The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World Audiobook

" Hard to describe this book. It's a great thought experiment to imagine how our world must change, but I felt slightly less hopeful that it would after I read this. Good book, though. "

" The situation that Gilding proposes is that society will not act on climate change until it directly affects our economy and at that point, nations will rush to act to correct our behavior, as in the 2008 economic bailouts. An interesting read, by an author with a long history of activism. "

" I read Tom Friedman's Op Ed on The Great Disruption. I haven't read many books on this subject so don't have a lot to compare it to, but I was motivated by my free-floating anxiety about global warming and the future I'm leaving my daughter. It was certainly refreshing to read an optimistic perspective. Paul Gilding has worked on environmental issues for decades and is at his most compelling talking about the economic issues that he predicts will drive change and the adjustments to our economic model that will have to follow. "

" Gilding's premise is that the current "system" (economy and culture based on continuous growth and the accumulation of "stuff") is unsustainable and must be replaced by one that is sustainable (steady state economy with redistribution of wealth and a focus on personal development, human relationships, and community). Using climate change as an example of how the current system is dysfunctional, he points out that we are currently using 1.4 planets worth of resources to fuel the growth of our economy and support our exploding population and, in the process, destroying our ecosystem through anthropogenic global warming. He proposes that we may have reached the end of economic growth in 2008 and that we have already damaged the climate through the release of greenhouse gasses to the point that the planet will warm two degrees (F) by the end of the century without drastic action. He believes that the collapse of the old economy and the effects of global climate change will lead to "The Great Disruption," a kind of bottleneck through which humanity must pass in order to survive. The disruption (droughts, crop failures, loss of land to rising seas, mass migrations, economic collapse, failed states -- in other words, chaos) will result in the loss of a few billion people, but it will inspire an effort equivalent to that of the West in World War II, which will end global warming through "The One Degree War," effect a transition to clean energy sources, create a new and socially just economic system, and focus the energies of those who remain on achieving happiness (I assume in the Aristotelian sense) rather than on shopping. Although he has the science right, I think he is a bit too sanguine about human nature. His "one degree war" (intended to limit global warming to only one degree) relies heavily on untried, expensive, and possibly unsafe technical fixes carried over the century. The transition to a new economy and clean energy technology will take place largely during "The Great Disruption" and will be given urgency and credibility by that destabilizing event. (We only have to look at Somalia to get an idea of how difficult it is to effect major changes in the midst of chaos.) Gilding is a bit too glib about the prospect of losing a few billion people and 50% of the species now living and coming out of that disruption with our optimism intact, our priorities reordered, a more just economic system, clean energy, a stabilized climate, and a healthier Weltanschauung. He fervently believes that we will respond too slowly to the coming crisis but with overpowering zeal and ingenuity when we do respond. I hope he is right about that response; I fear that he is very wrong. "

" I appreciate that Paul Gilding takes time and care to build a wide context for his discussion of climate change: historically and culturally. He draws us into catalytic turning points in awareness about the natural world at various stages of his childhood and early adulthood, which ultimately became part of the foundation for his profession. He illustrates a cultural shift from nature as a nice place in which to retreat, toward perceiving the inherent interconnectedness of people and nature. There is much detail, but I consider it necessary and worth it. I am on page 162 and am still impressed. "

" This is a solid, well thought-out book by a man who I can respect. Yet, he doesn't quite make his case. Maybe it's because there are so many examples of societal collapse (see Diamond Jared) in situations of resource overreach, that Gilding's analogy to WWII doesn't entirely ring true. Or at least not as strongly as I would like. I came away from this book wanting to be optimistic, but not being comfortable with the reasoning. "

" Sobering. Great read for those looking for some hope in the climate change crystal ball. "

" Good read: we'll-written, informative, provocative, if not too overly optimistic and hopeful despite the dire facts. "

" This is a fantastically-written book on a very polarizing, and at times difficult, topic. "

" Written by an veteran of the Environmental movement from down under and former head of Greenpeace Australia Paul Gilding is probably best known for his Scream, Crash, Boom essay written back in 2005. I am currently in the early stages of reading this on my color nook. "

" Read for Class: Chapter 1-8 "

" I totally recommend this book to get you thinking about major change a-coming in our economic model and our way of life. I found Gilding's arguments compelling and terrifying, and am constantly trying to remember the name of the book in order to share it with others. "

" Very interesting and thought provoking. "

" Everyone should read this book. Startling, yet hopeful in a way that makes one question our true notion of progress and humanity. "

" Very readable realistic review of the coming environmental crisis we face as a planet. Gilding offers information about the inevitable effects of climate change and potential solutions that can lead us eventually to a better world. It's not full of just doom and gloom - but also a message of hope. "

" if you don't realize that economic growth is built on a false model, you're in for a crude awakening sooner rather than later... "

" I couldn't put this book down. Even though it has lots of data and information regarding our current climate crisis. Paul has a way to capture the reader and give a strong sense of hope to our consumption situation today. "