On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal Kindle Edition
by Naomi Klein (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 399 ratings
See all formats and editions
Kindle
$14.99
Read with Our Free App
Audible Logo Audiobook
1 Credit
-----------------------
#1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author Naomi Klein makes the case for a Green New Deal in this “keenly argued, well-researched, and impassioned” manifesto (The Washington Post).
An instant bestseller, On Fire shows Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but also as a spiritual and imaginative one. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of “perpetual now,” to the soaring history of humans changing and evolving rapidly in the face of grave threats, to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of “climate barbarism,” this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink.
An expansive, far-ranging exploration that sees the battle for a greener world as indistinguishable from the fight for our lives, On Fire captures the burning urgency of the climate crisis, as well as the fiery energy of a rising political movement demanding a catalytic Green New Deal.
“Naomi Klein’s work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations.” —Greta Thunberg, climate activist
"If I were a rich man, I’d buy 245 million copies of Naomi Klein’s 'On Fire' and hand-deliver them to every eligible voter in America…Klein is a skilled writer." —Jeff Goodell, The New York Times (less)
---
Product description
Book Description
No.1 international and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein makes the case for a Green New Deal --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Review
"[In On Fire] Naomi Klein makes a keenly argued, well-researched and impassioned case. . . . [Y]ou need to read this book."
--David Grinspoon, The Washington Post
"If I were a rich man, I'd buy 245 million copies of Naomi Klein's 'On Fire' and hand-deliver them to every eligible voter in America. . . . Klein is a skilled writer."
--Jeff Goodell, The New York Times
"Naomi Klein is the intellectual godmother of the Green New Deal --which just happens to be the most important idea in the world right now"--Bill McKibben
"A critically important thought-leader in these perilous times, a necessary voice as a courageous movement of movements rises from the ashes."--Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
"For a quarter century, now, Naomi Klein has been an outspoken and fearless voice on that which late-stage hyper-capitalism has wrought upon the world: income inequality, overreaching corporate power, for-profit empire building and, of course, the consequent climate crisis. Honestly, we don't deserve her, and looking back at her seven books one can't help but think of Cassandra, her warnings ever accurate yet unheeded... with her eighth book, On Fire, Klein collects her longform writing on the climate crisis--from the dying Great Barrier Reef to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico--and somehow manages to strike a hopeful note as she calls for a radical commitment to the Green New Deal, the kind of collective mobilization that saved us from the brink in WWII, and might be our only hope now."--Lit Hub
"Masterful. . .What separates Klein from many other advocates for a Green New Deal is her balanced combination of idealism and politics-based realism. . .Another important addition to the literature on the most essential issue of our day."--Kirkus Reviews
"Naomi is like a great doctor--she can diagnose problems nobody else sees."--Alfonso Cuarón, Academy Award-winning director of Roma
"Naomi Klein applies her fine, fierce and meticulous mind to the greatest, most urgent questions of our times. . . . I count her among the most inspirational political thinkers in the world today."--Arundhati Roy, Man Booker Prize-winng author of The God of Small Things
"Naomi Klein is a precious gift: every time I read her words, my heart leaps from sadness and anger to action. She takes us deep, down to the roots of what is wrong--and then up, up to a height from which we can see what must be done. Everything we love is at stake now: these writings are our best and brightest hope."--Emma Thompson
"Naomi Klein's work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations."--Greta Thunberg, climate activist --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Read more
Product details
ASIN : B07P32FHMD
Publisher : Allen Lane; 1st edition (17 September 2019)
---
Print length : 310 pages
----
Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 399 ratings
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future
The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future
David Wallace-Wells
4.5 out of 5 stars 2,116
---
Top reviews from Australia
Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars It's not about a Green New Deal
Reviewed in Australia on 31 October 2019
Verified Purchase
I tried to read this, but it doesn't live up to the title. Whilst there is some good work in it about a Green New Deal, it is superficial and I wish the whole book had been dedicated to this much needed topic. It makes random and at times ethically questionable connections to current affairs like the Christchurch massacre, to support what is largely a rhetorical argument of stirring prose but little else. It's a long way from the seminal No Logo written 20 years ago.
