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Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken. 2007. Viking, 342p.
Paul Hawken, author of The Ecology of Commerce and one of three authors of
Natural Capitalism, has earned our respect as a thoughtful environmental analyst
with a positive outlook. Having been taught by a Native American that social
justice issues are environmental issues, he has collected the names of groups
organized to address environmental or social justice issues. As he accumulates
data on more and more of these grass roots organizations around the Earth, he is
impressed by their number and diversity. The activities of more than one million
citizen groups create blessed unrest, actions working toward solutions.
He explains that globalize means to make an object round. Globalization began
over 500 years ago. It continues as western culture and habits are exported
including our appetite for goods. Corporate exploitation of resources and native
cultures has generated misery and injustice. .
He argues that we engage in two kinds of games. Some games are finite. These
have fixed and rigid rules. After a competition the game ends with the
recognition of a winner and a loser. Examples include basketball, banking,
business and Wall street. Other games are infinite. In these games the rules
change to allow the game to continue. Players act to insure that the game never
ends. The goal is not to win, but to cooperate and continue the game. Examples
include family, culture and sustainability. We need to transform some of our
environmental struggles from finite to infinite games.
He concludes, “If you look at the science that describes what is happening on
earth today and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data. If you meet
the people in this unnamed movement and aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a
heart.”
Review written December 16, 2008
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