One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future

by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich

Book Overview

Named a Notable Book for 2005 by the American Library Association, One with Nineveh is a fresh synthesis of the major issues of our time, now brought up to date with an afterword for the paperback... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559638796
• ISBN13: 9781559638791
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Island Press
• Length: 447 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

headed the wrong way

One with Nineveh presents more lucid and well documented analysis of the trends that most threaten our civilization, yet remain underappreciated and often ignored: waste of energy and natural resources, toxification of the environment, clearing of forests and fragmentation of habitats, overuse of fresh water, and -- yes -- expanding human populations. While updated treatment of these issues and the historical parallels between current trends and the fate of once-dominant civilizations like Nineveh are fascinating, the riveting elements of this book are those that document the pathetic state of political leadership, globally.For open-minded readers who think that the neoconservative take on the environment -- that concern is overblown and things are getting better -- is a viable claim, this is a must read. The Ehrlichs provide new insight and summarize recent analyses that identify destructive trends and provide clear and practical remedies. While the Bush administration ignores the environment, its policies are exacerbating environmental problems worldwide, leading to the sort of social instability that undermines opportunities for a just and sustainable future. While these authors suffer unrelenting attacks from the radical right, their assessment is far from radical; everyone can learn from this accessible and authoritative book.

A timely and important book -- a great graduation gift

This is a wonderful book - better than Clarke or Woodward for putting the insanity of the Bush administration into the bigger world context. It will tell you why, for example, Bush chose to attack Osama Bin Laden's enemy Saddam Hussein instead of paying attention to our security (short answer - oil). I especially like the discussion of the roots of terrorism and the contrasts between human triumphs and the severe perils those triumphs have created. The Paul and Anne Ehrlich also once again describe the growing threat of epidemics - something every parent should be concerned about and pressing our government to do more to counter. But this is not just another volume of warnings. The Ehrlichs make many suggestions for changing how we relate to one another and our overpopulated planet -- trying to get open discussions going that could save our hides. They have more faith in the Federal Reserve and the possibility of reforming the UN and corporations than I do, but they're right on target when they emphasize the great need to air important issues like the organization of our government in public forums. They also are a great antidote to vacuous media "pundits." Reading two pages of this book is a great cure for the headache caused by listening to, say, two minutes of Robert Novak's pompous idiocy.One with Nineveh is a book for true conservatives, people who would like to see savings go up and runaway consumption go down; people who think we should not bury ourselves in debt and waste money in Iraq that could be much better spent trying to prevent nuclear weapons from being smuggled into the United States; people who think we shouldn't be creating plumes of toxic chemicals in precious groundwater supplies; people who think our government should take a long view of our species' situation on a shrinking planet. Enjoy Nineveh and give it to every high school and college student you know.