--
Christopher Meder
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book of the year!
Reviewed in Australia on 30 December 2019
Best book I've read in years! What a refreshing read, free of cognitive biases, deflections and excuses. Very apt analogies and social commentaries that cuts through layers of misinformation and conservatives posturing. Not just a sobering book but also one offering possible path forward.
--
Top reviews from other countries
satisficer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good read but lacking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 December 2019
Verified Purchase
I enjoy reading Naomi Klein but I know I will be getting into something invariably polemical. It is true that current economic growth paradigm is not sustainable, but I do not believe the current model is best described as ‘neoliberal’, certainly not outside America. nor is there much evidence that the government is the leading light for change. Most of the world is already some kind of mixed economy. And the ‘corporations bad, government good’ line (also 'globalism bad, localism good') doesn’t bare basic scrutiny. Of the top 100 CO2 polluting organisations in the world (responsible for 70% co2 emissions), the majority are state owned. This suggests ownership structures (private vs public) is not the crux of the issue.
Her praise of Germany's energy transition policy shows a blatant disregard for facts. Germany committed to shutting down nuclear following Fukushima (again this fits with her ideological opposition to nuclear), and 'localism' (which she favours) has put meant no onshore wind is currently being built because the NIMBYs do not want it. Germany has contributed nothing to decarbonisation since 2010. She glosses over the slow pace of coal shutdowns in Germany as if it's a minor footnote with only passing relevance to her main point. It is not. Further, the reason coal is being shutdown slowly is to support employment in the coal sectors, and to manage the socio-economic implications of the transition for real people. In her world, this conflict simply does not exist.
Compare Germany with the UK strategy, which barely gets a mention. This is largely private sector and markets based (with highly successful auction based subsidy regime for renewables), and with legally enshrined decarbonisation targets. UK (and other European) offshore wind subsidies have largely paid for development of the technology, now being developed globally. Again, the innovation is being delivered by large, profit-seeking corporations. The government is providing market structure but it is not delivering the investment or the change.
I guess the biggest question for me is what political structure she is actually advocating. What if there is no democratic mandate for the kind of change she thinks is required?
---
17 people found this helpful
---
papapownall
5.0 out of 5 stars The case for a Green New Deal is compelling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2019
Verified Purchase
Astonishingly it is 20 years since Naomi Klein wrote No Logo which focused on the how big brands simultaneously control the lives of consumers in the developed world and exploit workforces in the poorer countries who manufacture their products. This shook many people into action and affected the public profile of at least some of the global companies who adjusted their ways as a result.
Naomi Klein is now focused on wider issues associated with the climate change emergency and, in this book, she echoes the voice of Greta Thunberg (who was not even born when No Logo came out), to appeal for us all to act as if this was an emergency. Klien calls for a Green New Deal similar to FD Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930's that turned the United States from the depths of economic depression to a global superpower in less than a generation. The book consists of a series of essays that Klein has written between 2016 and 2019 in response to the current issues and, in particular, the obvious candidates who are the non believers who continue to plough on with destructive fossil fuels.
The case for a Green New Deal is compelling and this book is as relevant as anything written on the subject of the climate emergency. If this book is as successful as No Logo in changing both public perception and that of those in power then there might just be a chance. We live in hope.
---
10 people found this helpful
Report abuse
strangefruit
5.0 out of 5 stars An important book about climate Crisis
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2019
Verified Purchase
Why is Climate Crisis happening, what can we do, what are the options? Why the systems of the western world have to change for the sake of our very existence on the planet. Why the Crisis is as much a crisis of capitalism as of Climate, the two intertwined. Klein's clear and un-fussy language gives you the information up to the date the book was published.
