Tropic of Chaos [Hardcover]

This is a must read book for anyone interested in climate change and its impact on humanity. It's also a must read book for everyone else that wants to continue to live in our biosphere. Which is to say, it's a must read for everyone.

The author starts out introducing us to a number of themes he carries forward. Specifically:

1) Climate change causes stressors on planetary civilization and these changes threaten American national security. This is not the author's point of view, but that of our military. Want an example? Consider Afghanistan. Why do they grow poppy? They've been in prolonged drought (a stressor as a result of global warming), and poppy only uses one fifth the water wheat does. The US runs around burning their crops, whereas the Teleban supports the farmers and helps them feed their children. [So are we going to solve the Afghan problem? Use critical thinking and decide for yourself.]

2) Societies can adapt by 'armed lifeboats', whereby they secure their borders against mass migrations, increased internal militarization, and conduct counterinsurgency operations abroad. The author sees this as a malignant adaption to Global Warming and warns us with case after case where this fails. Unfortunately, as the author points out, this is the direction the US is taking.

3) Societies can also adapt by learning to live within the limits of the planet earth. [Hey, I CAN use a solar panel to heat hot water instead of producing CO2 or nuclear waste.]

4) Counterinsurgency destroys societies and eventually fails anyway.

Next, the author takes us on a tour of the world, concentrating on regions between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Sections are dedicated to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Impacts of global warming and resultant counterinsurgency operations are discussed.

Lastly, the author again focuses back on the US. It seems that big-oil has waged a successful campaign to discredit global warming here and this is discussed in detail. Obama has even delayed putting solar collectors back on the White House. [A weak and feckless president who should have never been elected (and I'm a Democrat).]

Finally, the author offers a prescription for moving forward. Many other authors are ready to abandon capitalism entirely (as it got us into this mess), but Christian does not. He feels that capitalism can morph/change into a benevolent la-la being that will suddenly embrace what the yippies and hippies have been saying all along. All that is needed is for a price to be put on Carbon emissions (a Carbon Tax), and the invisible hand of Adam Smith will soothe things out and reduce CO2 emissions to zero.

[You can see I part company with the author on his last point. You really think our national congress, that is bought and paid for by big oil will ever pass a Carbon Tax? If you do, you are one of the most Pollyanna people on earth. Instead, it is up to us, everyone, to think globally but act locally. To paraphrase Kennedy, I should ask not what I can get the congress to do, but what I can do myself to ameliorate global warming. And I can do plenty. I can first read up on the issues (skipping the pablum of the American corporate press). Next, I can think critically. Finally, I can act. I can buy locally grown food so there's less of a carbon footprint. I can install solar panels. I can buy a more fuel efficient car. And so on. HEY, IT'S UP TO US TO SOLVE GLOBAL WARMING - NOT SOMEONE ELSE.]

The great writer Walter Benjamin once pointed out (and here I a going to greatly paraphrase) that us modern humans are unique amongst species in our inability as a large group to plan out multiple escape routes; that is to say that us humans can march blindly into certain disaster, whereas any other animal sensing danger would beat a hasty retreat. Mr. Parenti's book is a revelation as it takes a clear eyed glimpse into our undeniable climate crisis; and with that glimpse he illustrates the real threats that crisis represents to both human life and to the democratic ideals that we cherish as American citizens; and finally Parenti maps out at least some possibilities of an exit strategy from this crisis. That these ideas are presented are of utmost importance. Fortunately Mr. Parenti goes beyond just stating abstract notions -- he brings these ideas to life with some generally exciting first hand reporting that takes us from the hardest hit crisis zones of Africa, Afghanistan to our own backyard border zones of Texas and Arizona. In effect he personalizes the overwhelming concepts of global warming by introducing us to the goat herder, the Indian logger, the DEA agent whose lives have been totally turned around by the steady increase in temperature and erratic weather patterns.

Most books about the climate crisis can overwhelm us with negativity and a sort of end-of-days mentality. Mr. Parenti's book is the opposite. It is a book that virtually pulses with a love for democracy and belief in the power of human beings to finally do the right thing. And it is a great read as well. What could be better?

Last week I bought a new book before my flight to San Francisco, " Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence.", by Christian Parenti. Indeed, this book is well written, well researched and is deserving of the 5-stars by two reviewers on Amazon. More to the point though, Parenti presents a history of many regions of the world framed through the climate of the area with an eye on how the climate may change in the near future (the next 50 years). Unfortunately, in areas like Somalia, the near future is today.

Somalia presents a tragic case study of the violence of climate change. As I write this, hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing Somalia for Kenya to find relief from intense drought and the resulting famine. The Miami Herald (10 Aug 2011, AP article) printed an Associated Press article reporting the rape of many women refugees once they reached the Kenyan boarder by groups of armed men. "One 30-year-old woman who watched two of her five children die as they trekked through Somalia was raped after reaching what she hoped would be the safety of Kenyan soil." (AP, 09 Aug 2011) According to the report, some of these armed men would order the woman's brother to rape her. If he refused, he or she or both would then be killed. Once these people manage to cross the border, their future does not get much better. Kenya does not have the resources to protect or feed the 400,000 refugees that are already staying in a camp built for 90,000. "Officials here say they are being overwhelmed by the influx of tens of thousands of Somali refugees, and can't stem the attacks. " (AP, 2011)

Parenti's book is certainly an important book for anyone interested in looking at a brief history of how many societies have changed when the climate changes - Somalia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Mexico and others are discussed - especially during a drought. More important is the understanding of the dynamics at play right now, today, during many of our debates in this country: The war in Afghanistan, immigration across our border with Mexico, and our current debt criss.

I highly recommend this book