Editorial Review

 Below is a review of my first book provided by:  International Review of Books.

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The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and HOW TO GET OFF IT

Which line stood out from all the others in the book?
It has taken about forty to fifty years for neoliberalism and corporate globalization to bring us to what might be the beginning of the path to human extinction.

General Summary for Context:
A look into what's going on right under our very noses—the extinction of the human race.  While this may sound a bit dramatic and drastic, the author provides us with a detailed albeit frightening look at how our preconceived notions (more is better, for example) are not leading us to happiness but instead, on a direct path to being obliterated. In addition, he offers recommendations as to how we can stop this freight train from crashing and burning, taking all of us along for the ride.

Concise Review:
A fascinating look at how our preconceived ideas of acquiring possessions, status, power and prestige (leading to unstoppable financial accumulation) is actually a barrier to personal fulfillment. Conspicuous consumption is not providing us with happiness but on the contrary, straight to ruination and destruction.  Indeed, how our actions are propelling us not to contentment but to the wanting of more and more, continuing the vicious cycle of materialism, greed and overconsumption. But there are things we can do to halt this process, and the author offers specific and informative suggestions as to what each of us can do as our part in continuing the human race.  

General Thoughts on the Book:
A truly grounding and disturbing look at how ideas and values ground into us from birth are not leading us towards happiness but to mass extinction.  Perhaps not tomorrow but certainly in the generations to come. I was riveted and totally engaged with this book and highly recommend it to anyone with an open mind who is willing to overcome their preconceived notions and take a careful look as to what this author is describing. Definitely a five star read.

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The book may be purchased here---
 https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BVJMMWLG/about
OR - 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beginning-of-the-path-to-human-extinction-and-how-to-get-off-it-scott-haley/1141364431?ean=2940160947181\
OR-
email me & I'll send you a free pdf copy.  Make the title of your email "Book 1 Copy".

My email is:  abstractcowboy@gmail.com
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Be Well

The Beginning of the Path...

 https://twitter.com/ScottHa85992272/status/1517008688757805057?s=20&t=g-cyDZeraww1yNhJ6JaPwQ

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beginning-of-the-path-to-human-extinction-and-how-to-get-off-it-scott-haley/1141364431?ean=2940160947181

The eBook version is now available. The paperback version will be shortly. If you scroll down at the Barnes & Noble page (above) to "About the author", you'll get a better idea of my qualifications for writing the book.

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Be Well

TRIBALISM: the Good, the Bad, the Beautiful, & the Ugly

The following is from the soon-to-be-published book, The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and HOW TO GET OFF IT - Notes on a Paradigm Shift.

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Ever since the beginning of Homo sapiens, we have adhered to the concept of tribalism. Even today, it’s a way of life among humans. It’s a philosophy and practice which more often than not provides solidarity, cooperation within the “tribe”/group, security, purpose, friendship, shared values, and stability. Modern-day tribes are numerous and varied. They are found in the arenas of religion, Race, ethnicity, economics, philosophy, nationhood, regionalism, vocation, academics, science, politics, ideology, and on & on. Often they overlap to one degree or another. A person easily can belong to more than one tribe. It appears, though, usually there’s one which is the most influential in a person’s life, and that can vary substantially from person to person. With any one person, it also can vary during different stages of an individual’s life. Unfortunately, there’s also a dark side to tribalism.

Hypothesis: one of the main causes of our social ills is the dark side of tribalism – intolerance of other groups, and arrogance relative to the virtues of one’s own group. Especially when members of any “tribe” feel threatened, those aspects spring forth. It may result from a perception or misperception that the group’s culture is slipping away or being assailed by some other faction. Prejudice follows, and discrimination. Social disharmony follows. Uncivil and unethical behavior follow. Sometimes, violence results. Intolerance and arrogance disrupt society in innumerable ways.

What can be done about it? What’s the solution to the problem? For centuries, probably for a few millennia or more, enlightened people have been trying to promote this idea: the most important human group we all belong to is Homo sapiens. [Not only that, but the most important planetary group we’re in is the Web of Life.] Relative to their efforts, some progress has been made… but not enough. One even could argue that for the last fifty years or so, we’ve been regressing.

For us to survive and thrive as a species, every one of us should look deep within and make a herculean effort to overcome intolerance. Such would involve countering the indoctrination we may have received from parents, other family members, friends, groups, institutions, and the like which has shaped our worldview. Entertain this probability, or at least, this possibility: in general, we humans have become a massive number of specialists in various ways. Apparently, to some degree we’ve lost the ability to think comprehensively about each other and our habitat. That seems to have resulted in many people developing a fear of losing their way of life, their culture. Intolerance grows in such a scenario, perhaps even hate.