4 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2019
Verified Purchase
This seems to be a collection of transcriptions of talks Naomi Klein has given over the past few years. She addresses the many causes for our current climate crisis and outlines some solid ways we can pull ourselves back from the brink. If only everyone would read this book maybe we could all pull together because that's what's needed.
6 people found this helpful
---
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A layman's argument for A Green New Deal
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2020
Verified Purchase
If the climate action, the climate emergency and the idea of a green new deal are still subjects on which you feel shaky, then this book isn't a bad place to start, in looking at the politics of climate change. There are other books which go deeper into the scientific basis for various scenarios or which go into the technological options for mitigation and for a more sustainable future. This book, does what it says on the cover: it makes the case for a green new deal - in essence, pointing the way to the politics and economics of the future, in a way which will leave you excited and curious to learn more - rather than in a way that gives all the answers in great detail. It's an effective argument, not a manual.
Report abuse
See all reviews
Report an issue
--
On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
Want to Read
Rate this book
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
by Naomi Klein
4.22 · Rating details · 3,720 ratings · 505 reviews
#1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author Naomi Klein makes the case for a Green New Deal in this “keenly argued, well-researched, and impassioned” manifesto (The Washington Post).
An instant bestseller, On Fire shows Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but also as a spiritual and imaginative one. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of “perpetual now,” to the soaring history of humans changing and evolving rapidly in the face of grave threats, to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of “climate barbarism,” this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink.
An expansive, far-ranging exploration that sees the battle for a greener world as indistinguishable from the fight for our lives, On Fire captures the burning urgency of the climate crisis, as well as the fiery energy of a rising political movement demanding a catalytic Green New Deal.
“Naomi Klein’s work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations.” —Greta Thunberg, climate activist
"If I were a rich man, I’d buy 245 million copies of Naomi Klein’s 'On Fire' and hand-deliver them to every eligible voter in America…Klein is a skilled writer." —Jeff Goodell, The New York Times (less)
Rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Shelves to-read edit
( 808th )
Format Audiobook edit
Status
April 7, 2021 – Shelved as: to-read
April 7, 2021 – Shelved
Review Write a review
comment
FRIEND REVIEWS
Recommend This Book None of your friends have reviewed this book yet.
READER Q&A
Ask the Goodreads community a question about On Fire
54355902. uy100 cr1,0,100,100
Ask anything about the book
Be the first to ask a question about On Fire
LISTS WITH THIS BOOK
The Constitution of the United States of America by Founding FathersThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm XLiberty and Tyranny by Mark R. LevinThe Prince by Niccolò MachiavelliShortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg
Best Popular Nonfiction Politics Books on Goodreads
676 books — 38 voters
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth KolbertThis Changes Everything by Naomi KleinCollapse by Jared DiamondThe Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-WellsMerchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes
Best Popular Climate Books on Goodreads
116 books — 9 voters
---
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
Showing 1-30
Average rating4.22 · Rating details · 3,720 ratings · 505 reviews
---
Mario the lone bookwolf
Sep 30, 2019Mario the lone bookwolf rated it it was amazing
Shelves: klein-naomi, 0-social-criticism
We can create heaven or hell on earth, change the system or drive it against the wall, go towards a real utopia or a dystopia. With the climate as a cruel tyrant, wiping many of us from the planet.
Klein presents a collection of essays and concrete ideas towards an ecosocial change. As living examples, the Scandinavian states with their Nordic model can be seen as proof of functioning of a fairer society. Because critics like to say that humans aren´t philanthropic and altruistic and won´t work together and that there is only one working, economic system. Interestingly Sweden, Norway, Finnland, Iceland and Denmark are highest rated in the Human Development Index. The Swiss and The Netherlands, are, to a certain extent, similar too.
It seems as if the state is highly regulated and the humans live in prosperity, security and peace, they are friendly to each other.
