Review by Booklist Review
Harris (Sh*t Is F*cked Up and Bullsh*t, 2020; Palo Alto, 2023) looks at how society can redirect its political strategies and resources to challenge climate change. Drawing on policy briefs, media reports, government documents, and first-hand accounts, Harris identifies and describes the current discussions of climate change as he critiques the existing systems and behaviors that prolong the crisis. Harris sees capitalism as "an exhausting form of social metabolism, using up workers and the environment to produce value to produce value to produce value until value replaces air," which can only end with disastrous consequences for humanity. He proposes and explores three intersecting paths to progress, bringing new opportunities for a sustainable future while acknowledging the difficult work ahead. Readers of political philosophy, environmental studies, and history will find information about our ongoing discussions about climate change, along with alternative visions and reimagined practices worth considering.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this provocative and galvanizing treatise, journalist Harris (Palo Alto) grapples with what is to be done about climate change. He considers a range of possible strategies, beginning with "left-liberal" attempts to control economic development "via market regulation and incentives." Examples include Joe Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included a $150 billion investment in green energy facilities. This strategy's fundamental shortcoming, Harris argues, is that it's a national solution to a worldwide problem; the crisis urgently demands a more potent "counterforce to capital": the "direct social appropriation" of entire industries. As an example, he points to the Build Public Renewables Act passed in New York, which was spearheaded by the Democratic Socialists of America. The legislation commits the state-run New York Power Authority to building renewables if the private sector fails to do so. However, Harris also finds weaknesses in this approach, which he sees as relying on a robust global coalition of working-class voters that is not realistic in the short term. For Harris that leaves only one option, "communism"--a word "weighed down by a lot of history," but the most straightforward way to describe a strategy that would "abolish" profit-making as the organizing principle of production. Written in a lively and elegant style, this will convince readers that a better world, or at least the continued existence of this one, really is possible. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Confronting planet-scale problems. In this frank examination, author and political progressive Harris explores the options he contends are viable in averting a climate crisis. Throughout, he focuses on three strategies, noting the potential for and challenges of each: marketcraft, public power, and communism. (He defines "marketcraft" as a concept in which proponents "see markets as functions of public policies.") "Without an increased level of coordination," Harris writes, "I don't think any of the strategies can succeed on its own." For example, "underlying the marketcraft strategy for a green transition is the sometimes unspoken, sometimes overt idea that capital will use substitute technologies toreplace fossil fuels." As the author argues, the marketcraft strategy thus would require a supplement to be successful. He writes, "Public power says that we have to face choices about what kind of society we want to make head-on, not contract them out to entrepreneurs." Harris contends that some areas of social life would be better off without capitalists, such as the medical system; however, he argues that "there is some role for technological innovation in the fight against climate change and its effects on people and nature." Harris maintains that to be successful, all partisans need to move forward together. He also addresses the fears and anxieties that he says have kept us from taking collective action, including inefficiency, disorder, and complicity. Harris also discusses points that he feels hold the individual strategies together and proposes ways for them to interact successfully, including the creation of disaster councils with all partisans meeting as equals to prepare for the fight together. As he concludes, "in certain moments, everyone's work is aligned because there really is no choice." A thoughtful, well-researched, and compelling addition to the discussion of how to save our planet. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
