Claude Forthomme's Blog, page 17
December 22, 2015
2015: What Went Wrong, What Went Right and What Next
Year end is the traditional time for stock-taking. It is also a special moment for getting together and getting in touch with all those we've lost sight of...I can't do a full stocktaking in a blog post, but at least I can try to share with you, my friends, what stayed with me this year and what we shall soon put behind us - and what may be in store. Hopefully, something good...
First, what went wrong. This is not an exhaustive list, just what was most striking:
theocratic terrorism: in Syria and attacks abroad - at Charlie Hebdo first and the Paris attacks in November, but not only. Attacks were experienced everywhere, in the US, in Libya, in Lebanon, in Africa, not forgetting the tragic war in Yemen, the list is long; a tsunami of refugees: 4 million Syrians fleeing their homes, one million headed for Europe and among them, "economic migrants" from places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, desperate people looking for jobs; "European Project" slowdown: EU politicians continue to mishandle the Euro crisis and fail to address the refugee crisis; as a result the political landscape is polarized, with a lurch towards a conservative right (Le Pen in France, UKIP in the UK...) closing the continent on itself and a counter-movement to the political left, with populist parties (Syriza in Greece, Podemos and Citizens in Spain, Cinque Stelle in Italy...) contesting austerity policies;The rise of China: causing instability in East Asia, still supporting a backward-looking North Korea while expanding its presence in the region, with military outposts in the sea across from Japan and a brand new infrastructure development bank that has worried America (and the World Bank) but won the support of Europe; The rise of the Russian Bear: a return to Soviet imperialism Putin-style has squashed opposition at home and led to new military adventures abroad, in Syria after Crimea and Ukraine; causing inter alia growing tensions between Europe and Russia as the problem of Ukraine and Crimea festers on and the Minsk 2 ceasefire accord stall;financial turmoil: with unresolved sovereign debt crisis in Greece and a looming collapse in Puerto Rico, hedge funds take a beating; extremists in the Republican party: several tough-talking presidential candidates led by an irrepressible Donald Trump leave the rest of the world wondering (with trepidation) what American leadership will look like if ever one of them wins.
Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia. Photograph: Bernadett Szabo/ReutersNext, what went right (up to a point):
COP 21 and the Paris Agreement,
opening the way to a future where mankind might at last begin to address the climate change challenge; and this comes right on top of the UN General Assembly - 193 countries in the world - adopting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals intended to promote peace and eradicate (most of) poverty by 2030; yes, this was decidedly a pivotal year for the United Nations; now much depends on whether business will follow suit, but it is in the cards: the number of business leaders expressing support has never been so large; civil society, NGO watchdogs are also keeping an eye out to make sure that governments don't renege on their promises...
Dawn of a liberalizing transition
in Latin America, where (among others) Venezuela's opposition might make its voice heard while Cuba is pursuing its open-door policy with the United States;
A last-minute reset in Europe
, with (finally) a (belated) EU decision to address the refugee crisis in a collegiate manner - so far, only Germany had shown open generosity, even Sweden has started to close its doors; on the economic front, removal of austerity measures is unfortunately forestalled by powerful financial lobbies: investors don't want to lose money, the political-financial complex is alive and well...
America's economic recovery
from the 2008 Great Recession further consolidated with the Federal Reserve finally raising its key interest rate... but it's happening in a climate of uncertainty: this is the weakest recovery to date on record, the middle class has lost its position in American society to the ultra-rich and lost its way as jobs don't recover;Accelerating progress and inequality: on the plus side, more discoveries and innovations are made than ever before in technology and science, as the CERN in Geneva plumbs the depths of physics and astronomers uncover the secrets of planets and exoplanets in outer space; on the minus side, it's happening at a cost, as many jobs that used to belong to the middle class are threatened by the rise of Artificial Intelligence, read: computers and robots (e.g. driver-less cars that will replace truck drivers); the unresolved questions: will our future be in the hands of robots or computer scientists? Are the benefits of further advances in technology going to accrue only to those who can afford them, i.e. the ultra-rich?
UN Secretary General at COP 21 in Paris - Impakter
What next?More refugees? Let us hope that Europe will pull its act together and find a morally acceptable way to handle the crisis, a way that will preserve its economies and respect its values; and let us hope that America and Canada will follow - so far, both are even more closed on themselves than Europe, with Canada the only country showing generosity now that Trudeau has become Prime Minister.A rebirth of the "European Project"? That, for now, looks highly unlikely - it is not only linked to a satisfactory solution to the refugee crisis but also to an acceptable outcome of the upcoming UK in-out vote and a final resolution of the Greek crisis;A solution in Syria? The UN Security Council has finally passed a long-awaited resolution that may open the way to negotiations and a political settlement; it would be important to see progress on this front: it would help to address terrorist-fomented instability elsewhere, starting with Libya and Yemen;More democracy in Latin America? Not yet in the cards for Venezuela, but the continent is moving in the right direction with Cuba opening up.A benign China aware of its carbon imprint and wishing to be friendly with neighbors and traders? Hidden behind its Internet firewall, China is hard to decipher yet trying hard to guide the world its own way, if the world will let it...Technological solutions to mankind's problems, starting with climate change? Bill Gates is betting on it with one billion dollars. But technology is not all "good", Artificial Intelligence is scary, it's our "biggest existential threat" as Elon Musk once famously said in a talk at MIT -and he too believes in supporting the right kind of research to ensure ethical choices are made. The nightmare of a world falling in the hands of the very few made globally powerful by technology, the very few who might escape Earth to another planet once (and if) it becomes unlivable, could well remain the stuff of science fiction rather than reality...Yes, maybe mankind will not disappear yet, maybe the Earth won't turn arid like Mars, maybe we all have a future after all.
On this note of hope, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
See you next year!