And if the state is unregulated and the full carnivore potential for cruelty is unleashed, they shoot and extort each other. I mean, just look at the prisons and the educational system of the US and those countries. Mass incarceration with people becoming real criminals in prison or real resocialization and amnesty. Stupid frontal education with a lot of dropouts or an education based on the child-friendly standards of Montessori and Waldorf. And so on.
But what do I know, I am no economist.
In astronomy, one can take a look in the future. On planets that went different ways of runaway greenhouse effects. Venus, Mars, etc. Certainly, the whole progresses are still not nearly understood, but the facts are on the table. And even the melting of all ice on the planet won´t be such a big deal in contrast to possible catastrophes. Superstorms, the size of continents, that won´t ever stop, milling the surface and making life impossible in many regions. Probably a skip to global cooling, so that Snowball earth is there again and all freezes to death. We don´t understand the sun, so if it´s activity level suddenly drops, that could get nasty. A supervolcano that strengthens the effects. Combine astronomy with geology and meteorology and one gets many possible outcomes. Not in decades or centuries, but in millenniums, much can happen, started by our today's actions. And we see proofs of it everywhere in the night's sky.
A completely subjective standpoint: Got me, I am biased. I believe in wisdom and education that lead to a technological singularity. Or, in shorter terms, I am a friendly technocrat. Technology will certainly save us and enable space colonization, the solving of many problems, yada yada yada. The critical factor is time and I don´t believe that we will have sufficient possibilities to manipulate weather and climate in adequate quantities if we mess up everything with such a speed. Just imagine the number of machines needed to change global weather systems. If we don´t stop right enough in front of the abyss, the green planet probably won´t change its colour, cause global greening is just one of the possibilities.
But it will have lost its unique habitability and up to 99 percent of all species on it. Just extremophiles, cockroaches and us in underground bunkers, dealing with the problem of avoiding or at least minimizing incest because so few of us survived or were privileged enough to enter the underground facilities. Could also be that even that isn´t the worst problem, but avoiding epidemics and turning towards cannibalism to survive.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this overrated real-life outside books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_D...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planeta... (less)
flag107 likes · Like · see review
Michael
Oct 04, 2019Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: 2019, recs
Propulsive and inspirational, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal lays out a lucid roadmap for building a carbon-free, just society. Across several succinct speeches, think pieces, and long-form articles, Klein makes clear how a swift transition to clean energy has the potential to create a fair economy, right historical injustice, and repair the worn fabric of civil society. The standout intro and epilogue highlight how youth-led organizations like the Sunrise Movement, progressive politicians of color, and Indigenous communities are leading the fight for a sustainable future, while visionary pieces such as “The Leap Years” and “The Stakes of Our Historical Moment” stress that anything short of radical action on climate change now will result in unfathomable devastation in mere decades. Klein smartly ties climate catastrophe to both the resurgence of white supremacy across the West as well as the rebirth of democratic socialism; she convincingly argues that only robust social movements, leftist electoral victories, and a collective embrace of empathy will save the world from imminent ruin and climate barbarism. (less)
flag55 likes · Like · comment · see review
Lyn Elliott
Jan 04, 2020Lyn Elliott rated it liked it
Shelves: environment, apocalypse-now
Naomi Klein’s book of essays roils with indignation at the consequences of stretching the limits of the environment, as in deep sea oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and of ignoring the actuality, let alone the implications, of climate change.
If you’re not familiar with these issues, this is a lively place to acquaint yourself. If you are, it’s useful to be reminded of the need for all of us to play as active a role as we can to influence governments and corporations to change their decision making models. And, of course, to do our own tiny bits to think global, act local.
As GR friend Jan-Maat pointed out, the title is horrifyingly accurate as Australia burns in this apocalyptic summer, still with a long way to go. The consequences of these fires are unimaginable. Estimates several days ago were that 4 million hectares (nearly 10 million acres) of forest and farmland had been burned in the state of New South Wales alone. New areas have since gone up in flames, nearly half of the pristine environment of Kangaroo Island is burned. Over 500 million native animals are estimated to have died, and that doesn’t include insects.
