The Great Disruption

The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring on the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World by Paul Gilding             Audio Book: 11 hours    Hardback Book:  304 pages  

Very illuminating book.   I enjoyed it.   Difficult topics are broken down into laymen’s terms, all topics are addressed clearly and concisely without a lot of  rhetoric.    Paul Gilding provides highly researched prognostications on the outcomes of global warming,  overpopulation,  depletion of food sources and land to grow it on or feed meat sources on,  economic failure in all countries, and more.   He points out that man is killing the planet and sustainability at the current rate is a ticking time bomb unless major changes come.    The four major areas of sustainable energy sources that need further investment and development the author says are currently Hydro Power (water),  Wind,  Solar and Thermal (energy generated within the earth’s core and stored in the earth).     While burning fossil fuels – coal, oil have been the standard the rampant use of these fuels is putting so much carbon into the air that the earth’s temperature is rising which is the reason for the ice melting at the poles causing the oceans to rise.   Not long ago, scientists projected or were projecting at the rate we are going there might be 50 years before the chaos would begin, climates changing, super weather cells developing causing mass devastation in their paths as these occurrences multiply and break out globally, economic and financial collapse as international debt grows,  overpopulation causes less available space on the planet and so on.    Those same scientists are astonished and are having to reassess as many of their projections are being seen in the world today.    He poses the current problems on the path as it stands today and the potential outcomes, then, he lights a candle in the darkness and assures the reader that it is not all gloom and doom that a small percentage of work is being done to preserve life as we know it and given the human nature, man will work on solutions to counteract all of the dire problems we are experiencing in the environment as we know it.   New thoughts, new ways of doing things will eventually have to be done whether corporations like it or not.   He talks about new technologies evolving sparking growth of new industries which in turn will boost the slagging economies.  He discusses how in the past man’s ingenuity has bailed him out of hard times and created innovative ways of solving dilemmas and changing the way man lives.   Newer, better ways of doing things are never easy nor cheap but mankind is rapidly approaching the brink where either things change or man will go the way of the dinosaur.    Progress has gotten us here now progress is going to have to create a better way to endure.   Man is a thinker and a survivor and Gilding believes there are enough people in the world who will come up with creative solutions to get us through and offers much information on how ways are being worked on even as we speak to get over some of the hurdles.   Lots of good information here.   It keeps you intrigued to find out where he is going will all the heart stopping subjects, what is being said on both sides of all the issues he brings up,  where moral turpitude is leading us and answers to counteract the negatives with positives.   Gilding has really done his homework.   He spells it all out, he delivers what is being said and done globally to address it,  then just when things look the most bleak, he tells the reader how optimistic he is that things are going to be o.k. and then presents details on why he believes that.   Really good book.   

Political Tribes

Political Tribes:  Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations by Amy Chua         Audio Book: 7 hours    Paperback Book:  464 pages             

This book blew me away.    Another author I would like to do that Vulcan Mind Meld with.   Man!   Amy Chua knows not just the background histories on countries around the world which gives one an inkling to their culture,  she goes deeper into the various sectors within the societies and in some cases the tribal backgrounds and sects, not just historically or geologically but also with their various belief systems which can be numerous all within the boundaries of each country.     Never have I read such in-depth knowledge of groups of peoples within the geographical boundaries of a country.    As if using a high-powered microscope to see every bit of DNA chromosomes within the body of what is each culture and each belief system.      Amy Chua breaks down into layman’s language highly involved  discourse on both what the U.S. went into foreign lands thinking (whether as allies or as liberators) and the many different veins of groups that either felt assuaged or assaulted by American presence there.    It is so eye-opening.    She gives you so much information from behind the scenes, giving one pause to think how little that is often understood before the United States enters another land.    I was both floored and enlightened.    Many questions are answered here especially good intel on why so many countries and peoples hate Americans today.   Fascinating book.    I couldn’t put it down.    No blanket approach will do across the board and Ms. Chua explains it in understandable terminology throughout.    EXCELLENT BOOK.    This book should be in every school and also in every college and university curriculum.     It would do much to broaden global understanding.

Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge     249 pages

In 2014, award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way that discussions of race and racism in Britain were being led by those who weren't affected by it. She posted a piece on her blog, entitled: 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race'. Her words hit a nerve. The post went viral and comments flooded in from others desperate to speak up about their own experiences. Galvanised by this clear hunger for open discussion, she decided to dig into the source of these feelings. Exploring issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race, Reni Eddo-Lodge offers a timely and essential new framework for how to see, acknowledge and counter racism.

A quick read on why intersectionality is important, especially as it pertains to social justice causes, like feminism. Important points are made about why all voices must speak up when it comes to anti-racism.

The Power

The Power by Naomi Alderman     386 pages

What would happen if women suddenly possessed a fierce new power?

In THE POWER, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power--they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.

This was going to be a four star book for me, but it ended up just being something I liked, rather than loved. I think the premise is really interesting - if the tables were turned, would women truly take the power they were given and use it any differently than the power men have? I believe the author is trying to make the claim that power corrupts and it doesn't matter what gender you are, if you've got power over other's you're going to naturally dominate and take that power as far as you can go with it. Overall, the story was compelling. I don't think the events in the story were totally believable in the end, but I like the idea of it and I applaud Alderman for showing that gender doesn't matter when it comes to power-hungry individuals.