For all their good works and best intentions, even religions at times exacerbate the situation. All across the spectrum, political groups often do the same. To be an ethical human, one has to look deeper than the surface of institutions and their ideologies. There’s a fine line between “truth” and opinion. Even some theoretical physicists have stated: we humans barely have scratched the surface of Reality. We don’t know nearly as much as we think we do. Question everything.

Bottom line: intolerance and arrogance increase the chances of a miserable human future, and ultimately, human extinction. That’s a well-founded opinion. In your own life, be rid of the dark side of tribalism. Then humans and the entire Web of Life have a great chance to flourish.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Bibliography for "The Beginning of the Path to...", Plus More on the Crisis & Solutions

Tentatively, the full title of the book I'm writing is:  The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and HOW TO GET OFF IT - Notes on a Paradigm Shift.  The bibliography below is incomplete because the book is not yet finished.  Hopefully, it will be by January, 2022.  Many of the following references can be found online, so those easily can be added to your socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis "library" collection.  If you don't have such a collection, here's a grand start.

Some may think my use of the term "human extinction" is nothing but hyperbole.  The experiences (both non-work and work-related) and the education I've had in the last 79 years tell me it isn't.  We're at the beginning of that path.  It's time to get our heads out of the sand, shed the apathy or ignorance we seem to cling to, ignore the Edward Bernays style propaganda, and get to work.

Many people around the world have made laudable first steps toward transitioning to a sustainable human existence.  For the most part, I think those efforts have been on a micro scale, and that's a necessity.  Some of the efforts have been on a macro scale, and that's a good start.  But too many Powers-That-Be appear to still be tinkering around the edges of the Crisis, or kicking the can down the road.  For example, there's a lot of talk about "net-zero" (carbon emissions) by 2050.  What that amounts to is postponing actions which could be taken now, and would result in solutions within ten years.  Those solutions would not require new, unknown technology.  2050 will be too late.

It isn't only carbon that's being dumped into the atmosphere by us.  The natural Nitrogen Cycle is being overloaded with nitrogen oxides (N2Ox) by human activities - primarily factory farming, manufacturing, fossil fuel combustion, solid waste incineration, and wastewater management.  Like methane (CH4), N2Ox compounds are multiple times more potent a greenhouse gas than is CO2.  Currently, nitrogen oxide emissions from our actions amount to only about 7%  of greenhouse gas emissions, but their potency is a concern.

Drastic changes are necessary to solve these problems, so all of us need to get on board and convince our Leaders to act, not just talk.  We need to start phasing out fossil fuels NOW, rather than issuing new drilling permits.  Similarly, we need to start transforming factory farms NOW.  We need to support/encourage/subsidize family regenerative farms NOW, rather than providing welfare to fossil fuel corps.  We need to significantly reduce or eliminate the monstrous carbon footprint of cement/concrete manufacturing NOW.  We need to tax mega carbon emissions NOW, and then disburse the funds directly as a universal basic income.  We need to tax billionaires NOW.  They stood on the shoulders of society to get where they are.  Society provided them with all kinds of infrastructure, communication, education, contacts, law enforcement, a civil habitat, etc.  [Yes, they helped pay for all that...but then, so did we all.]  Those are only a few of the things that could be done now, but there's little to no action because of the undue influence of corporatism/neoliberalism.

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NOTE:  Due to faulty copy-and-paste Tech algorithms (or maybe something else), the references below did not "paste" onto this venue quite right.  I spent an hour just correcting the transfer, but didn't get to things such as the proper indentation of each entry's 2nd (& 3rd, if applicable) line.  In other words, the bibliographic form below isn't exactly correct, but it's readable.

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Here's your bibliography for the education & tools needed to prevent the extinction of Homo sapiens.  There are many inspiring, brilliant, and useful references below.  The ones I think are the most illuminating are marked with an asterisk *.  Find the ones which most appeal to you.

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Almond, R.E.A., Grooten, M., and Petersen, T. (Editors). 2020. Living Planet Report 2020 – Bending the curve of biodiversity loss, World Wildlife Fund (WWF). pp. 6-35, 50-73, 112-135.

Bacevich, Andrew. 2020. The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory, Metropolitan Books.

