How to Think Seriously about the Plan..., Roger Scruton
How to Think Seriously about the Plan..., Roger Scruton
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How to Think Seriously about the Planet
The Case for an Environmental Conservatism

Author: Roger Scruton

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Unabridged: 10 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2012


Synopsis

The environment has long been the undisputed territory of the political Left, which casts international capitalism, consumerism, and the overexploitation of natural resources as the principle threats to the planet and sees top-down interventions as the most effective solution. InHow to Think Seriously about the Planet, Roger Scruton rejects this view and offers a fresh approach to tackling the most important political problem of our time. He contends that the environmental movement is philosophically confused and has unrealistic agendas. Its sights are directed at large-scale events and the confrontation between international politics and multinational business. But Scruton argues that no large-scale environmental project, however well intentioned, will succeed if it is not rooted in small-scale practical reasoning. Seeing things on a large scale promotes top-down solutions, managed by unaccountable bureaucracies that fail to assess local conditions and rife with unintended consequences. Scruton calls for the greater efficacy of local initiatives over global schemes, civil association over political activism, and small-scale institutions of friendship over regulatory hypervigilance, suggesting that conservatism is far better suited to solving environmental problems than either liberalism or socialism. Rather than entrusting the environment to unwieldy NGOs and international committees, we must assume personal responsibility and foster local control. People must be empowered to take charge of their environment, to care for it as they would a home, and to involve themselves through the kind of local associations that have been the traditional goal of conservative politics. Our common future is by no means assured, but as Roger Scruton clearly demonstrates in this important book, there is a path that can ensure the future safety of our planet and our species.

About Roger Scruton

Roger Scruton is widely seen as one of the greatest conservative thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A polymath who wrote a wide array of fiction, nonfiction, and reviews, he was also the author of over fifty books.

A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, Scruton was professor of aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London; university professor at Boston University, and a visiting professor at Oxford University. He was one of the founders of the Salisbury Review, contributed regularly to the Spectator, the Times, and the Daily Telegraph and was for many years wine critic of the New Statesman. Sir Roger Scruton died in January 2020.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah

It is true, as Scruton spends the first chapters arguing, that environmentalism does not have to be (and has not always been) the sole domain of the political left. It is also true that conservatives, as their parties stand now, need a coherent framework for protecting the environment that complemen......more

Goodreads review by Sunday

Mind shifting book; a must-read for everyone who wonders how to save the planet without becoming frustrated, dogmatic or dictatorial. The insights provided by Roger Scruton are: 1) top-down measures do not always work and can be even harmful 2) top-down thinking is often motivated by ideals, and pron......more

Goodreads review by Álvaro

Cuando Scruton plantea un “ambientalismo conservador”, lo que más me temía es que fuese a defenderlo desde un punto de vista “patriótico”, es decir, añadiendo el medio ambiente a los componentes que conforman una nación. Eso es lo que parecen hacer muchos conservadores cuando hablan de ambientalismo......more