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The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse: Save the Earth, Punish Human Beings 1st Edition

by Pascal Bruckner (Author), Steven Rendall (Translator)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 53 ratings
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The planet is sick. Human beings are guilty of damaging it. We have to pay. Today, that is the orthodoxy throughout the Western world. Distrust of progress and science, calls for individual and collective self-sacrifice to ‘save the planet’ and cultivation of fear: behind the carbon commissars, a dangerous and counterproductive ecological catastrophism is gaining ground.

Modern society’s susceptibility to this kind of thinking derives from what Bruckner calls “the seductive attraction of disaster,” as exemplified by the popular appeal of disaster movies. But ecological catastrophism is harmful in that it draws attention away from other, more solvable problems and injustices in the world in order to focus on something that is portrayed as an Apocalypse.

Rather than preaching catastrophe and pessimism, we need to develop a democratic and generous ecology that addresses specific problems in a practical way.

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  1. ISBN-10
    9780745669762
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0745669762
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Polity
  5. Publication date
    May 20, 2013
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    5.8 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
  8. Print length
    224 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"As stylistically gratifying as he is intellectually lucid, Bruckner presents a clear alternative to the accepted thought on one of this era's hottest topics."
―Publishers Weekly

"A sizzling new polemic against apocalyptic environmentalism."
―San Francisco Chronicle

"The best tonic for stale science communications I've read in a while."
―Cool Green Science

"Pascal Bruckner is a brilliant writer – astute, learned, broad-ranging, mordant, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes prophetic. He is one of the handful of writers around the world who define the intellectual history of our time."
―Paul Berman, author of The Flight of the Intellectuals

"With his usual verve and eloquence, in The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse Pascal Bruckner offers a bracing and provocative critique of an ever-more-pervasive and fanatical Green politics and ideology. For Bruckner, the ecological catastrophism the latter promotes constitutes less a salutary call to action than a return to the politics of guilt encouraged by exhausted ideologies, religions, and religious institutions, the Catholic Church in particular. This book will please some and consternate others, but its intelligence and originality make it an important book for our times."
―Richard Golsan, Texas A&M University

"For anyone who has had enough of being harangued for single-handedly destroying the planet for future generations, Pascal Bruckner's new book will come as a welcome breath of fresh and unpolluted air."
―Normandie

About the Author

Pascal Bruckner is the author of many books including The Tyranny of Guilt, Perpetual Euphoria and The Paradox of Love. He writes regularly for Le Nouvel Observateur.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 074566976X
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Polity; 1st edition (May 20, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780745669762
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0745669762
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 53 ratings

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Pascal Bruckner

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4 out of 5 stars
53 global ratings

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Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They appreciate the author's intelligence and witty writing style. The book is described as interesting and worth reading.

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5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and interesting. They appreciate the author's comments on global warming. The book is considered worth the time and expense.

"A very entertaining and thought-provoking critique of the environmental movement, especially its latter-day evolution into an anti-development, anti-..." Read more

"I enjoyed the book and appreciated his comments on global warming...." Read more

"This is a remarkable and very readable book...." Read more

"...Of course they wont, so it's another great book from a great thinker wasted preaching to the choir I'm afraid." Read more

3 customers mention "Intelligence"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and well-written. They say the author is an intellectual of the highest caliber.

"This is an interesting and well written book, describing our great desire for embracing the apocalypse...." Read more

"Mr Bruckner is obviously an intellectual of the highest caliber, but he doesn't always speak to the common man. That would be me...." Read more

"...Of course they wont, so it's another great book from a great thinker wasted preaching to the choir I'm afraid." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing style"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style engaging and witty.

