being done all over the world to build the kind of "wealth" that is really important. Although he acknowledges the problems we've created in the world, and especially in the U.S., he writes in a way that made me feel incredibly hopeful and motivated me to think more deeply about what is really important to me and what I can do to live i... (show more)
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. McKibben writes in a very accessible way and provides lots of examples of wonderful things being done all over the world to build the kind of "wealth" that is really important. Although he acknowledges the problems we've created in the world, and especially in the U.S., he writes in a way that made me feel incredibly hopeful and motivated me to think more deeply about what is really important to me and what I can do to live in ways that support community. I borrowed the book from the library, but I think I might just go buy it so I can read it again and use it as a reference and a source of inspiration. (show less)
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Our economy and our culture are mostly about getting more. Bill McKibben thinks we should switch our focus from More to Better. Our drive for more and more stuff is destroying us. Once people get past the horrors of poverty, more stuff doesn't make us happier, and it's destroying the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our ability to feed ourselves, yet we keep chasing it, hoping that it will. "Begin with this," he says toward the end of the book, "if the rich countries of ... (show more)
Our economy and our culture are mostly about getting more. Bill McKibben thinks we should switch our focus from More to Better. Our drive for more and more stuff is destroying us. Once people get past the horrors of poverty, more stuff doesn't make us happier, and it's destroying the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our ability to feed ourselves, yet we keep chasing it, hoping that it will. "Begin with this," he says toward the end of the book, "if the rich countries of the world can't change course, then the poor countries won't." Why should they? To live miserable lives and let us keep making our pile of belongings higher? To allow room for the desperately poor to make their lives better, we will need to give up an awful lot of our stuff. It's hard to make any argument that would make sense on either practical or moral grounds against this assertion. The problem is how to convince those of us on the good side of the prosperity fence to meet the multitudes on the other side of that fence partway. If we don't, things are going to get very bad, very quickly. (show less)
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