With the continued lowering of rainfall, the plant species that have burned can’t necessarily be replaced. What should we plant instead? Goodness knows.
And then there are the thousands of people who have lost their homes and their animals. Communities razed to the ground, holiday makers rescued by the navy from coastal areas where the skies are red and black from fire.
Our capital, Canberra, has the worst air quality amongst world cities at the moment as it is enveloped with smoke from fires on three sides, 60 km and more away,
We live in a beautiful part of the Adelaide Hills that so far has escaped, but we know that we are living in a precarious space.
Our incompetent and slippery government still denies climate change, recently negotiated the carry over of carbon credits so it wouldn’t have to do anything to reduce emissions, let alone impede the extraction and burning of coal.
And we have nothing approaching a water policy.
As inland towns run out of water and rivers run dry, we have huge irrigation franchises for foreign-owned companies to grow cotton in the desert (Cubbie Station is the worst).
A Chinese company has been given approval to mine underground water in Queensland:
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
A Norwegian oil company is planning to drill for deep sea oil, not in its own waters, but in the remarkable marine environment of the Great Australian Bight.
I could go on, but you get the picture. My own head of indignation is running very high! (less)
flag20 likes · Like · 17 comments · see review
Kevin
Feb 16, 2020Kevin rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: 1-how-the-world-works, econ-environment
Beyond “No!” protests: building a future.
The Good:
--Accessibility: unlike academic social science hieroglyphs, I take the time to read Klein’s works to experience how she engages with the wider public.
--This book is a collection of her articles/lectures on one of the great ideas in the age of runaway capitalist climate destruction. Highlights:
1) Beyond denial: the greater threats of hopelessness and climate barbarism.
--US fossil fuel companies have been planning for climate change for over 40 years now. For the past decade, the US military has been (openly) planning too. Those in power only use denialism as a tool, as they fortify their own properties and build contingency plans.
-Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
-Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence
--While I won’t miss those convoluted "debates" with denialists who live in an alternate universe with inverse power structures (as they try to apply common notions of “follow the money”, “propaganda”, “science”, etc.), we must focus on the greater threats of:
a) Hopelessness: as Klein emphasizes, climate change became an issue at a catastrophic time, during the peak of Neoliberalism where governments gave way to the divine right of capital (and austerity for the rest), and social imagination for collective action dissipated into there-is-no-alternative individualism.
b) Climate barbarism: societies gutted of solidarity and empathy breed monsters during crises. Thus, the rise of the Far Right (including Eco-fascism) as a backlash to rampant austerity, triggered and diverted by more visible perceived threats like refugees (in part climate refugees). Vijay Prashad on the rise of the Right: https://youtu.be/z11ohWnuwa0
-Too Many People?: Population, Immigration, and the Environmental Crisis
2) The Necessity of the Green New Deal:
--Hopelessness (with the #1 concern of “jobs”) is directly tackled by the Green New Deal, which is at its core a jobs program. The “New Deal” part revives and builds on the social imagination of previous New Deals government programs to combat the Great Depression, as well as the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Western Europe after WWII.
--Climate barbarism is directly tackled by providing relief as we ready for more climate disasters. Centrist plans to narrowly focus on climate change fail especially during economic trouble; this was made most vivid by the Yellow vests protests against Macron. Economic justice slays monsters before they can fester.
3) Deeper maladies: capitalism’s colonialism:
--Klein considers how national narratives influence social values when analyzing why countries like the US, Canada, and Australia are behind Europe in climate action. Settler colonialism was built on narratives of the endlessness of the "New World", as Europe had ran into exhaustion.
-The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America
-Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming
The Missing:
--While this book is a compelling intro for the general public and a useful refresher for activists, numerous sub-topics demand further explorations:
1) Capitalism’s logic of cancerous growth and profit, as well as the current situation of a mountain of idle savings despite the urgent need for green investments.
