Ecological Civilization

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. As climate predictions continue to exceed projections, it is clear that hopelessness is rapidly becoming our worst enemy. What is needed - urgently - is a new vision for the flourishing of life on this planet, a vision the authors are calling an ecological civilization.

This revolutionary book fuses the enduring legacy of socialism - government for the common good - with the best of the environmental movement and the newest insights from sustainability studies. The result is a manifesto in the tradition of Bill McKibben's Eaarth - a road map forward in the face of the growing environmental catastrophe, which is the most complex crisis humanity has ever faced.

Ecological Intelligence argues that "green" labels and recycling programs may do more harm than good by feeding a vital lie, lulling us into the illusion that we are doing enough already while ignoring the adverse impact of the far vaster proportion of what we buy and do. The book brings a psychologist's insights into the world of commerce, arguing for radical transparency—tracking every substantial impact over the life cycle of an item, from manufacture to daily use, to disposal.

Our civilisation is no longer run by humans, but by profit. Society has become a money machine with no blood, no pulse, and no other preoccupation than to monetize itself and the original humans who created it. Within this dystopian context, even humans themselves have become products: they need to be bought and sold so that they can exist. They need to be used to have a purpose. And they need to lie about themselves in order to be loved. As witnessed during the industrial revolution, aggressive commoditisation across manufacturing resulted in inferior quality consumer goods, significant ...

Ecological Intelligence argues that "green" labels and recycling programs may do more harm than good by feeding a vital lie, lulling us into the illusion that we are doing enough already while ignoring the adverse impact of the far vaster proportion of what we buy and do.