Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
This is the most important book I've read in the last 15 years! If I were any kind of authority, I would make every single American read the "Green Collar Economy."
So far, most book reviews that I've read do capture several of the most important messages and ideas presented in this comprehensive book, yet most of them fail to emphasize the many complexities discussed and re-examined in the Green Collar Economy. The good news is there is no secret anymore--the green economy is the only aspect of our economy that is growing, in spite of all its obstacles. My guess is that many American readers might be surprised to discover that Van Jones writes not only about the environment, waves of environmental movement, green economy, and global economy, but also masterfully includes such a broad range of topics that are deeply interconnected with our current state of world wide environmental degradation and climate change.
If you already saw or heard Van Jones, you would probably agree that he is such a passionate, witty and motivational public speaker and story teller. Yet, in my view, he is even better as a scholar who writes for people of all educational backgrounds. Green Collar Economy and Mr. Jones' work in general are so visionary and empowering that some people rightfully consider this book and this kind of community activism centered on social and environmental justice to be one of the pillars of the 21st century. Another surprise for many American readers might be the fact that Van Jones does not talk much about individual actions and solutions. The well preserved myth that all solutions are individual and that our societies are nothing more but a sum of individuals has to be challenged now more than ever. We need our government to come up with solutions, we need collective actions and global actions. Individual efforts are not unimportant, yet they will not be sufficient to win the battle against the climate change and its devastating effects. There is no coincidence that the governments of 184 countries have signed, ratified and acted upon the Kyotto Protocol. Shamefully, the U.S. is not among these countries, nor are our representatives actively participating in Poland where even more than 180 countries prepare for the next international treaty to be signed next year in Copenhagen.
Almost every responsible politician, every local environmental activist, and every concerned member of our community can find something so very profound, courageous and inspirational in the Green Collar Economy. Many of us environmental activists struggle to understand the big picture and often find ourselves unable to overcome many divisions within the movement, commonly dominated by white members. Van Jones offers his profound wisdom and viable solutions--if we are to truly embrace the green revolution and save all life on this planet, we have to achieve social justice in that process. "War time" type of mobilization that is absolutely needed now cannot happen by exclusion and repetition of our historically observed patterns of injustice. People of color and low income community members need jobs, hope and motivation, so they have to be given the new clean energy jobs first. We cannot continue to treat our planet as a space where we can indefinitely extract and drill, and dump toxic materials where predominantly communities of color and low income people live. We cannot continue to direct all beneficial effects of environmental stewardship to materially rich, white, and socially favored communities, if we want everyone to work together to solve the deepest global crisis recorded in our written history. Such a crisis cannot be resolved by any individual, group, government, or even a group of countries. Van Jones offers powerful and memorable metaphors to illustrate this point reemphasizing that we just cannot continue to fight and exploit each other when we are all in the same sinking boat. Emphasizing the idea that "humanity might not survive on the planet," and expecting people of color, and low income groups to drop everything and start working on environmental issues does not work. It does not work because these members of our community (and the world community) have been on the brink of survival on a daily basis for at least several long centuries. It does not work because so far in our class, color, and gender-divided world the major benefits of processes that we call technological progress have never gone to these disadvantaged communities. What might work is to read very slowly, carefully, and think deeply in order to find solutions similar to what is presented in the chapter about the environmental stewardship of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples of the world. In addition, if most Americans saw "When the Levees Broke," a Spike Lee film, and read the Chapter about New Orleans hit by Katrina included in this book, after reading this with a clear mind and open heart, we should make a resolution to never repeat our social cruelty and paralysis. These two chapters are truly outstanding.
Based on my educational background I would like to bring up questions of the self-destructive, human destructive, and all life destructive nature of capitalism, while also emphasizing the important role that women must play. Women's engagement becomes even more critical from the perspective of our organic connection with nature, in life-preservation, and potential for reestablishment of harmony needed on this planet. Working on our own liberation as human liberation, women and working people have a potential to better understand what is at stake and how to fight for our survival on Earth. Van Jones does not use this kind of terminology, nor provides an in-depth analysis of the current stage of capitalism and global economy. As we all know quite well, these discussions can further divide people along political views and persuasions. Instead, the author discusses in-depth how we might enable ourselves to overcome some important dividing factors in order to work together.
I am convinced that this book will mark our entire époque. My only critique is related to the lack of discussion about major reasons for U.S. absence from international efforts to combat climate change. The U.S. imperialist role in the environmental destruction overseas is not included much, either. The world only needs the U.S. to do its own share in reversing these devastating environmental impacts. The share should be proportional to what we as Americans and our governments create world-wide.
The incoming administration already has a plan for action outlined in the Green Collar Economy. If we as a society took this platform seriously and implemented it, we could as well ensure our prolonged presence on this beautiful planet. Moreover, our generations would not be ashamed when we look our children and grandchildren in the eye. If nothing more, we have a chance to live the remaining times as responsible and mature inhabitants of the world. Van Jones does not give false hopes in the most positive outcome. His hope is hope of a cautious, wise, visionary. Many might think that this book still contains utopian ideas. If these ideas and practical proposals become utopian, it will be because of the very nature of our inhumane and eco-destructive societies, not because of the author's naïve attitude. I must confess that I wept reading the last chapter and swore to myself and future generations to work alongside "Green for All" in my own limited capacity.
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