A useful, broad summary of the "predicament" ahead

Skip the first paragraph if you like. But I must state at the outset that I actually read this book, cover to cover, and have no axe to grind. In fact, I haven't even yet decided whether I believe doomsday projections or not; on the other hand, I think we infest and alter our environment so thoroughly that I think the only sane and responsible approach is caution - after all, we need to think about the next generation(s), not merely the next beer. Years ago there was a cartoon in the New Yorker showing a well-to-do 40-something man saying to his friend, "I'm rather fortunate... I have no parents, so social security is not a problem, and I have no children, so the environment is no problem." He could have saved a step simply by not having a brain - then neither would be a problem. Now for the review itself. The Ehrlichs have written a broad summary of the political and social aspects of the large problem of how we humans are going to be able to continue to live in this "space ship" earth. Clearly we have to consume at a rate and in a manner and mixture that the natural world can sustain. They offer a metaphor: in our grandparents' time we needed a cowboy mentality - go out and conquer the wilderness. In our time we need a spaceman mentality - every resource is finite and we can't afford to make mistakes. The daunting challenges to changing the way we humans consume resources are many, some of which I (roughly) list here: (1) the huge power of corporations in national and international life, combined with the the fact that they do not (and with current structures basically cannot) pay attention to much else besides profit. (2) the American consumer culture, which has been fine-tuned and optimized to a fare-thee-well: now that it's sucking up Earth's resources how are we going to STOP this monster. (3) The sudden development expansion in countries like China, whose people aspire to have what America has. (4)the likely difficulty in getting cooperation (in solving environmental issues) from people in other countries who would see a much richer America simply trying to hold them back (5) poverty in undeveloped countries, with huge numbers of desperate people deforesting their land for today's cooking, killing and eating their wildlife, etc. (6) the gross overconsumption (hyperconsumption) by Americans which sucks resources from all over the world at a unsustainable rate. and (7) a certain US administration which you'll have to read the book to figure out who. The Ehrlichs are not at all trying to say we're all a bunch of evil or stupid people. They're merely saying this is our current culture, politics, economy, mentality and real-life world situation, and given this, it is going to be very difficult to change "in time". We can't merely buy eggs shot by free-range chickens or vote for an environmentalist and think we've done enough. We may have to do something quite intentional and drastic. By focusing on the hurdles that make the so

A Good and Necessary Read

I'm a biologist, and I have long been aware of the basic problems that the Ehrlichs clearly summarize in "One with Nineveh". Nonetheless, I loved having the issues reviewed for me, bringing me up to date. I found the book compellingly written and full of interesting examples. I was grateful it made clear why we're fighting in Iraq (not the excuses our government has broadcast), and tied it our our patterns of overconsumption. And there was a lot that was new to me. For instance, the question of the reform of corporations has been one of my concerns, but I was not fully aware of the growing discussion of what can be done about it. The Ehrlichs not only summarize the arguments well, but also provide references that are now allowing me to pursue further my interest in what can be done to limit corporate misuse of power. Indeed, placing the environmental situation in a context of power abuse is the major service of the book. Scientists are aware of the deep trouble civilization is in, but the public and politicians are not. This is a book to buy, read, and recommend (or give) to friends and anyone running for public office. The stakes are high, and the Ehrlichs give us hope that even in these dismal times we may win through to a decent and stable society.

Enlightening and Important

The Ehrlichs and their scientific colleagues have been trying to alert humanity to its long-term perils for decades. Thirty years ago they were warning that unless steps were taken and nuclear powers lived up to the non-proliferation treaty, we'd face outlaw nations and possibly even terrorist groups with A-bombs. Welcome to 2004. In the 1968 "Population Bomb" Paul Ehrlich discussed the threat of novel diseases like AIDs, which have since materialized, and the failure to adequately feed all of humanity, which continues. He wrote of the perils of "using the atmosphere as a garbage dump. This book revisits such issues and focuses more strongly on the little-understood problems flowing from excessive consumption, a failed media, and the excessive concentration of wealth and power. But more than that, it contains many path-breaking suggestions for ways to change world views and institutions to steer society away from what the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity described as a "collision course" between humanity and the natural world. It puts the moral corruption of the Bush administration into the "big picture" of the human predicament, especially the administration's insane behavior in Iraq, its failure to deal appropriately with terrorism, its assault on the environment, and its distortion of science. As such, "One with Nineveh" is by far the most important current events book of 2004. Small wonder the right wing hates it - it's amusing to see a review that claims the Ehrlich's ideas are supported by "junk economics." A jacket blurb contains strong praise from Sir Partha Dasgupta, past-President of the European Economic Association, and the acknowledgments thank other of the world's top economists (and other social and natural scientists) for reviewing and contributing to the manuscript, including Nobel Laureate in Economics Kenneth Arrow. If you want a very thoughtful, well-documented description of the state of the world, one written by leading scientists that is also a no-holds-barred good read, this is the book for you. If you think atomic bombs are "nucular" weapons, or are waiting for the rapture, you won't like it.