2) Global implications of the Green New Deal, and the Global South origins of environmental/economic justice.
3) The political economy of divestment as a strategy.
4) More details on the ideas within various Green New Deals/ the Leap Manifesto, particularly tying them with:
a) economic democracy, public banking:
-Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism
-The Public Bank Solution: From Austerity to Prosperity
b) revaluing care-work:
-The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values
-Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
(less)
flag19 likes · Like · 4 comments · see review
---
Quirkyreader
Sep 17, 2019Quirkyreader rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
First off, I got this book from the publisher sponsored by LitHub.com.
I have read other books by Klein that were though provoking and moving. I expected no less from this book.
This book is a collection of essays that Klein has written over the years about the Earth heating up and what individuals and groups are doing to “turn down the thermostat”. It also focuses on groups that don’t want to hear about it and want to keep on as business as usual.
I will admit I came to this book with a bit of a bias, I am a long time recycler and I try to find ways to encourage everyone to do it in a way that works best for them.
With this book it shows that little things are not in vain. It’s the small things that can inspire a movement.
I am using this book as a tool to inspire me even more with my work and I hope it inspires everyone who reads it to do better for the planet. (less)
flag15 likes · Like · comment · see review
----
Candie
Dec 15, 2019Candie rated it it was amazing
I really enjoy Naomi Klein's books and I would not say that this one is any different. It is a very interesting book on some very important topics of today; such as climate change and it's disastrous effects, systemic racism, capitalism, economic inequality within countries and between countries and the dismal outlook on our future if immediate and drastic changes are not made.
I genuinely think that this is a book for everybody and that at the very least, even if you do not agree with all of the things that she says, the topics, news and ideas alone would make for a very interesting read and good topics of conversation. (less)
flag17 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review
---
Malcolm
Sep 24, 2019Malcolm rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: activism
One of the many things that has intrigued me about the long run emergence of the climate emergency we now live in has been the shifting language we use to describe it. Leave aside the outright deniers, although in recent years many of them have shifted from denial of global warming to denial of it human causes; the rest of us have gone from talking of a build-up of greenhouse gasses (this is after the hydrofluorocarbon focus of the 1970s, and the hole in the ozone layer) to global warming to climate change. We’ve shifted from a technical description (complete with potent, comprehensible, metaphor) to (scary) literal description to (less scary) vaguely generic label, almost as if we’ve sought to downplay the extent of the crisis. Yet the message I seem to have taken from this ever shifting language is one of deferral, that we’ve called it something less scary and although the collective efforts of a global environmental movement have brought about less change than necessary the issue seems to have been left in the we’ll get to it soon basket.
Reading this collection of Naomi Klein’s essays from over the last decade reminds me how dangerous that deferral has been but also how language and practice have changed in important ways and that we’ve come a lot further than it might seem, amid the incremental tweaks and failures of state policy. Of the 18 essays, 15 are previously published – some presented here in a largely unchanged form with notes or an epilogue to adjust and update key points – while some of the more recent pieces, from the last two years, have been reworked and in some aspects extended or deepened. There is a long scene-setting introduction, and a shorter final essay making the case for a Green New Deal.
The overall sense is clear; we are in a state of climate emergency. If the advice from scientists is right (and increasingly it looks as if they might have been conservative, at least in respect of melting ice caps and high mountain areas) then we’re edging towards the last decade where meaningful action is possible. We know that tipping points can be abrupt, that we might incrementally move towards a moment of change, and when that moment arrives change is rapid, intense and profound – that’s why it is called a tipping point, but that’s also what makes the Green New Deal inspiring: the state of emergency Klein outlines can only be addressed by comprehensive, coordinated action tailored to local/national/regional policy, social, economic and cultural situations. It is a compelling case. She looks at wild fires and rising sea temperatures, at the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico made worse by the economic evisceration of the territory; she explores emerging social movements and unexpected institutional changes to remind us that amid the crisis there is not only a long-standing network of activists an organisations, but that there are also unexpected allies and the dangers of hanging on to the gradualism that has infected policy responses in the last 25 or more years. Throughout it all, there is powerful case for a global response based in the principles of justice, and a reminder that around 250 years of economic development and practice has been based on the extraction of value – of land and labour – from colonised and otherwise occupied parts of the world, many of which are bearing the brunt of climate change….. there I go, euphemising again – global warming!
