Reddit Reddit reviews Eaarth

We found 5 Reddit comments about Eaarth. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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5 Reddit comments about Eaarth:

u/some_random_kaluna · 28 pointsr/Political_Revolution

Which is why you should start to prepare for climate change.

Read "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet" by Bill McKibben.

He's an actual climate scientist, environmentalist, protester and activist.

u/SignalToNoiseRatio · 13 pointsr/Permaculture

If you have the time, Robert Gorden's book, "The Rise and Fall of American Growth" is pretty eye-opening. [1] He also talks about inequality as a major headwind to growth, and makes a compelling argument that the data show that biggest transformation – unmatched even by the personal computer and IT revolution – was bringing electricity and plumbing into the home.

Then there's the Princeton study that shows money can make people happier, but that the effect levels off at around $75k a year.

I think it was while reading Bill McKibben's book "Eaarth" [3] that I was surprised to discover that back in the 1970s, polling showed that Americans were actually pretty open to a different economic model – one more about sustainability and well-being than growth.

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1: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-American-Growth-Princeton/dp/153661825X

2: https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf

3: https://www.amazon.com/Eaarth-Making-Life-Tough-Planet/dp/0312541198

u/kleinbl00 · 11 pointsr/Foodforthought

You shouldn't be surprised to discover that you aren't the first to think of this. It also shouldn't surprise you to discover that not everyone likes this idea.

The fundamental problem you will face is that the credo of the United States, of Japan, of China, of Korea, and of many other economies is "work hard, get ahead." Whenever you see the word "individualism" substitute the phrase "me against the world." In a "me against the world" society, creating an infrastructure in which "work hard, get ahead" is actively thwarted is fundamentally impossible. Nick Reding argues compellingly in Methland that speed is the most uniquely American drug because only amphetamines actually make you work harder rather than chilling out and enjoying the high. He further argues that the rise of methamphetamine and consolidation of the drug market parallels the rise of agribusiness and consolidation of food production - in both cases, wealth is concentrated at the top.

Robert Reich lists several studies in Aftershock that demonstrate that taxing production and taxing the rich buoys the economy exactly as you suggest. He also points out that taxing the upper brackets is always met with fierce resistance, and with wealth concentrated at the top in ways unseen since the Gilded Age, reversing trends at this point is going to take some doing.

But, fundamentally, you're talking about lowering productivity. "Productivity" is the one metric that has gone up through the recession, through 911, through pretty much every economic hiccup since the invention of automation. Voluntarily choosing lower productivity would represent a fundamental shift in society and unfortunately, society seldom does such things smoothly and without protest. This transitional period, its impetus, and possible outcomes are well-explored in Bill McKibben's book Eaarth which, based on your questions and hypotheses, is likely to be something you'd enjoy reading. I only caution you to slug it out through the first half; for some reason, Mr. McKibben felt the need to establish the case for anthropocentric global warming beyond a reasonable doubt, despite the fact that 99.9% of his audience is likely to take anthropocentric global warming as a given.

u/ceramicfiver · 9 pointsr/vermont

I know you're joking but Bill McKibben, a fellow Vermonter, is leading the charge against climate change with 350.org, the biggest such activist group on the planet.

And in his recent book, Eaarth, recommended by /u/Unidan, he describes how Vermont is gonna get even worse torrential downpours.

u/OrbitRock · 3 pointsr/onehumanity

Book list:

Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin. The author discusses this same theme of The Great Turning. Argues that people in modern western society are pathologically orientated towards adolescent things, and among our main problems is that few of us mature fully, and few of us can ever be considered elders who guide each other towards a wise way of life. He also argues that we historically have developed equally in both nature and culture, but modern people spend their lives solely in culture, and lack understanding of the natural world.

Future Primal by Louis Herman. The author lays out a big picture view of human history and how the solutions for the future we face can be found in the past among primitive cultures. He links his own personal struggles to the planetary struggles we face, and shows that it is true that the personal and planetary are linked.

The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out huamn history, and "how the illusion of a seperate self has led to our modern crisises".

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. Looks at how primitive economies differed from our own, and how we can come to a different understanding of economics and wealth in our own society.

The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out a vision for what the world could be and how we could organize ourselves in a wiser way.

Limited Wants, Unlimited Means an analysis of the economics of hunter-gatherer societies by an actual Economist. Very in depth look at the different foundational beliefs and practices. This is the most scientific and in depth book I've ever come across on this subject.

Eaarth by Bill McKibben. Goes into great detail on the the stark reality of the effects that climate change have already had and will likely have over the next decades and century. Finsihes by making reccommendations for how to make a life on a rough new planet.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. A look at the deep history of our species. This book presents an understanding about what humans are and where we've come from that I think is hard to get anywhere else, really great work.

Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken. Very similar to the theme of my above post, the author explains how this new movement is much larger than you might think, and could soon become one of the largest cultural movements in all of human history.

Active Hope by Joanna Macy. On "how to deal with the mess we are in without going crazy".

Greening of the Self by Joanna Macy. An exploration into the idea that we are interdependent with the ecology around us.

Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken and others. A look at how we can start a green industrial revolution.

The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones. Lays out the idea that one solution- work on constructing a sustainable infrastructure- can fix our two biggest problems: the ecological crisis, and the rampant poverty and inequality in our society.

Spiritual Ecology: the cry of the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, and others. Outlines a spiritual perspective of what is happening to the world, and how we can remedy it, rooted in Buddhist thought.

Changes in the Land by William Cronon. A look at how the ecology of New England has been altered since Europeans first set foot there.

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. This is one of the classics of nature writing by a great naturalist. I include it here because I think it fits, and shows how much of this in not new thinking. Leopold talks about his experiences in nature and from living off the land, and lays out his own 'land ethic' for how best to coexist in nature.

The Evolving Self: a psychology for the third millennium by Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi. Explains the authors view of psychology and how to find meaning in the modern world. Talks about playing an active role in the evolutionary processes of life, and linking that up with your own personal evolution.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerer. Brings together scientific understanding, indigenous wisdom, and respect for nature and for plants, in a very poetic book.

The Future of Life by E. O. Wilson. Wilson is one of the greatest biologists of our time, and gave us many of the foundational concepts that we use today, such as popularizing the idea of "biodiversity" and the desire to preserve it. Here he talks about the future of life and the challenges we face in preserving the Earths biodiversity.

Half Earth by E.O. Wilson. Here Wilson lays out his strategy for saving the biodiversity of the Earth and preserving it through the hard times it will face in the future, by devoting fully half of the surface of the Earth to wildlife habitats. This book just came out so you might not be able to order a copy yet.

If you know of any other books or media in this sort of genre feel free to post it.