______________. 2005. The New American Militarism – How Americans AreSeduced by War, Oxford University Press.

______________. April 18, 2021. Op-Ed: We don’t need a new Cold War with China, Los Angeles Times.

*Barnes, Peter. 2001 and 2003. Who Owns the Sky? - Our Common Assets and the Future of Capitalism, Island Press.

Bello, J. et al. September, 2020. Providing an enabling environment to promote the Sustainable Development Goals: Coventry University’s experience, Emerald Open Research.

Belmonte-Urena, Luis Jesus. et al. July, 2021. Circular economy, degrowth and green growth as pathways for research on sustainable development goals: A global analysis and future agenda, Ecological Economics, Volume 185.

Bernays, Edward. 1928. Propaganda – Molding the Public Mind, Horace Liveright Publisher.

Bernier, Austen K. 2016. Neoliberalism and the Environmental Movement: Contemporary Considerations for the Counter Hegemonic Struggle, CU Scholar, Undergraduate Honors Theses, Paper 1013. pp. 31-81, 86-92.

Biggs, Eloise M. et al. December, 2015. Sustainable development and the water–energy–food nexus: A perspective on livelihoods, Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 54. pp. 389-397.

Bindi, Marco. et al. 2018. Impacts of 1.5 Degrees Celsius of Global Warming on Natural and Human Systems, IPCC Special Report, Chapter 3. [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]

Blanco, Eduardo. et al. January, 2021. Urban Ecosystem-Level Biomimicry and Regenerative Design: Linking Ecosystem Functioning and Urban Built Environments,  Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 1.

*Brown, Lester R. 2008. Plan B 3.0 – Mobilizing to Save Civilization, W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 133-139, 153-163, 176-182, 194-204, 239-258, 267-272, 280-287.

*Brown, L.R., Flavin, C., French, H., et al. 1999. State of the World, 1999, A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society, W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 41-59, 78-95, 133-150, 169-188.

Buscher, Bram. April, 2021. Planning for a world beyond COVID-19: Five pillars for post- neoliberal development, World Development, Volume 140.

*Cairns, John Jr. 2004. Eco-Ethics and Sustainability Ethics, Inter-Research (Publisher). pp. 189-202, 220-252, 274-277, 288-306.

Castree, Noel, et al. 2009. A Companion to Environmental Geography, Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.

*Clarke, Felix. November, 2021. Book Review: Entropy Law, Sustainability, and Third Industrial Revolution, R. Sengupta, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (4 August 2020), Ecological Economics, Volume 189.

*Collins, Chuck. 2016. Born on Third Base – A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good, Chelsea Green Publishing. pp. 59-100, 141-203.

*Commoner, Barry. 1971. The Closing Circle – Nature, Man, and Technology, Knopf Press and Bantam Books. pp. 14-48, 112-124, 140-215, 250-292.

_____________. 1976. The Poverty of Power – Energy and the Economic Crisis, Alfred A. Knopf (Publisher). pp. 6-29, 76-112, 221-249.

Costanza, Robert, et al. 1997. An Introduction to Ecological Economics, St. Lucie Press (a publishing imprint of CRC Press). pp. 80-100, 108-139, 206-216.

*Curry, Patrick. 2011. Ecological Ethics – An Introduction, Second Edition, Polity Press. pp. 28-49, 184-243, 253-266.

*Czech, Brian (Edited by). 2020. Best of the Daly News – Selected Essays from the Leading Blog in Steady State Economics, 2010-2018, Steady State Press. pp. 3-56, 65- 66, 82-84, 93-95, 107-110.

*____________. 2021. Supply Shock – Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution, Steady State Press (an imprint of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy – CASSE). pp. 51-116, 137-169, 275-327.

Dallek, Robert. 2017. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life, Viking (an imprint of Penguin Random House).

*Daly, Herman E. 1996. Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, Beacon Press.

_____________. 1999. Ecological Economics and the Ecology of Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 27-73, 77-105, 123-131.

_____________ and Farley, Joshua. 2004. Ecological Economics, Principles and Applications, Island Press. pp. 19-35, 64-76, 121-122, 201-220, 228-244, 323-342, 365-372.

D’Amato, D. and Korhonen, J. October, 2021. Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework, Ecological Economics, Volume 188.

Dhara, Chirag, and Singh, Vandana. June, 2021. The Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth, Scientific American.

Ehrlich, Paul R. December, 2014. Human Impact: the ethics of I=PAT, Stanford University, Center for Conservation Biology.