It is, however, a collection of essays so while there is an overarching argument in support of the Green New Deal the book lacks the coherence of This Changes Everything , as it should – such is the nature of the essay; so this could be considered an appendix to the earlier book, even as it overlaps both in time and issues traversed. As an appendix, it raises the stakes, from the analysis of extractivism to the need for comprehensive action; in that it is a vital extension and intensification of the earlier book, but also stands independently – such is the virtue of the essay form.
There is a lot of hoo-ha about the Green New Deal – those who see it as a plot and those who see it as the solution to all. Both are wrong: it is however, it seems to me, on the basis of Klein’s demystification of much of it here and other readings, a valuable frame to work within – and as I hear the deniers (who we now call sceptics, which gives then undeserved credibility) deny, I am reminded of that cartoon that used to do the rounds suggesting that even if the science is wrong, we’ve finished up making the world a better place – but then I’ve been convinced since the late 1970s that the science is right, so I would say that….
On Fire is engaging, accessible and a compelling foray into the basic question of our times and timely reminder of the state we’re in. What’s more, despite the sense of crisis, it’s an inspiring read. (less)
flag10 likes ·
----
Erik
Sep 29, 2019Erik rated it liked it
If you haven't read much else by Klein, this is a good intro to her take on the climate movement. But since I had just read her earlier book on the movement, "This Changes Everything," I found the new book less interesting. "On Fire" reprints two chapters from the earlier book, perhaps with some minor changes, though if so, not immediately apparent ones. Other essays are speeches given in various countries including Britain and Australia with less appeal outside of those particular nations.
What I did like was her take on the Green New Deal at the very end. She makes a good case for why a serious effort to fight climate change is needed and why it needs to include everyone in society, from the government on down. However, I'm still not convinced that we require "democratic" socialism to fight climate change and that conservatives need to be excluded from solutions. No major policy changes will be long lasting if the left just shoves them down the throat of everyone else. It's too easy for the opposing party to reverse them in the future.
Finally, it's helpful that she refers back to the history of FDR's original New Deal. But she doesn't seem to see much role for national feeling or patriotism, which was a huge selling point of Roosevelt's approach. Instead, Klein seems to imagine a series of GNDs that happen in various countries but are driven by cosmopolitan elites and the "woke" masses, much like an international socialist revolution. This is idealistic but I'm not sure how realistic it is, given that successful movements in the past combined an international outlook with one that was also national.
I'd love to see Klein find a place in the climate movement for people who love their country as much as they care about the world and also for people who are inspired by the past accomplishments and philosophies of our own Western countries as much as they are by the traditions of the indigenous peoples that Klein so admires.
But this book is worth reading alone for Klein's skillful critique of the doomerism of Nathaniel Rich's book "Losing Earth." Rich wrongly asserts that the late 1980s were the best time to fight climate change, ignoring the ascendance of extreme capitalism and a culture of greed-is-good driven by globalization and deregulation whose beau ideal was Ayn Rand. Rich claims that "we" (meaning you and me, not Exxon and the US govt) missed this once-in-a-lifetime chance to save the climate in 1988-89 because we were too selfish or shortsighted to make major changes in our consumer lives. He's wrong and Klein places the blame where it belongs, with oil companies and the governments they control, and offers hope that ordinary people can and will mobilize for an economy that's both clean and fair. (less)
flag9 likes ·
---
Randall Wallace
Sep 14, 2019Randall Wallace rated it liked it · review of another edition
As both parties happily drift to the right, we should not be surprised that the number of Americans who believe climate change is real has plummeted from 71% in 2007 to 51% in 2009, and 44% in 2011. If the trend continues, the Simpson’s character Cletus will become the fount of all wisdom while Americans report to work in Snuggies. Republicans are opposed to recognizing the climate crisis simply because they know its solution would mean wealth distribution, resource sharing and reparations. As Naomi says, “climate change detonates the ideological scaffolding on which contemporary conservatism rests.” It’s hard to keep vilifying collective action when it’s the only workable solution.
