Customer Reviews

GARDEN PLANET: The Present Phase Change of The Human Species

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This short and deceptively simple book functions on a number of levels. I think readers will take from it largely what their prejudices confine them to, like the seven blind men feeling the elephant. But I'll unpack it just a little here according to my own blindness.

a. The book is a good overview of the scary terminal condition of Earth and humanity. Basic message: the earth is dying and we have the jury's verdict - the culture of Empire dun it.

b. A number of practical, specific methods are described for achieving self-sustaining communities that handle their own inputs and outputs comfortably within a bounded local watershed or bioregion. According to Kotke the solution will be intentional communities, sensitively cultivating a given watershed-bounded region according to principles of Permaculture and Jeavons biointensive gardening.

c. Beyond survival - Kotke whooshes us through a whirlwind tour of alternative practices in economics, medicine, child-raising, conflict mediation, language, etc. These are not described in huge detail, but enough info is given to pique curiosity and breadcrumb trails are offered for those who want to trace on to further education.

The overall tone of the book is a kind of bland "pessimism" about the prospects for industrial civilization, combined with an overall bubbly enthusiasm for the new world of localized non-material (but earth-grounded) pleasure and relative leisure that will emerge. One theme he stresses and restresses is that this vision is not some future thing, it is ALREADY HAPPENING, we have everything we need in place already.

Given the above, the average lefty, eco-hippy type (I don't mean that pejoratively!) would nod enthusiasticaly and say Yay Brother! Because it does seem to confirm and endorse a well-known alternative paradigm, philosophically somewhat akin to Daniel Quinn, but entirely lacking Quinn's irritating tone of superiority, bitterness, and smugness.

However, this IS tough love - Kotke is no fool. Unlike many alternative culture types who deny the reality of Dieoff, Kotke is very explicit that his alternative model not only cannot save industrial civilization (it is the antidote to that), but also that the present gigantically swollen world human POPULATIONS cannot be saved. Munch on the following quote for a moment:

"It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to "save the world". That is, people who are heavily conditioned by civilized culture try to find the silver bullet that will ave it. They try to find more energy, more efficient food production, population control and so forth so that conditions can be maintained just as they are. The information presented here, contrarily, indicates that there will be a massive die-off."

So don't let his "optimism" (justified on his own terms) lull you based on your own prejudices and assumptions. He doesn't give a hard number, but reading between the lines he probably would accept some of the estimates I've heard, that only maximum 1 billion or probably a lot fewer humans, maybe only a few scattered tens of millions, can achieve long-term sustainable continuity on earh, based on solar income alone.

So, combining the various elements of his thesis, we are looking at near extinction of the human race, followed by a long, slow and possibly very painful period of re-stabilization.

One aspect he doesn't cover at all, maybe because in his emerging world people are just going to be a lot nicer due to lack of birth trauma or whatever, is "security". Let's face it, human males are an irritable and violent bunch at the moment (whatever the origin of that nastiness). With all these huge nuke arsenals lying ready to hand, it's unclear to me how we can experience "massive die-off" without some of those alpha chimps beginning to throw stuff at one another. And when elephants fight, the grass is trampled.

Anyway Kotke's written a great book, tough-minded but ultimately hopeful. May it inspire you and your community to dig your own tunnel out of the military-industrial Matrix.

"The information presented here, contrarily, indicates that there will be a mass die-off. We are preparing the new culture that will flourish after that."
-William H. Kotke, GARDEN PLANET


There is a growing school of thought that projects a catastrophic socio-economic collapse in this century. The timeline varies from one commentator to the next, but the scenarios are much the same: the inhabitants of the earth will suffer through a difficult period of population recession when the real cost of poor resource management comes due on the planet. Once considered heresy, now trickling into the main stream, this projection follows closely with the 100-year extrapolation of the Club of Rome's no-change-in-the-way-we-live curve that some call "the die-off." It is also directly connected to peaking petroleum reserves, global warming, the collapse of the ocean fisheries, and worldwide pandemic potentials. As Mr. Kotke might say, it marks the end of empire. Garden Planet is a short, concise blueprint for restoring Earth's natural garden paradise after the crash.
For those who believe that business as usual on planet Earth is sustainable, Mr. Kotke opens Garden Planet with his argument for the likelihood of a severe economic roll-back in the not so distant future. He goes through the case piece by piece, pollution, over-population, loss of topsoil, aquifer depletion, and the fallacy of unlimited growth in a closed system. To put it as simply as possible, we can't continue to consume Earth's natural resources as if there were no tomorrow-or there won't be!
So what's the answer? We learn to garden the planet instead of steadily desecrating it. This is precisely what Kotke offers. He takes us on an anthropological review of several different cultures and how they have been able to carve out a sustainable way of life in less than optimal conditions. Highlighting the lessons these cultures demonstrate and blending them into a flexible whole, he gives us an outline for the twenty-first century intentional community planet Earth. He tells us how to repair the watershed, regenerate the soil, reforest our landscape, even place and built a shelter. Behind it all is the art and science of permaculture and an entirely different way to imagine horticulture-to climax with the land not impact it.
This is just what we need. A basic plan to make this place work. Right now we run a system built on the economics of war and petroleum. It is reflected in the way we live and who we are. It is the antithesis of husbanding the planet. The society of humans and its relationship with the web of life must evolve-thus the subtitle of this book, "the present phase change of the human species." Kotke is urging us to make full use of the gift of consciousness and to live intentionally. Hopeful, positive, and necessary, Kotke's vision is the Garden Planet.

