About the Book

A best seller in France, and already translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Korean, HervA(c) Kempfas "How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth" now appears in its first English edition. Bringing to bear more than twenty years of experience as an environmental journalist, Kempf describes the invincibility that many of the worldas wealthy feel in the face of global warming, and how their unchecked privilege is thwarting action on the single most vexing problem facing our world.In this important primer on the link between global ecology and the global economy, Kempf makes the following observations: First, that the planetas ecological situation is growing ever worse, despite the efforts of millions of engaged citizens around the world. And second, despite environmentalistsa emphasis that "weare all in the same boat," the worldas economic elitesawho continue to benefit by plundering the environmentahave access to "lifeboats" that insulate them from the resulting catastrophes.Societies have not been able to effectively combat the expanding ecological crisis because it is intimately linked to the social crisis in which the ruling form of capitalism has been organized to impede democratic initiatives. This link explains the failure to make progress against the greatest emergency of our time, because in this relationship the oligarchy plays an essential and destructive role. For this reason, solving the ecological crisis depends on disrupting the power of the worldas elite.We cannot understand the entwined ecological and social crises, Kempf argues, if we donat see them as the two sides of the same disasteraa disaster that comes from a system piloted by a dominant social strata that has no drive other than greed, no ideal other than conservatism, no dream other than technology. But Kempf also calls for measured optimism: "Despite the scale of the challenges that await us, solutions are emerging andafaced with the sinister prospects the oligarchs promoteathe desire to remake the world is being reborn."

Product Details

Media: Paperback Book, 124 pages

Language: English

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company (Sep. 30th, 2008)

ISBN-10: 1603580352

ISBN-13: 9781603580359

Dimensions: 5.46 x 8.32 x 0.39 inches

Shipping Weight: 0.44 lbs

• Categories: Sustainable Development Political Economic Conditions General Environmental Conservation & Protection