As Greta Thunberg said, “We have to stop competing with each other. We need to start cooperating and sharing the remaining resources of this planet in a fair way.” One of the advantages of autism, Greta Thunberg says, is that you are less apt to repeat the social behaviors of your peers which helps to forge a unique path. This allows you to focus with great intensity, removes the need for deception and lying, while seeing things more in black and white. As a result, Greta’s public comments are often, “short, unadorned and scathing”. Naomi shows how FDR’s New Deal showed us how the Green New Deal could easily help the people, infrastructure, economy, common spaces, air and water. The IPCC report shows that every half degree of warming involves the death of hundreds of millions of people. The Union of Concerned Scientists has shown us that, “the U.S. Military is the largest institutional consumer of oil in the world.” The current immigration logic is to treat immigrants with such “callousness and cruelty” that no one would want to enter the country unless they looked like Melania. The Great Depression only caused a 10% reduction in CO2 for a few years. A recent discovery is that the genocide of indigenous Americans factored into the Little Ice Age of the 1500 to 1600’s which was caused by so much land being removed from production (which led to more sequestering of carbon). The great Auks were killed off to keep the pillows and mattresses in Europe stuffed.
In the United States, we are taught to hate “the other” – we hate migrants (comically forgetting most of us are technically migrants – Jared Diamond said the American people move, on average, once every five years), we hate Muslims (because they gave us the concept of bathing and washing), hate Blacks (because for centuries we’ve owed them reparations) and hate women (to better pretend we rank higher or we’re the Lord of the trailer). In the end Naomi sees the solution is Kimberle Crenshaw’s Intersectionality, where all paths converge with low-carbon policies. Changing our lifestyle and maybe our neighborhood must go hand in hand with demanding structural changes in insure a future. And mass uprisings of the people are the way to create the necessary “friction” to slow the capitalist machine. What we need is “an intersectional approach to social and political change.” For Naomi, Socialism has made many mistakes with the environment which is why the answer is Eco-Socialism. (less)
flag8 likes ·
----
David Jordan
Sep 13, 2019David Jordan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
It's exciting to have the opportunity to read a book that feels so important. Our rapidly advancing climate crisis has advanced beyond the worrisome stage and we are faced with the possibility of catastrophic disaster if we continue on the destructive path that has brought us to this place. Naomi Klein shares her considerable expertise and formidable knowledge concerning climate change, environmental disaster, and the intersectionality of economic inequality, systemic racism, the dangerous excesses of unregulated capitalism, the immigration crisis, declining health outcomes, and more. That might make it sound like an enormously depressing read, but the good news here is that Ms. Klein has created a compelling case for a comprehensive Green New Deal that would create the potential for improving and even alleviating most or all of these problems. She exhaustively documents the need for such a program and convincingly lays out her case for adopting a Green New Deal now.
This very moment.
I was tempted to despair as I read her account of the many climate disasters our world is currently subject to, some of which I did not even know about. Thankfully though, I found reason for hope in the pages of this book. "On Fire" is certainly one of the most important and inspiring books that I have read in a very long time, and I am enthusiastically recommending it to everyone who lives on this planet, and wants to keep doing so.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and LitHub.com for the complimentary advance review copy. (less)
flag8 likes · Like · comment · see review
