Tips

This week I read and watched: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy: I loved the movie Ikiru, which I watched a month or two ago. It was was inspired by this novella. The friend who recommended Ikiru also recommended this book. It's one of the best I've read. It's thoughtful, funny with biting satire, and a joy to read or listen to. It's also in the public domain so you can download it from many free sites (listed at the bottom of the Wikipedia page). I wonder if I'll get to War and Peace soon. What are you living for? What are you giving in your relationships and being returned? Who cares for you? Who doesn't? What systems are you living it? Do…

I read this week: The Fate Of Empires And Search For Survival, by Sir John Glubb: I started this book expecting irrelevance. The preface describes the author as a British veteran of World War One. The book is twenty-five pages, talking about imperialism. What could he know? I figured, of course he's viewing the world as an imperialist, likely racist and unsophisticated. Early on, he lists some empires and how long they lasted. I thought, "this list isn't remotely scientific and is no basis for analysis." He calls Native Americans savages. I figured I'd skim it to get it over with. Then the descriptions foretell remarkably what has happened in the fifty years since publication, remarkably prescient and on schedule. It isn't hard to translate…

Among what I read and watched this week: The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer: I confess I hadn't read the book before recording our podcast episode (not yet edited, but will update when posted), but I wrote about his drowning child analogy recently. This book blew me away. I expected dry philosophy I would argue against, but found it compelling. I will donate more to charity with enthusiasm. I highly recommend this book. (I'm still not a fan of the Effective Altruism movement.) World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler: I ask a lot of people if they can imagine a world where no one pollutes. Nearly no one can, despite nearly all of our ancestors doing so. Recording a podcast episode…

Among what I read and watched this week: John Perkins The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World: John was a podcast guest after his most recent book, Touching the Jaguar. Then a mutual friend mentioned his name. I decided to email him and before I did decided to browse The Secret History. I couldn't stop. I was equally engaged by the writing and mortified by the global situation he described. Regular readers know how much I've been reading about empire, including Heart of Darkness and King Leopold's Ghost, after focusing on abolition, slavery, and colonialism. I didn't mean to stumble on Secret History, but it fit. It's very relevant to sustainability, as…

I read and watched this week: Atomic Habits by James Clear: I had done my burpee-based calisthenics, blog posting, cold showers, and other habits sometimes for nearly a decade without missing a day when the book came out so took a while to read it. I consider myself skilled at starting and keeping up habits. I found the book engaging. I don't think I learned much about starting and keeping habits, but recommend it. Living, directed by Oliver Hermanus, screenplay by Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted from Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru: I watched Ikuru last week or two and kept thinking about it, liking it more the more I thought of it. I heard last year someone remade it, taking place in England. It's hard to…

I read and watched this week: Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa: A movie-buff friend recommended the movie. It's almost 2.5 hours long so it took me a few nights to watch it. It's from 1952. I didn't know what to expect. At first I didn't think much of it. Then for the next few nights I kept thinking about it: little details that fit together, things characters said, how it connected to my life and life in general, and so on. It kept growing on me. I read and watch many reviews, commentaries, and interpretations. They mostly focused on the main questions of what life is about, what gives it meaning, getting stuck in bureaucracy, and its main themes. They're important, but the closing scene and…

I read and watched this week: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild, a podcast guest: I'd meant to read Adam's book since I loved Bury the Chains and learned this book was bigger. Recently reading Heart of Darkness led to me King Leopold's Ghost. Both books talked about imperialism, colonialism, and slavery in the Congo. Conrad's book was fiction you have to interpret. Adam's spells it out in plain language hitting you in the gut. I considered the most poignant sentence in the book where he illustrated the value of ivory by saying it was for them then like plastic to us today, meaning plastic today is like ivory then. Driving all the brutality and…

I read and watched this week: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: Regular readers know my interest in understanding imperialism, colonialism, and slavery to understand our situation with the environment. Somehow I made it over five decades before reading Heart of Darkness, or listening to it since it's in the public domain, so I downloaded a free version from Librivox. My first time through, I felt it overly descriptive and wondered why people cared so much about it. I kept thinking of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. The second time, I picked up the detail and layering. Wow! I expect I'll read it many times, picking up more each time. It illustrates imperialism, colonialism, and slavery alright. It's brutal. I recommend it. The Land magazine's A…

This week I read: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Having awakened to the persistent imperialism at the root of our culture, I've been referring to this book a lot lately. I remember it as one of my favorites from reading it at least a decade ago. I found it as powerful and intriguing as I remember, and relevant to our times. We invade these days with addiction more than weapons and religion today, which, sadly, are more effective. I highly recommend it. Marie Kondo's Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: I'd been meaning to read this book for years. She promotes a lifestyle different than sustainable and minimalist. I respect her dedication and focus. I see her promoting at root values, self-awareness, and liberation. I…

Read this week: William Rees: The Fundamental Issue: Overshoot on the Great Simplification podcast and Warning to People of Earth (broken into 7 parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7): Rees created the ecological footprint concept. His work is helpful, but what I'm trying to get past: he understands our environmental problems and human problems inhibiting from acting. All facts and view but zero to negative leadership. Krakatoa: the day the world exploded, August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester. A friend recommended this book when it came out almost twenty years ago and I finally got to it. Old me would have liked the science most, especially that plate tectonics only became known in the 1960s. Today I most noticed the colonial life of…

I'm starting a new regular post: selections of what I read, watched, or listened to each week. This week: A book so fascinating and useful I read it in two sittings (one if you don't count sleeping). The author, Jason Hickel, is an accomplished economic anthropologist who comprehensively shows problems with growth and the value of degrowth. Less Is More An article by a podcast guest, Christopher Ketcham, on how wind, solar, and other so-called "clean," "green," and "renewable" energy sources aren't. I also recorded our second conversation this week, now in the editing queue, in which he recommended Less Is More. The Green Growth Delusion Rereading posts from two of my favorite sites Low Tech Magazine and Do the Math. I reread them because…

Hosting a successful podcast on sustainability, I get a lot of requests or suggestions to bring on as guests people who sell more things, claiming they reduce waste relative to something more wasteful: compostable straws, jewelry from ocean plastic, clothes you can trace to the cotton farm, etc. Selling more isn't selling less. If you make a polluting system more efficient, you pollute more efficiently, even if you make your part less polluting. Since Watt's steam engine and before, when we've made some part more efficient, we've increased overall waste. We're more efficient than ever and polluting more than ever. Uber was supposed to lower traffic but increased it. Transistors keep getting smaller and more efficient but computers pollute more than ever. Your compostable straws…