A starting point

2008-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick rundown of some books I've read recently that I liked and think are worthwhile. I divide these into 3 sections: (1) Where we are now (fairly easy to get a handle on); (2) Where we might want to go (much harder!); (3) Books that don't fall well into either area (listed in no particular order).

WHERE WE ARE NOW

* Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth (video, 2006); The Assualt on Reason (2008) (two good descriptions of the current state of affairs, in different areas)

* Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World, by Paul Hawken (2008)

* Bill McKibben, Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape (2005)

* Muhammad Yunus, Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty (2003)

WHERE WE MIGHT WANT TO GO

* Always Coming Home, by Ursula K. le Guin (1985; a kind of fiction utopia; for my money, one of her very best books)

* Walden Two, by B. F. Skinner (1962; a quite good utopian work, in spite of some of his blindnesses and excesses; though I read it many years ago and might have a different view now)

* Ecotopia, by Ernest Callenbach (1975; still exciting and relevant, with a devoted following)

* Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins (2000, haven't read yet)

* Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2008)

BOOKS THAT DON'T FALL WELL INTO EITHER CATEGORY

* Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies, by Kenny Ausubel and J. P. Harpignies (2004)

* Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, by Michael Pollan (2003)

* Bill McKibben, The End of Nature (1989; haven't read yet)

Ideas for social change

A starting point