James Howard Kunstler’s Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and The Fate of the Nation is an update to Kunstler’s The Long Emergency (which I reviewed here). When The Long Emergency was published in 2005, Kunstler predicted an economic meltdown, a real estate collapse, government gridlock, environmental disasters, and social/cultural decline. So far, Kunstler’s batting a thousand. In Too Much Magic Kunstler analyzes the inadequate responses to all the problems that besiege us. Many people think technology will save us. Kunstler disproves that argument. Others think the problems are exaggerated, that things aren’t all that bad. Kunstler delivers some powerful statistics that show the worst is yet to come. Too Much Magic is not a Doom & Gloom book. It’s a book warning about the scary trends that will change our way of life permanently. If you want to get prepared for the shaky future, this is the place to start. GRADE: A
Just could never get myself through such a bleak book. You must be naturally a happy person to not have it make you feel like slitting your throat.
Patti, I’m the happiest person I know (and I’m not on Happy Drugs). I prefer Realism over Magical Thinking. Too many people think our problems will improve or just go away by doing NOTHING!
I like Kunstler’s writing, but it is rather bleak; there doesn’t seem to be any room for optimism–although as Sartre put it, happiness, too, is inevitable.
It seems to me that we had a good run from just after WWII until the election of Reagan (and the subsequent dismantling of the middle class). Perhaps we didn’t realize at the time that we were in a bit of a bubble, but now we’re returning to the eternal human condition of fraught social structures and shaky economic foundations.
Deb, you’re right. The U.S. had a great run after WWII (because the war didn’t affect our infrastructure like it did Europe and Japan). But now we’re living in an oil-based economy…and oil is running out. We can’t escape the effects of Global Warming either.
No, no, no.
*gets in bed, pulls covers over head, sticks fingers in ears*
Jeff, eventually you have to get out of bed and that’s when the trouble starts. TOO MUCH MAGIC points the way to some solutions to our problems, but so far little is being done.
I’m with Jeff. I think if I were 25 now instead of nearly 70 I’d be severely depressed about the future. As it is, with the time I have left, I’ll just make my quality of life the best I can and read escapist literature (by which I mean SF-F and mysteries).
Rick, sadly when there’s an economic downturn like the one we’re in now, the youthful workers are always hurt more. They’re the first to be laid-off, they’re last to be recalled. Life is tough for them.
Sounds like a really interesting book! I think that while technological development will help to alleviate some of our environmental problems, it won’t do enough. We need to change the way we view and interact with the world around us, understanding that we are part of the environment, and not above it.
I am curious, what specifically do you mean by social/cultural decline?
Lauren, you would enjoy THE LONG EMERGENCY and TOO MUCH MAGIC! Big Changes loom ahead for out planet. You’ll also like my post on Monday. The social/cultural decline can be seen in high homicide rates, high incarceration rates, lower life expectancy, high rates of infant mortality, obesity, and mental illness.