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Title: The Better World Handbook : From Good Intentions to Everyday Actions by Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, Brett Johnson, Brian Klocke ISBN: 0-86571-442-8 Publisher: New Society Pub Pub. Date: October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.55 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Simple changes in our lives can make a big difference.
Comment: The Better World Handbook is an amazing guide to healthy everyday living. It has information on how to better ourselves individually and how we can include ourselves in the community to make it a better place for everyone. It has a great shopping guide to choose the best stores, who are the most environmentally and socially friendly, to shop at. Brett Johnson is an excellent sociologist and writer. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make a positive change, without having to live in a tree.
Rating: 5
Summary: My Personal Bible
Comment: Hands down, the most practical and informative resource available for those interested in living an ethical life. Most of us want to do what is right but lack the proper information to realize our deepest values in action. We want to save the rainforest; we want to purchase products that are ecologically sound; we want to end war, famine, and every other ill that plagues humanity, but we have very little understanding of how our everyday actions add up. This book will help you rediscover your relationship with the rest of the globe, understand your power to make the world better, and help turn your values into effective actions.
What does the book cover? The first 50 pages of the book are the most concise and profound outline of contemporary problems I have ever encountered. What are those problems we all face? The "challenges" this book outlines and tackles include:: economic inequality, Third World debt, corporate sweatshops, war, militarization, the death penalty, media violence, natural resource depletion, air pollution and climate change, ecosystem destruction, overpopulation, lack of democracy, money in politics, media monopoly, inequality of women, racism, heterosexism, inadequate hHealth care, prisons, advertising overload, commercialization of childhood, materialism and overconsumption, fragmented communities, and finally a certain loss of our humanity.
Not to worry, though, there is no reason for cynicism. The authors are young and vibrant, and their passion for social change bleeds off the page. The first section of the book also deals with the "the cycle of cynicism" and its alternative philosophy, "the cycle of hope." In other words, this book will not make you feel apathetic or miserable about the aforementioned social and ecological problems that affect us all. The first ten pages will attune you to the many thought traps that stop us from making a difference in the world. Some common thought traps include:
"That's just the way the world works;" "It's not my responsibility;" "One person can't make a difference;" "It seems overwhelming;" "I don't know enough about the issues;" "I don't know where to begin," -- to name a few.
Although these modes of thinking can be very seductive, the authors provide many cogent reasons and examples stating why they simply do not work. After reading the section, I was thoroughly convinced that all the challenges outlined above are soluble through the combined efforts of solitary individuals like myself. A very motivating section.
After listing the problems and the thought traps that keep us from overcoming them, the authors then outline hundreds of actions we can all implement in our everyday life. The spheres of action they cover include:: banking and investing, shopping, food, personal lifestyle choices, friends and family, community, home, work, media, politics, travel, and involvement with organizations.
The variety and quality of these actions show an extreme breadth of research and awareness on the part of the authors. You find tons of references that lead back to the outside world:: including organizations and their websites, further reading suggestions, alternative media venues, along with action allert email lists and alternative newsgroups. The authors have clearly done their homework, which makes sense being that they are all teachers.
"The Better World Handbook" is nothing short of a bible for the new millennium. It is the book I have always wanted to find in the bookstore but which never existed until now. Do whatever it takes to get a copy in your hands, and start living your values. You might also want to check out The Better World Handbook website, which any search should locate. Best of luck!
Rating: 5
Summary: Be the change you're hoping for.
Comment: Mahatma Gandhi said that we must be the change we wish to see in the world (p. 1). This is also the premise of THE BETTER WORLD HANDBOOK, which demonstrates that you don't have to be a Ghandhi, Mother Teresa, Cesar Chavez, or Martin Luther King, Jr. to make a positive difference in the world. By turning our good intentions into everyday actions, even ordinary people can make a profound impact on our local and global communities.
The authors of this definitive, 291-page handbook are college instructors and Ph.D candidates at the University of Colorado, Boulder. (Okay, so some Boulder residents believe that the rest of the planet rotates around our city. But when it comes to serious issues of land development, diversity, endangered species, public smoking, chain stores and restaurants, shopping malls, alternatives to SUVs, and recycling, there is indeed much for the rest of our country to learn from this very special community.) THE BETTER WORLD HANDBOOK first identifies the problems facing our planet. For instance, while "we have become a nation of sleepwalkers" (p. 1), the wealthiest 20 percent of the world's population earns 30 times as much income as the poorest 20 percent (p. 13). The average American CEO makes 475 times as much as the average worker (p. 13). The richest 1 percent of Americans own almost as much wealth as the bottom 95 percent of the U. S. population (p. 14). The average American consumes as much energy as two Germans, six Mexicans, twelve Chinese, twenty-nine Indians, or 117 Bangladeshi (p. 25). Air pollution kills nearly 70,000 Americans every year (p. 25). Development results in the extinction of 137 species each day, while the world's population grows by 212,000 people a day (p. 26). Our children watch 20,000 to 40,000 commercials on television every year (p. 42).
After confronting these alarming statistics, in an easy-to-read format, the HANDBOOK then reveals how we can make the world a better place through our actions involving money, shopping, food, friends and family, community, work, transportation, and travel. For example, the authors encourage us to vote, invest in socially responsible companies, take a daily walk, get to know our neighbors, ride a bike to work or take the bus, work less, shop locally and buy less stuff, eat organic foods and less meat, watch less tv, volunteer, recycle, and appreciate others. They even go so far as to offer suggestions for our personal transformation, cultivating emotional and spiritual well-being, maintaining physical health, and taking time for reflection in our lives. Offering us words to live by, THE BETTER WORLD HANDBOOK is sure to become a trusted resource for anyone hoping to change the world through the power of one.
G. Merritt
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