Joined: Apr 06, 2006 Posts: 2964 Location: 3 miles NW of Champoeg, Republic of Cascadia
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:24 pm Post subject: The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon
Quote:
The Upside of Down sets out a theory of the growth, crisis, and renewal of societies. Today's converging energy, environmental, and political-economic stresses could cause a breakdown of national and global order. Yet there are things we can do now to keep such a breakdown from being catastrophic. And some kinds of breakdown could even open up extraordinary opportunities for creative, bold reform of our societies, if we're prepared to exploit these opportunities when they arise.
Homer-Dixon contends that five "tectonic stresses" are accumulating deep underneath the surface of today's global order:
* energy stress, especially from increasing scarcity of conventional oil;
* economic stress from greater global economic instability and widening income gaps between rich and poor;
* demographic stress from differentials in population growth rates between rich and poor societies and from expansion of megacities in poor societies;
* environmental stress from worsening damage to land, water forests, and fisheries; and,
* climate stress from changes in the composition of Earth's atmosphere.
_________________ Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
I'm just gonna find a cash machine.
Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 3449 Location: West shore Lake Eire, MI, USA
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon
Is it an easy read or something you have to work at? I would be willing either way, but if it isn't a good paced book it won't find wide audience numbers. _________________ Oxygen: - An intensely habit-forming accumulative toxic substance. As little
as one breath is known to produce a life-long addiction to the gas, which addiction invariably ends in death.--Isaac Asimov
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:00 am Post subject: Re: The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon
Tanada wrote:
Is it an easy read or something you have to work at? I would be willing either way, but if it isn't a good paced book it won't find wide audience numbers.
I just found it in the bookshop. I was looking for a Christmas present, and it's just perfect! I bought one for myself and another for a present. It is a very good read, with the kind of entertaining criss-crossing anecdotes you find in Jared Diamond or Alvin Toffler.
If you want a book that isn't about one specific aspect of what's happening right now in the world
- Peak oil
- Climate change
- The global economic imbalances
- Population growth
- The environmental problems of the Third World
- The similarities between current politics and politics at the end of the Roman Empire
but you're looking instead for a book that covers it all, and explains in an entertaining way the relationships between them, this is just what you want!
The only thing you could fault in it is that there is so much more to say on these subjects, but if you really wanted to cover everything you would need much more than a single book.
I highly recommend it! _________________ What are you doing about peak oil?
I am doing this
(click on the www button) v
Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 2746 Location: The Entropisphere
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:53 pm Post subject: Re: The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon
It is actually sitting on my bedstand right now. I will need a break from my more technical reading soon and will enjoy giving it a read. _________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."
-Friedrich von Schiller
"What I try, may not work. It may be ineffective. It might even turn out in the pages of history to be the exact wrong thing to do, but I'm going to try to do what I c
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
