Books

Here’s a few books I’ve found interesting or useful. If you have any you’d like to recommend please let me know.

 

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered

E. F. Schumacher
An outstanding book that takes the premise that the goal of economics does not have to be economic growth at any cost. Covers many topics including education, the environment, nuclear power, third world poverty and much more. Written in 1973 it seems to be more relevant today than ever.

A Short History Of Progress

Ronald Wright
Wright discusses several formerly mighty and invincible civilizations and their ultimate demise, usually as a result of eating themselves out of existence or over fouling their environment. I think the point Wright is makes is a little more than obvious.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore
Al Gore’s nearly ubiquitous book / movie about global warming. If this is a topic you are just starting to research, this would be a good place to start.

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight

Thom Hartmann
This book examines the state of the world from the perspective of where we are now, how we got here and what we might be able to do to influence a positive change. I couldn’t recommend this book more enthusiastically. I believe it is also the inspiration for DiCaprio’s new film “The 11th Hour”.

Ishmael

Daniel Quinn
While the premise of a gorilla that teaches to a human student via telepathy may be unsettling at first, this book is profound in its insight into human history and man’s place in the world. You can’t help but be left changed after reading it.

The Crack in The Cosmic Egg - New Constructs of Mind and Reality

Joseph Chilton Pearce
Pearce discusses the nature of man’s reality and how it is formed. He talks about how man’s reality can only be a reflection of what he knows and in order to change that reality a horizontal shift in thinking is required. Uses the teachings of Jesus and don Juan to illustrate his points. Admittedly a bit of a tedious read at times, but well worth the effort.

Stupid To The Last Drop

William Mardsen
A fascinating look at the oil industry in Alberta and the massive environmental damage being done. Focussed mainly on the tar sands operations it sheds light into just how far we’ll go in the name of profit.

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Bradbury’s timeless fiction about how TV lulls you into a state of complacency and artificial entertainment trumps real human relationships.

Manufacturing Consent

Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky

Proposes a model to predict bias in the media and then supports the model with several examples. While the examples are now somewhat dated, the message remains valid. You might not want to blindly accept something as true just because it’s on TV or in the newspaper.

No Logo

Naomi Klein

Klein gives an in-depth look into the world of branding and the business practices of many multi-national companies as well as some of the local and global resistance movements. Also illustrates the effect of globalization on local and foreign work forces. Even more eye-opening for me was how pervasive advertising, and it’s message of consumption, is in our everyday lives and how accustomed and accepting we’ve become to it.

The Sacred Balance

David Suzuki

Suzuki clearly lays out how we are, in real and physical terms, connected to and part of the earth and our environment. Also he touches on our spiritual relationship with the earth and our need for love. The last chapter gives some inspiring examples of positive action taken by people to improve the world they live in. Filled with lots of quotations and snippets of poems the book is highly enjoyable.
Endgame, Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization

Derrick Jensen

On the reading list…

A Globally Integrated Climate Policy For Canada

Steven Bernstein, Jutta Brunnée, and David Duff

Currently Reading

The Party’s Over

Richard Heinberg

The book starts with a brief history of the human evolution of energy usage from human power to water to wood to coal to oil and a few more steps in between. The basic premise of peak oil is then presented in a clear and well documented manner. Some of the sobering potential outcomes of peak oil production are given. At the end of the book Heinberg gives some thoughtful, but unlikely to be heeded, advice on how to minimize the personal and societal impacts of living in a post carbon world. I’d recommend this as a first read for anyone interested in the topic.
The Weather Makers

Tim Flannery

On the reading list…