Kotke re-addresses issues that most people can't want to know. They are calmly and rationally discussed as if they were, and for the most part they are, common knowledge. Kothe, however, has an uncommon understanding of the minutia, as well as a visionary insight of the big picture: how the fibers compose the thread, the threads compose the tapestry, etc. He raises the conversation from the typical neurotic survey of the inevitable to a sane forecast of the path human evolution will follow. Kotke is not the merchant of hope, but rather the herald of true progress.

I eagerly bought this book, mainly based on the "Product Description" (and also on what were at the time almost uniformly very positive user reviews and on the author's reputation). But I found the description was not accurate.

The book's complete lack of either footnotes or endnotes or bibliography prevents it from acting as what I expected to be a guide to "the best contemporary research". I found a whole lot of declarative sentences, but very little in the way of the reasoning I expected from "compelling argument". Although I expected plenty of evidence from "fact-based prediction", I found the distinction between fact and opinion to be so badly blurred that it was hard to accept anything at all.

And the concept of "self-sufficient eco-villages" that interested me very much turned out to be difficult to locate in the text. And even such a basic question as 'with this way of life, just how many people can the earth really support?' isn't covered.

The text is quite short. But rather than capitalizing on this as though it were an advantage, the book tries to hide it: a very large type font, extra leading (white space) between every line, and even more white space between paragraphs. It looks more like something I'd do myself in WinWord than typical book typesetting.

What actions one might possibly take are described only in frustratingly general terms. All specifics are referred to other books and articles. For example: "Now we can look at alternative shelter construction. ... Those who will live in the house will design the house and participate in the building of it. The house will become part of the landscape and part of the design surrounding it. ... Straw bale is another recently popular wall building material. ... Usually this is done with post and beam construction. ... The beams on a solid, high foundation hold up the header beams across the top of the wall. The bales are then in-filled between the foundation and the header beam at the top of the wall." some may find this specific enough to be a practical how-to ...but I'm not among them.

And the description of how the world works is arguably so unrealistic it would be off-putting to anyone except a hard leftie. The book reminds me of the 60's; it even talks of "free love" (not a concept I generally associate with the environment:-). My own summary of the book: "human inequality, politicking, and empire building will soon be blown out of the water by environmental collapse; our only alternative is a kind of pseudo-hunter-gatherer way of life".

If you're curious about how humans might live after civilization's Great Crash, this bok will offer you a hint or two. We'll be local again, not global, and permaculture will be central to how we provide for ourselves. I'd have to say that I agree with the author's assesment of our current situation (dysfunctional, unsustainable) and the likely course of our devolution/evolution. It's not the author's assessment that's at fault, it's his presentation, which is oracular. Oracles don't neeed to engage their audience or support propositions. Oracles dispense Truth in whatever way they please, as does this book. The three stars I give the book splits the difference between five stars for importance of subject matter and one star for writing style and narrative voice. Mercifully, it's a quick, easy read. If you're familiar with the material the author presents here, you won't find many nuggets to add to your store. If these are new ideas to you, I doubt this author will persuade you of the human plight. I wanted to like this book but instead found it annoying.

This is an incredibly practical and prophetic book. Everything Bill Kotke writes seems to come true. This is an easily accessible and succinct breakdown of the essence of Bill's earlier book, "The Final Empire". If you are looking for documentation and source material, get the "Final Empire", but for the essence, this book is great. This book is indigenous and inspiring in the sense that it offers practical earth friendly strategies that affirm the possibility that man is part OF nature, not apart FROM it. Such a realization is necessary for the human being to continue to be a vital participant in life in the future.

This book is direct and to the point. It is well written vital history based on well research facts and understanding. It is a vitally relevant, and hence empowering work while totally readable and accessible. Powerful medicine for all earthlings. Thanks Bill!

Reading this book will give you pause. If you really take it in it will scare you, because you cannot help but recognize the truth of Kotke's argument. We are indeed killing the planet we live on-our only home. There are solutions though, and if enough people really get what this book is saying and begin to understand what must be done, the "Garden Planet" and it's inhabitants will both survive.