This book succeeds in identifying and drawing out a very large problem for our current world: our obsession with more and faster economic growth. What it does not do is provide a clear answer to this problem. After finishing the book, I realized the author did not intend this as a how to manual for solving this problem, so he didn't fail in that sense. He does suggest that local economies will help us resolve our myriad problems, and with that I agree. But the book leaves the reader wondering, "How do we persuade the rest of our society to change course?" The author also states very clearly at a few points that he believes this renaissance of small, local economies will not result from any deliberate plan, but rather from the coalescence of thousands of individual and undirected efforts. Of course, that statement left me wondering, "Then why am I even reading this book?"
But I enjoyed this book.The author provides interesting information and his bibliography provided me with a good number of sources to follow up on for further study. This might be the book's greatest strength for the already converted. His anecdotal stories are refreshing and provide good perspective. All in all, the book was worth the time it took to read it. But, other than tidbits, this book didn't provide me with any significant new insights. Rather, it's more of a motivational and inspirational effort. For that reason, I think this book is best suited to the curious but unconverted. Those who have questions but still buy into the old dogmas that economic growth is our preeminent concern, that in order to feed the world we must continue with more and greater genetically modified food production, and that we need to continue mining the earth for every last mineral resource. This book could be to those folks what "Crunchy Cons" was to me some years back.
This book is not a deep analysis of certain key problems. Rather, it is a survey of a handful of issues and introduces readers to big concepts. In that role I thought it did very well. However, while the author spends a fair amount of time discussing food independence (perhaps the second or third most important theme in the book behind energy and human satisfaction), he never mentions permaculture. He really goes no further than saying that more intensely managed farmland can produce more food per acre than our current industrial mono-cropping models. While permaculture has gained in popularity quite substantially since this book's publication, it wasn't unknown at the time he wrote the book. So it's suprising that he never mentions it. And I think it's unfortunate that he doesn't even alert readers to the power of permaculture design. For anyone interested, the internet is rife with information on permaculture. (Start by Googling Geoff Lawton or Ben Falk.) But suffice it to say that, in keeping with the spirit of local food economies, a permaculture approach to food production provides more potential for stability and sustainability than any other agricultural model found around the globe. This seems like a substantial oversight in this book, despite it's many other good qualities.
To summarize, this book is interesting and encouraging. If you're already of a mind that local economies that provide more local stability are the future, this book may be redundant but still worthwhile. If you're not sure what you think or are looking for an alternative to the unquestioning "more efficiency and economic production" mantra of the mainstream political personalities of today, check this book out. And especially if you consider yourself a conservative who is increasingly non-plussed with the Republican party, give this book a considered and thorough read. You needn't agree with everything, but the underlying premises are spot on.
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