For those of you who haven't read Bjorn Lomborg's writings, the title of my review is a (sarcastic) play on the Danish statistician's controversial book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist," a title which really should be renamed, "The Lies of a Former Environmentalist Gone Over to the Dark Side." In contrast to Lomborg's Panglossian view that the state of the Earth's biodiversity (and everything else, for that matter) is wonderful and getting better all the time (his statistics "prove" it!), Russ Finley starts right away from the obvious premise that Lomborg is terribly wrong, and that, unfortunately, the Earth's ecosystems are dying fast.
Unlike many other environmentalists, Finley doesn't waste his time -- or the reader's -- dreaming of a world in which human nature miraculously changes, turning everyone into nature-loving, tree-hugging, bike-riding, commune-living, hemp-wearing, granola-eating, self-sacrificing angels. Instead, Finley simply accepts human nature, warts and all, as a given and proceeds from there with his thoughts on "attacking the problem [of massive biodiversity loss and environmental devastation] by channeling human desires."
Finley's refreshing, clear-eyed view of human nature allows him -- unlike many other environmentalists -- to get right to the heart of the matter: there are far, FAR too many humans on the planet, and as long as that's the case biodiversity is doomed. The only question, then, is what to do about this situation. Edward O. Wilson, one of the world's greatest living scientists author of twenty books (including The Future of Life, The Ants, On Human Nature, Sociobiology, and Consilience), winner of two Pulitzer prizes plus dozens of science prizes, and a man known as "the father of biodiversity," has stated that we currently find ourselves in a "bottleneck of overpopulation and wasteful consumption." Wilson further believes that we are in a race between "technoscientific forces that are destroying the living environment" and "those that can be harnessed to save it." Essentially, that's where Russ Finley takes the baton and runs with it.
So, what does Finley suggest? First, and most importantly, that we develop and distribute a "take it and forget it" contraceptive ("TIFIC") as soon as possible, in order to reset the default human reproductive setting to "off" (don't worry, it can be turned back on again with another pill), thereby slashing unplanned pregnancies to a bare minimum and reversing human population growth before it's too late. Second, and nearly as importantly, Finley suggests that we forcefully and creatively defend the remaining islands of biodiversity for as long as it takes until absolute human population levels decline substantially (perhaps to 1-2 billion?). Third, Finley argues that we should harness human nature -- competitiveness, greed, acquisitiveness, status-seeking, sexual desire, religious belief, technological prowess, whatever it takes -- in SERVICE of the biodiversity protection effort, not at ODDS with it. This, in and of itself, is a strikingly different, far more powerful and effective approach than most environmentalists have employed in the past. Unlike most of those other approaches, Finley's ideas actually have a chance of working, albeit just in the nick of time to save the bulk of the world from a final, great mass extinction, possibly taking humanity down with it in the process.
As a book, "Poison Darts" is organized into two main volumes, the first being a rollicking, enjoyable, swashbuckling adventure story about a fictional "think tank" (of brilliant oddballs and other assorted characters) which sets about to save -- and goes a long way towards doing so -- the planet's biodiversity. Volume 2 is a series of thought-provoking essays on overpopulation, human nature, and "Environmentalism - American Style." Finley is clearly an engineer in the best sense of the word, with his rigorous, logical mind taking apart the system, diagnosing exactly what the problem with it is, and figuring out a solution - or at least a temporary patch.
Fortunately, and unlike many engineers, Finley doesn't just throw facts, figures, and techie solutions at the reader. Instead, Finley's brings to the table a good deal of writing ability (although a more rigorous professional editing job would be helpful to work out a few kinks), with an excellent feel for politics, science, economics, and human psychology/society. In addition, Finley turns out to be a fine storyteller; I read the fictional Volume I in just a few hours and could hardly put it down.
Like the rest of the book, Volume II is refreshing, honest, reasonable, even courageous in its willingness to tell it like it is and to take on powerful forces of intolerance and ignorance, including certain well-known religious movements and institutions. Finley explains his ideas clearly, in a straightforward, passionate, at-times humorous manner ((sly references to Frank Herbet's "Dune," for instance), and has an outstanding ability to boil complex topics down in a way that is helpful but never patronizing. This is a very useful combination of abilities - deep technical/scientific knowledge plus strong communications skills -- that few authors possess.
All in all, I would say that "Poison Darts" is an enjoyable, edifying, important book that should be read by everyone who cares about "protecting the biodiversity of our world." I strongly recommend it, and look forward to joining the (fictional) "Ecosystem Protection International" organization sometime soon!
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