 | A WRITER'S WIT |  T. Naifeh |
MY BOOK WORLD
Klein, Ezra and Derek Thompson. Abundance. New York: Simon, 2025.
If you’ve ever listened to Klein’s podcast via the Times, you know how bright and articulate he is, how in-depth he explores an issue. In the introduction he and Thompson state up front:
“This book is dedicated to a simple idea: to have the future we want, we need to build and invent more of what we need” (4).
So much of what they say is important that I find myself underlining far more than I usually do in a book these days, but I find this statement moving: “Over the course of the twentieth century, America developed a right that fought the government and a left that hobbled it. Debates over the size of government obscured the diminishing capacity of government. An abundance of consumer goods distracted us from a scarcity of homes and energy and infrastructure and scientific breakthroughs. A counterforce is emerging, but it is young yet” (5).
The authors focus on both the right and the left, making the problems discussed more universal, less partisan in nature. The authors use California as an example. The state has for years attempted to build a high-speed railroad between LA and SF. After receiving billions of dollars, it is still not done. In fact, in most aspects, it has never begun. Too many state regulations and laws that must be overcome, just to mention one aspect. That is the problem with the left: too many restrictions originally meant to protect land and other values. The right is just the opposite. They want restrictions lifted so they may have the freedom to do what they wish, all the time, full stop—regardless of the outcomes.
So much more I could cite, but I’ll end with this statement concerning energy and how it affects our conception of abundance: “The stocks of fossil fuels are finite and their continued combustion is lethal. This would be true even if climate change was a hoax. Air pollution kills between 7 million and 9 million people each year; that is six or seven times the death toll from traffic accidents and hundreds of times the death toll from war or terrorism or all natural disasters combined. It is deadliest where people cook by burning wood or charcoal and farm by burning the end of the last season’s crops. That is to say, it is deadliest where people are energy poor, because where people are energy poor, they burn fuel and breathe in the byproducts” (63).
This book is one of the most refreshing, stimulating, and informative that I have read in a long time. Buy a copy, read it, and then send copies to your family and friends. It deserves to be widely read.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | Jandy Nelson
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Anthony Bourdain
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Pearl S. Buck
FRI: My Book World | TBD
If you’ve ever listened to Klein’s podcast via the Times, you know how bright and articulate he is, how in-depth he explores an issue. In the introduction he and Thompson state up front:
“This book is dedicated to a simple idea: to have the future we want, we need to build and invent more of what we need” (4).
So much of what they say is important that I find myself underlining far more than I usually do in a book these days, but I find this statement moving: “Over the course of the twentieth century, America developed a right that fought the government and a left that hobbled it. Debates over the size of government obscured the diminishing capacity of government. An abundance of consumer goods distracted us from a scarcity of homes and energy and infrastructure and scientific breakthroughs. A counterforce is emerging, but it is young yet” (5).
The authors focus on both the right and the left, making the problems discussed more universal, less partisan in nature. The authors use California as an example. The state has for years attempted to build a high-speed railroad between LA and SF. After receiving billions of dollars, it is still not done. In fact, in most aspects, it has never begun. Too many state regulations and laws that must be overcome, just to mention one aspect. That is the problem with the left: too many restrictions originally meant to protect land and other values. The right is just the opposite. They want restrictions lifted so they may have the freedom to do what they wish, all the time, full stop—regardless of the outcomes.
So much more I could cite, but I’ll end with this statement concerning energy and how it affects our conception of abundance: “The stocks of fossil fuels are finite and their continued combustion is lethal. This would be true even if climate change was a hoax. Air pollution kills between 7 million and 9 million people each year; that is six or seven times the death toll from traffic accidents and hundreds of times the death toll from war or terrorism or all natural disasters combined. It is deadliest where people cook by burning wood or charcoal and farm by burning the end of the last season’s crops. That is to say, it is deadliest where people are energy poor, because where people are energy poor, they burn fuel and breathe in the byproducts” (63).
This book is one of the most refreshing, stimulating, and informative that I have read in a long time. Buy a copy, read it, and then send copies to your family and friends. It deserves to be widely read.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | Jandy Nelson
WEDS: A Writer's Wit | Anthony Bourdain
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Pearl S. Buck
FRI: My Book World | TBD
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