"This is an interesting and well written book, describing our great desire for embracing the apocalypse...." Read more

"Well written and true" Read more

"Contrarian, witty, thought-provoking..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Richard A. Leveille
    5.0 out of 5 stars Contrarian, witty, thought-provoking
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    A very entertaining and thought-provoking critique of the environmental movement, especially its latter-day evolution into an anti-development, anti-human, guilt-tripping media juggernaut that has, in its extreme forms, been ripped loose of its scientific moorings. Bruckner has done his homework and it shows, as uses a wide variety of sources to argue that, instead of hamstringing the present generation with untested and uncertain drastic remedies for a postulated environmental doomsday scenario, we focus on the alleviating the plight of the billions of our fellow humans still mired in poverty, disease and insecurity while practicing good general environmental stewardship, and advancing science and technology, where answers to many of the issues we face will be found. This books makes a good companion with the The Rational Optimist, by Matt Ridley.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • Morten Jãdal
    4.0 out of 5 stars Well written
    Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is an interesting and well written book, describing our great desire for embracing the apocalypse. Humans have allways done, and these days the ecologists and environmentalists have conquered the arena of armageddon.
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  • firmterra
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Apocalyptic Vision Of Green Zealots A Slow Path To Extinction
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Pascal Bruckner's book perfectly describes the apocalyptic mind set of Green Zealots. In their world view "Saving The Planet" can only be achieved by obstructing the use of energy from fossil fuel and nuclear energy. The Green Zealots have found Humanity guilty of destroying the planet via their use of fossil fuel and their punishment is a slow path to extinction via energy poverty. The fact that empirical evidence proves that human beings are not responsible for destroying the planet is immaterial to the Green Zealots. The famous French intellectual Pascal Bruckner describes the obstruction of fossil fuel development by Green Zealots as "The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse"

    Numerous Warmists Scientists are having to face up to the reality that global warming has stopped. Despite the fact even Warmists Scientists are admitting global warming has stopped Green Zealots continue on their quest to "Save The Planet" by doing all in their power stop the use of fossil fuel.

    Green Zealots are blind to the beneficial impact to the environment of enhancing CO2 concentrations. They fail to see that any preceived negative impacts have been small when compared to the public health benefits associated with affordable and reliable carbon-based energy and energy from nuclear power. Nor do they aknowledge the toxic impacts "green" energy has on the environment. [...]

    Moreover popular scare stories that weather extremes hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods are getting worse are not based on fact. In the U.S., high temperature records are not becoming more numerous. Climate models significantly overestimated warming during the past 15 years.
    Even if climate models were correct, a 50% reduction in U.S. CO2 emissions by 2050 would avert only 0.07°C of warming by 2100.

    In addition the real world experience of Europe with so called "Green Energy" has proven to be very costly with little benefits to show for the billions spent converting to their use.

    In 2010, the Asian Development Bank announced that 800 million souls had been lifted out of poverty in recent years due to fossil-fuel-powered economic growth. Do the the Green Zealots in the EPA and in Bill McKibbin's 350 organization against fossil fuel have the right to keep millions of people in poverty due to their false belief in Catastrophic Climate Change?

    Obstructing Fracking, the Keystone XL pipeline, drilling and coal mining is a pathway to economic ruin and poverty with no justification in the real world where humanity needs affordable energy to prosper. The quest to deny humanity access to affordable energy from fossil fuel is driven in main by the apocalyptic beliefs of a few green zealots in the EPA; powerful Green lobbies like the 350 org and the Sierra Club; politicians and their crony green capitalists boot lickers who get billions of tax payer dollars to waste on toxic green energy projects.
    40 people found this helpful
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  • Paul S. Forbes
    3.0 out of 5 stars Bring your dictionary
    Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Mr Bruckner is obviously an intellectual of the highest caliber, but he doesn't always speak to the common man. That would be me. This book should probably be read at least twice to appreciate his points, and there were several times that I found myself backtracking and re-reading in order to stay on point, if only in my own mind. Mr Bruckner doesn't hesitate to wonder away from the books theme to bash our 43rd president several times, which is getting to be a real eye roller. I recommend you save your dime and your time.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • E. Cresswell
    4.0 out of 5 stars Review of The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse
    Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I enjoyed the book and appreciated his comments on global warming. I only gave it four stars because he rambled a bit with comments on other things that aggravated him. Certainly worth the time and expense of the book.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Anthony J. Marra
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pascal Bruckner traces the history of apocalyptic thinking to modern day topics like "Global Warming" whose advocates postulate
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a remarkable and very readable book. Pascal Bruckner traces the history of apocalyptic thinking to modern day topics like "Global Warming" whose advocates postulate floods and starvation for the planet, among many other major tragedies. He is a philosopher and not a scientist and has no dog in the global warming hunt. Nor is he receiving money from the fossil fuel industry! He shows how using the threat of an apocalypse has throughout history been a means to control the population and its thinking. You will be fascinated by the brilliance of this author if you truly wish to understand a lot of what politicians and others continually foist on their constituents.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars impressively bad
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    this book is really bad. it's like if someone who gets into fights in youtube comments wrote a book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Allison B.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Bruckner always educates and entertains
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Richard Tol
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good for understanding environmentalism
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is a good read for anyone who wants to understand the environmental movement, it is a good mirror for any environmentalist who dares to look, and a good laugh for those who do not like their greens.

