An Inconvenient Apocalypse, Wes Jackson
An Inconvenient Apocalypse, Wes Jackson
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An Inconvenient Apocalypse
Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity

Author: Wes Jackson, Robert Jensen

Narrator: Graham Rowat

Unabridged: 6 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/08/2022


Synopsis

For decades, our world has understood that we are on the brink of an apocalypse—yet the only implemented solutions have been small and convenient, feel-good initiatives that avoid unpleasant truths about the root causes of our impending disaster. Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen argue that we must reconsider the origins of the consumption crisis and the challenges we face in creating a survivable future. Longstanding assumptions about economic growth and technological progress—the dream of a future of endless bounty—are no longer tenable. The climate crisis has already progressed beyond nondisruptive solutions. The end result will be apocalyptic; the only question now is how bad it will be.

Jackson and Jensen examine how geographic determinism shaped our past and led to today's social injustice, consumerist culture, and high-energy/high-technology dystopias. The solution requires addressing today's systemic failures and confronting human nature by recognizing the limits of our ability to predict how those failures will play out over time. Though these massive challenges can feel overwhelming, the coauthors weave a secular reading of theological concepts—the prophetic, the apocalyptic, a saving remnant, and grace—to chart a realistic path for humanity not only to survive our apocalypse but also to emerge with a renewed appreciation of the larger living world.

About Wes Jackson

Wes Jackson is cofounder and president emeritus of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. A 1992 MacArthur Fellow, he is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including Hogs Are Up: Stories of the Land, with Digressions and New Roots for Agriculture.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Manda

Essential reading: Clear, succinct and absolutely honest This is the book we need for this moment: we need to stop telling ourselves that we can fix one or two minor issues (the source of our power, the structure of our culture/civilisation) and take on board the central thesis that we’re a species o......more

Preachy, verbose, and very thin on content supporting why collapse will happen and what it will look like. Naively assumes that people choose to work together constructively during and after collapse; that consumption levels can be slashed by 50% or more without wars and social disorder; and that th......more

Goodreads review by Shawn

Seriously disappointing. I understand the authors' desire to avoid too much prediction and guessing at future events, but about the only thing they do is to state what anyone sensible already knows: that we are too many who consume too much and that this is almost certain to lead to catastrophe in t......more

Goodreads review by Russell

This is a great little book, one that is told with a very deep sense of the precariousness of the position of the authors. That precariousness, as relates to questions of social justice, is a product of the fact that the authors are two old white lefties, both living comfortable lives in retirement,......more