A review by samdalefox
Half-Earth Socialism: A Manifesto to Save the Future by Drew Pendergrass, Troy Vettesse

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I loved this book. I'm scoring this book highly because it is ambitious and dares to imagine an alternative way of life. So many leftist books describe the issues, very few actually try to outline solutions to problems. All whilst the status quo insists that There Is No Alternative (TINA) and criticises the left for not being 'realistic'. I think the attempt made here by Vettese and Pendergrass is comendable and we need more work building upon their foundation. The reason I have not scored the book higher is because there are some pretty big outstanding questions that are prompted by the content. Even if this book was not the right space to address them, it was the right space to acknowledge them to prompt further work. I've listed my thoughts on these topics below. 

The book is split into four chapters: I recommend reading tgestabrook's review for a greater detail of each chapter: [https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/f954785a-bd17-44cb-a983-a95080146c7e].

  1. Binding Prometheus - explains the underpinning philosophy of half earth socialism's 'ecological humility', and why it is the better option as opposed to Prometheanism or Malthusianism or the current status quo of neoliberal capitalism. My favourite illustrative quote in favour of regulation being: "The market could sell both the poison and its antidote, but it cared little about the right ratio of the two"
  2. A New Republic -  describes practical management of energy technologies to guide politics and action and minimise social change/unrest.
  3. Planning Half Earth - describes methods of economic planning to support harlf earth socialism focusing on Neurath, Kantorovich, Stafford beer, and 'in natura' democracy.
  4. News from 2047 - a modern take on William Blake's 'news from nowhere' illustrating the contents of Half Earth Socialism in a fictional experience.

The first chapter is about 31% of the book. Like others have noted in their reviews, my favourite sections where chapters 1 and 3. This is the kind of thinking and action we desparately need on the left. It gave me hope and something tangible to work with and build upon, which is so rare when reading climate crisis literature.

Speaking of,the authors have created a planning earth system model (ESM) that you can use yourself for free: Http://half.earth. This is a REALLY COOL tool/game that brings the concepts of the book to life. I'd recommend playing around there after finishing the book.

Outstanding Questions prompted by Half Earth Socialism:
  • How to allocate resources to different sectors e.g., healthcare
  • Culturally how do we manage disability, and those with the inability to work
  • I found the food production proposal of localised food incongruous with the wider research saying that this is impossible (e.g., read Regenesis) however this limitation does seem to be recognised in the ESM, just not clearly stated in the book
  • How will we achieve revolution in such a way to position ourselves to have control of the necessary resources and have world wide planning? The ESM suggests that we would need to achieve no borders, which presents cultural and practical questions. The ESM gives no indication of whether violence will be required or how to educate on a large scale. 
  • My biggest question is around democracy. Half earth socialism is not clear on what democracy it expects/needs in order to work. The book gives examples of both representative (indirect) democracy and participatory (direct) democracy. If we keep a global model of representative (voting and coalition parliament) democracy, what safeguards do we need to ensure we do not encounter the same issues of power and corruption as we do today? 
  • How do the arts factor in to this? People require the arts to fully thrive, not just survive.
  • I'd like to see more intersectional feminist considerations. These are clearly noted in the ESM, but not called out in the book in detail e.g., indigenous land back, freely available contraception, end the military-industrial complex etc.
  • What is the solution to Jevon's paradox of efficiency with respect to consumption?