    Bruckner is the typical French intellectual. The book dazzles with references to Greek mythology and 1970s B-movies and everything in between. Although it can be read as a polemic against environmentalism, it really is an argument against the anti-human, anti-progress excesses of the environmental movement.
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  • Jack Chakotay
    4.0 out of 5 stars Masterful exposition of a hot topic with delightful irreverence
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2013
    Amazon Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
    To put simply, this book outlines the ecological endgame we are playing against political self interests of the major players. But the translation does so with style and wit- bringing mixing comedy with decisiveness- especially when he addresses the reader as an individual to enlist our agreement with the current situation being farcical. Religion and zombies make an appearance along with the usual naming and shaming.

    This was actually a page turner of a non-fictional book!
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  • Dreams beyond the Rainbow
    5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2013
    Amazon Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
    With his usual verve and eloquence, in The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse Pascal Bruckner offers a bracing and provocative critique of an ever-more-pervasive and fanatical Green politics and ideology. For Bruckner, the ecological catastrophism the latter promotes constitutes less a salutary call to action than a return to the politics of guilt encouraged by exhausted ideologies, religions, and religious institutions, the Catholic Church in particular. This book will please some and consternate others, but its intelligence and originality make it an important book for our times.
    Pascal Bruckner is a brilliant writer - astute, learned, broad-ranging, mordant, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes prophetic. He is one of the handful of writers around the world who define the intellectual history of our time.As stylistically gratifying as he is intellectually lucid, Bruckner presents a clear alternative to the accepted thought on one of this era's hottest topics
    Report
  • Dung
    1.0 out of 5 stars And your point is?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I agree with the author but he adds absolutely nothing to the debate. It has all been said before by people far less qualified than Bruckner. In my opinion he is just jumping onto the bandwagon.
    Report
  • Alan Michael Forrester
    5.0 out of 5 stars Environmentalism as a religion
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2013
    Amazon Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
    "The Fanaticism of the Apocalypse" by Pascal Bruckner is a polemic about how environmentalism has adopted many of the worst ideas of apocalyptic religions.

    Just by being alive you hurt the planet because you do things, like using fossil fuels, that supposedly have bad environmental effects. This idea resembles original sin: you are sinner against the environment because you are alive. These bad environmental effects will lay the world waste through climate change or pollution of other kinds, like the apocalypse predicted by many religions. To ward off this apocalypse you do small things like cycling to work or turning off lights when you leave a room that will make absolutely no difference according to the models that predict catastrophic climate change and so are entirely pointless except as superstitious attempts to curry favour with mother earth. Bruckner makes these points and many more with wit. The main problem with the book is that it is so saturated with wit and irony that I sometimes found it difficult to tell when Bruckner was trying to make a serious point.

    This book is worth reading because it is well written and has a very different perspective on environmentalism than the standard take propagated by the media. I think Bruckner's ideas also have the merit of being more accurate. You should read it if you want to have your ideas on environmentalism challenged.
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