Plenitude by Juliet B. Schor The Penguin Press HK$208
The crash of 2008-09 put the nail in the coffin of capitalist business-as-usual. Now the scramble is on as the world searches for a sustainable, green way of living that doesn't wreck the planet.
Well, that's the direction Juliet Schor would like to see, anyway. A Boston College sociology professor, economist and best-selling author, Schor has written Plenitude as a road map for lightening our carbon footprints over the next few years, as the human community adjusts to the unfolding green revolution.
Idealistic? Better make that essential, if the planet is to survive. The US electric power industry registered US$22.2 billion in profits in 2004. But factor in liabilities associated with three kinds of emissions (carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides) and that profit became a net loss of US$28.2 billion, Schor writes in one of many telling examples.
Plenitude is in the spirit of 'small is beautiful' and the sustainability movement of the 1990s, but in a practical, plugged-in way rich in anecdotes and inspiring examples of how to live sustainably and change our values.
The four principles of plenitude are: working fewer hours at 'normal' jobs; learning to provide for yourself much of the food and consumer goods you're used to buying; keeping your consumer life low-cost, low-impact and yet highly satisfying; and revitalising community and social connections.