____________. February, 2008. Key issues for attention from ecological economists, Environment and Development Economics, Volume 13,Number 1.

*____________. 1997. A World of Wounds: Ecologists and the Human Dilemma, Ecology Institute. pp. 51-93, 113-151.

____________. March, 2020. Paul R. Ehrlich: A pandemic, planetary reckoning, and a path forward, Environmental Health News. [Online]

Epstein, Graham. et al. June, 2015. Institutional fit and the sustainability of social–ecological systems, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Volume 14, pp. 34-40.

Faria, Luiz R. R. July, 2020 and April, 2021. Conservation optimism and reckoning with the future, Conservation Biology. pp. 745-747.

Fazey, Ioan. et al. June, 2018. Ten essentials for action-oriented and second order energy transitions, transformations and climate change research, Energy Research & Social Science Volume 40, pp. 54-70.

Fernandez, Emilio. et al. March, 2019. Operational principles of circular economy for sustainable development: Linking theory and practice, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 214.

Fuller, R. Buckminster. 1969 (New Edition, 2020). Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Lars Muller Publishers. pp. 57-106, 121-138.

Georgescu-Roegen, Nicholas. 1971. The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, Harvard University Press.

Gill, Joel C. et al. June, 2019. The role of Earth and environmental science in addressing sustainable development priorities in Eastern Africa, Environmental Development, Volume 30. pp. 3-20.

Gulyas, Boglarka and Edmonson, Jill. January, 2021. Increasing City Resilience through Urban Agriculture: Challenges and Solutions in the Global North, Sustain ability, Volume 13, Issue 3.

Grossa, John and Marsh, William M. 2001. Environmental Geography: Science, Land Use and Earth Systems, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 44-48, 81-102, 134-155, 162- 182, 199-206, 227-234, 264-281, 336-355.

Hachaichi, Mohamed and Baouni, Tahar. February, 2020. Downscaling the planetary boundaries (Pbs) framework to city scale-level: De-risking MENA region’s environ- ment future [MENA = Middle East & North Africa], Environmental and Sustainabil-ity Indicators, Volume 5.

Hammond, Debora. 2010. The Science of Synthesis: Exploring the Social Implications of General Systems Theory, University Press of Colorado.

Hanna, Elie and Comin, Francisco. October, 2021. Urban Green Infrastructure and Sus- tainable Development: A Review, Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 20.

Hawken, Paul. et al. 1999. Natural Capitalism – Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Little, Brown and Company. pp. 48-61, 82-110, 190-212, 285-308.

*Heinberg, Richard. 2011. The End of Growth – Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, New Society Publishers. pp. 6-20, 56-69, 105-153, 241-254, 268-283.

Herrfahrdt-Pahle, Elke. et al. July, 2020. Sustainability transformations: socio-political shocks as opportunities for governance transitions, Global Environmental Change, Volume 63.

Hickey, Colin and Robeyns, Ingrid. December, 2020. Planetary justice: What can we learn from ethics and political philosophy?, Earth System Governance, Volume 6.

Johnson, Justin A. et al. September, 2021. Energy matters: Mitigating the impacts of future land expansion will require managing energy and extractive footprints, Ecological Economics, Volume 187.

Karlsson, Mikael, and Edvardsson Bjornberg, Karin. August, 2020 and April, 2021. Ethics and biodiversity offsetting, Conservation Biology. pp. 578-586.

Kates, Robert W. February, 2016. Sustainability Science, International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology, Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons.

*Keller, David R. (Edited by). 2010. Environmental Ethics – The Big Questions, Wiley-Blackwell (A John Wiley & Sons Publication). pp. 77-81, 98-109, 137- 142, 193-210, 268-274, 352-358, 380-411, 426-446, 509-533.

Kolbert, Elizabeth. 2006. Field Notes From a Catastrophe – Man, Nature, and Climate Change, Bloomsbury USA. pp. 136-144, 183-199.

Leach, Melissa. et al. November, 2018. Equity and sustainability in the Anthropocene: a social–ecological systems perspective on their intertwined futures, Global Sustainability, Cambridge University Press.

Lehmann, Paul. et al. July, 2021. Managing spatial sustainability trade-offs: The case of wind power, Ecological Economics, Volume 185.

*Lent, Jeremy. 2021. The Web of Meaning – Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, New Society Publishers. pp. 121-148, 260-289, 349-382.

Leopold, Aldo. 1949 (Ballantine Edition, 1966). A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press and Ballantine Books. pp. 237-295.

