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The planet's environmental problems respect no national boundaries. From soil erosion and population displacement to climate change and failed energy policies, American governing classes are paid by corporations to pretend that debate is the only democratic necessity and that solutions are capable of withstanding endless delay. Late Capitalism goes about its business of finishing off the planet. And we citizens are left with a shell of what was once proudly described as The American Dream.
In this collection of eleven essays, Berry confronts head–on the necessity of clear thinking and direct action. Never one to ignore the present challenge, he understands that only clearly stated questions support the understanding their answers require. For more than fifty years we've had no better spokesman and no more eloquent advocate for the planet, for our families, and for the future of our children and ourselves.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 1, 2015 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781619025226
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781619025226
- File size: 409 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from January 26, 2015
âValid criticism,â poet, conservationist, and national treasure Berry (The Unsettling of America) declares in his latest collectionâs opening essay, âattempts a just description of our condition.â The book goes on to vivisect, with uncommon lucidity and common sense, the accruing damages of the âindustrial economy and its so-called free market,â as well as our âcommerce of violenceâ that profits from the âdestruction of land and peopleâ as shown in the essay âOur Deserted Country,â about the wastelands created by industrial agriculture. Berryâs crusade is not for conservation but repair, and in another selection, âLocal Economies,â he offers a âreasonable permanence of dwelling place and vocationâ as one remedy. Adhering to an uncompromising ethic that combines stern humility with compassion, Berry rallies a sense of hope (though âthe task of hope becomes harderâ) and responsibility for confronting growing physical and political problems, represented here by the tortured political rhetoric he unpacks in âCaught in the Middle.â Moreover, he offers a range of practical, âsmall solutionsââchanges of principle, not policyâthat both chasten the reader and inspire him or her to continue âour long, necessary, difficult, happy effortâ to protect âour only world.â These essays are classic Berry, balancing the fiery conservationist prophet with the lucid and thoughtful poet; the reflective farmer with the visionary writer.
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