Niall Ferguson sees plenty of problems ahead. Sure the Covid-19 Pandemic killed millions over the globe and continues to raise havoc in Asia and Africa. But Ferguson sees more problems just as dire: climate change, global warming, cyber terrorism, political unrest, health concerns, and racial inequality.
I’m an optimistic guy, but it’s hard to come away from Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe without a sense of foreboding. When you start a book with Chapter One titled “The Meaning of Death” you know you’re in for a rough ride.
How do you feel about the Future? What do you think is the gravest problem that faces us? GRADE: B+
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Meaning of Death 19
Chapter 2 Cycles and Tragedies 43
Chapter 3 Gray Rhinos, Black Swans, and Dragon Kings 69
Chapter 4 Networld 105
Chapter 5 The Science Delusion 141
Chapter 6 The Psychology of Political Incompetence 175
Chapter 7 From the Boogie Woogie Flu to Ebola in Town 213
Chapter 8 The Fractal Geometry of Disaster 251
Chapter 9 The Plagues 285
Chapter 10 The Economic Consequences of the Plague 319
Chapter 11 The Three-Body Problem 345
Conclusion Future Shocks 379
Acknowledgments 397
Notes 399
Index 457
Well, disaster has always loomed, for the species and the planet, leaving aside the heat-death of the universe (or at least the dimensions we readily perceive…I’ve not been keeping up, but when I last was, the eleven-dimensional model had greatest physicist favor).
The greatest threat for us specifically, as always, is power-lust and stupidity, and the cruelty and selfishness that go along with these and in turn sparks them. And how microbes and other things evolve and how Really Big Meteors and Earthquakes can come at any time.
Todd, back in the 1960s the British SF writers wrote dozens of End-of-the-World novels that scared the bejeezus out of my teenage self!
Yes, I see doom too, but I don’t want to make things worse for me by reading this. If it can make even George depressed, it’s a no!
110 degrees in Portland, the worst drought out west in decades, ice caps melting, the Great Barrier Reef in trouble, i’d have to go with what we’ve done and are doing to this planet as #1. It might be too late already, but we will probably be gone before all the direst predictions (rising sea levels, etc.) do come true, and they will.
In this country, the worst problem is Mitch McConnell and the politics of selfishness and pettiness. Plenty (well, maybe not plenty, but enough) of Republicans would compromise and deal on many issues were Moscow Mitch not the intransigent, short-sighted, uncaring POS that he is.
I await Deb’s analysis.
Jeff, and don’t forget condo buildings falling down!
Ferguson is using a theme familiar to readers of science fiction: What happerns when a concept (Ie radical political/religious movement, popular trend, force of nature, etc.) is taken to its logical conclusion. I’m not sure any ever do.
It seems like most of today’s mess can be blamed on short-sighted self-interest. Oil companies promote themselves at the cost of global climate change; politicians curry favor by undermining democracy…. even I, at my age, find some comfort in thinking that if the worst does happen, I shan’t be around to see it.
Dan, there might just be a convergence of many of these problems. Certainly Climate Change poses an existential risk.
When close to half of our country is not only unwilling to take on huge issues like climate change, infrastructure maintenance, new & rapidly-mutating viruses, and the instability of wealth inequality but is instead actively promoting beliefs & actions that exacerbate these problems, I truly don’t see how we change minds and, thereby, alter the course of the future. I used to be cautiously optimistic, but after Trump was elected on what was nothing but the politics of racism, populism, anti-intellectualism, scapegoating, greed, and unutterable stupidity, my optimism curdled. I don’t like to be the “Debbie Downer,” but it’s going to take finer minds than mine to work our way out of this morass.
Though never confuse “half the government” with “half the country”…most of the country is too busy surviving, and small fragments of the country actually vote, whether that’s “get to vote” or “choose to vote”…and votes don’t control politicians except in perceptions of their loss…
Trump. of course, wasn’t so much elected as installed by the Electoral College. Odd how he never complains about that.
Todd, Trump and the GOP know how to work the System to get the results they want.
Deb, the consequences of not improving infrastructure, not preparing for a pandemic, not dealing with climate change or immigration, all adds up to Big Problems that border on the Unsolvable because of neglect. Finer minds need time and resources to address these issues…and they’re not getting them at this time.
There are lots of doom-laden scenarios but I’d say the most likely is climate change exacerbated by stupidity. It may already be too late to reverse the effects of climate change and, of course, there’s no cure for stupidity.
Michael, well said. The clock is ticking on Climate Change. If we don’t do something soon, it will be too late to reverse the effects.
What Jeff said (94.7 degrees now at 11:45am, heading to 111), and what Deb said. Oregon will be “fully open” July 1, and that worries me too. Bah.
Rick, we’re at nearly 90 degrees today with high humidity. Double Bah!
Sorry I’m late in responding, but a wonky computer had me off-line yesterday.
I am one of those optimistic guys who thinks we will keep mudding along, despite all bad things Nature and Mitch McConnell throw at us. There is doom and gloom in our future, no doubt, but hey, the dinosaurs lasted for millions of years and they were way more stupid than humanity. So. yeah. We’ll be round, but it may not be pretty.
And I will gladly nominate Deb for any higher office available. Who’s with me?
Jerry, I’m with you on Deb for President!