Limburg, Karin and Costanza, Robert (Editors). 2010. Ecological Economics Reviews, ANNALS of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 1185. Published by Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the NY Academy. pp. 11-26, 54-96, 119-131, 164-193, 225-244.

Marselle, Melissa. et al. May, 2021. Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework, Environment International, Volume 150.

*Mattis, Kristine. August, 2018. Dying of Consumption While Guzzling Snake Oil: The En- vironment Crisis Requires Overhauling Our Corporate Industrial Civilization, CommonDreams.org

*____________. December, 2018. An Economy That Does Not Consider Ecology Is Not Sustainable, CommonDreams.org

*McKibben, Bill. 2007. Deep Economy – The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, Henry Holt and Company. pp. 46-66, 95-108, 129-158, 177- 226.

___________. 1989. The End of Nature, Random House, and Anchor Books(Doubleday). pp. 47-70, 95-117, 139-149, 171-217.

Molles, Manuel and Sher, Anna. 2019. Ecology: Concepts and Applications, 8^th Edition, McGraw Hill Publishing.

Okushima, Shinichiro. September, 2021. Energy poor need more energy, but do they need more carbon? Evaluation of people's basic carbon needs, Ecological Economics, Volume 187.

Orr, David W. 1994. Earth in Mind – On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect, Island Press. pp. 35-39, 60-63, 74-77, 104-111, 131-152, 154-170.

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Poitras, Geoffrey. June, 2021. Rhetoric, epistemology and climate change economics, Ecological Economics, Volume 184.

Prashad, Vijay. September, 2020. Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations, Monthly Review Press.

Preston, Jr., Richard J. 1970. North American Trees, The M.I.T. Press. pp. ix-x, xiii-xxiii.

Quigley, Carroll. May 1968. Needed: A Revolution in Thinking, National Education Association Journal, Volume 57. pp. 8-10.

Rees, William E. October, 1992. Ecological Footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out, Environment and Urbanization, Volume 4, Number 2.

____________ and Wackernagel, Mathis. 1996. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, New Society Publishers. pp. 7-29, 40-57, 125-140, 149-157.

*_____________. June, 2015. Economics vs. the Economy, Great Transition Initiative [Publisher].

Sareen, Siddarth and Wolf, Steven A. July, 2021. Accountability and sustainability transitions, Ecological Economics, Volume 185.

Sarkodie, Samuel A. January 10, 2021. Environmental performance, biocapacity, carbon & ecological footprint of nations: Drivers, trends and mitigation options, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 751.

*Schumacher, E. F. 1973. Small is Beautiful – Economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row Publishers. pp. 53-62, 102-117, 134-145.

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*Suzuki, David and McConnell, Amanda. 1999. The Sacred Balance –Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, Greystone Books – The Douglas & Mcintyre Publishing Group. pp. 76-104, 184-200, 207-240.

Taibbi, Matt. 2010. Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America, Spiegel & Grau Publishers (a former publishing imprint of Penguin Random House).

Tolle, Eckhart. 2005. A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Penguin Books/Plume Books. pp. 8-23, 25-84, 279-309.

Tschiderer, Luca. July, 2021. Book Review - The Birth of Energy: Fossil Fuels, Thermodynamics, and the Politics of Work, Cara New Daggett, Duke University Press, Durham NC (2019), Ecological Economics, Volume 185.

Vassallo, Paulo. et al. April, 2021. Biophysical Accounting of Forests’ Value Under Different Management Regimes: Conservation vs. Exploitation, Sustainability, Volume 13, Issue 9.

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*Washington, Haydn (Edited by). 2020. Ecological Economics – Solutions for the Future, Published by the Editor. pp. 25-90, 188-218, 309-356. [Book arose from the 2019 Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics Conference held at RMIT University, Melbourne Australia in November, 2019.]

*Watts, Alan. 1971. Does It Matter? – Essays on Man’s Relation to Materiality, New World Library. pp. 1-53, 99-128.

Weston, Burns H. and Bollier, David. 2013. Green Governance – Ecological Survival, Human Rights, and the Law of the Commons, Cambridge University Press. pp. 50-76, 112-120, 123-154, 226-256.

*Wilson, Edward O. 2016. Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, Liveright Publishing, a division of W. W. Norton & Company.

*______________. 2002. The Future of Life, Alfred A. Knopf (Publisher).  pp. 22-41, 79-102, 149-189.

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Be Well