December 16, 2015
What Really Happened at the Paris Climate Conference - and What Next
Impakter just published one of my articles about the United Nations - this one about the results of the Paris Climate Conference:
THE PARIS CLIMATE CONFERENCE AGREEMENT – WHAT NEXT?
After the Copenhagen fiasco in 2009 when no agreement was reached, the subject of climate change looked dead and buried. Yet, this time in Paris, something positive happened at COP21. That’s the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP), i.e. the countries that have signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) back in Rio, at the 1992 Earth Summit. It took twenty-three years to get from there – in Rio – to here in Paris.
In the photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attend High Level Closing of the Summit of Local Leaders hosted by Ms. Ann Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and Mr. Michael Bloomberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cities and Climate Change – Photo Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder DebebeIf you listen to French President Hollande or the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, it was a huge success, a “historic” agreement, the start of a new era. President Obama concurred, seeing the accord largely as a personal victory, the result of his agreement last year with President Xi Jinping of China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and of the new regulations he issued this year to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. “We’ve transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change,” he told the New York Times.Yet, the deal falls far short of what is needed to slow global warming and reverse the environmental damage already done.
The rest on Impakter, to read click here.
THE PARIS CLIMATE CONFERENCE AGREEMENT – WHAT NEXT?
After the Copenhagen fiasco in 2009 when no agreement was reached, the subject of climate change looked dead and buried. Yet, this time in Paris, something positive happened at COP21. That’s the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP), i.e. the countries that have signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) back in Rio, at the 1992 Earth Summit. It took twenty-three years to get from there – in Rio – to here in Paris.
So, was COP21 a success or yet another failure? Actually, it was bothOn Saturday, December 12th, at 7:30 pm, after 11 days of negotiations between 195 countries, including a 24 hour delay and a last minute panic caused by a typo in the text that suggested that one sentence in the agreement was binding when it was intended to be voluntary, an agreement was reached, met by a standing ovation. Called the “Paris Agreement” by the French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius and President of COP21, it was agreed to by “consensus” as is the habit at the United Nations, even though one country, Nicaragua, insisted that its perplexities be put on record.
In the photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attend High Level Closing of the Summit of Local Leaders hosted by Ms. Ann Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and Mr. Michael Bloomberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cities and Climate Change – Photo Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder DebebeIf you listen to French President Hollande or the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, it was a huge success, a “historic” agreement, the start of a new era. President Obama concurred, seeing the accord largely as a personal victory, the result of his agreement last year with President Xi Jinping of China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and of the new regulations he issued this year to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. “We’ve transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change,” he told the New York Times.Yet, the deal falls far short of what is needed to slow global warming and reverse the environmental damage already done.
The rest on Impakter, to read click here.
December 6, 2015
Mass Shootings and Gun Violence in America
Following the San Bernardino massacre, the Washington Post has published on its Wonkblog an article with the arresting title: "We’ve had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here’s why."
And just in case you thought this would be a general analysis of gun violence in America unrelated to mass shootings, leave that thought behind. The article explicitly starts off with a tragic picture of the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting (my screenshot):
This is counter-intuitive and it really muddles up the issue: mass shootings are on the INCREASE in the US and this is a fact nobody should lose sight of. American society as a whole may be less violent than it was 20 or 30 years ago, but it's a helluva more dangerous place to live for the average citizen.
According to this article, there are 5 reasons why gun violence has declined over the past three decades:
1. More police officers on the beat;
2. Police using computers to collect data on crime and to direct their officers' efforts more efficiently;
3. Less booze - Americans drank 21 percent less alcohol in 2000 than in 1980, though consumption has increased since then (by how much the article doesn't say)
4. Less lead - the article reports that: "After the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, refiners were required to sell unleaded gasoline. Jessica Reyes, an economist at Amherst College, has argued that the children born after that law took effect breathed in less lead from car exhaust and that their brains were healthier as a result. She has estimated that the removal of lead reduced violent crime by no less than 56 percent. Other researchers are skeptical that lead could have caused such a large decline in U.S. violence, but many agree that the Clean Air Act had some effect on crime."
5. A better economy - here the article wavers somewhat and notes: "The authors of the Brennan Center report conclude that the increase in household income can probably explain about 5 percent to 10 percent of the decline in crime, similar to their estimate for alcohol. Yet economic factors seem more likely to affect rates of property crime than violent crime, and the relationship between the economy and the rate of gun violence in particular isn't clear." Indeed, not clear at all.And no surprise there, considering the ups and downs of the US economy since 1980, not to mention the 2008 Great Recession, the rise in income inequality and the slow collapse of the middle class...
So yes, the concept of a so-called "better economy" is not particularly germane to the argument, and even the article's author has his doubts about this one.
But how about reversing the argument?
Isn't it absolutely extraordinary that there have been more mass shootings in the US than there are days in the year - 355 so far in 2015 - even though there are "more police on the beat", that the "police uses computers", that Americans imbibe "less booze" and breathe "less lead"?
Could it be that too many people in America buy machine guns - war weapons really?
How about following the example of Australia that has simply banned the sale of such weapons? Hey, my American friends, it works!
And just in case you thought this would be a general analysis of gun violence in America unrelated to mass shootings, leave that thought behind. The article explicitly starts off with a tragic picture of the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting (my screenshot):
This is counter-intuitive and it really muddles up the issue: mass shootings are on the INCREASE in the US and this is a fact nobody should lose sight of. American society as a whole may be less violent than it was 20 or 30 years ago, but it's a helluva more dangerous place to live for the average citizen.
According to this article, there are 5 reasons why gun violence has declined over the past three decades:
1. More police officers on the beat;
2. Police using computers to collect data on crime and to direct their officers' efforts more efficiently;
3. Less booze - Americans drank 21 percent less alcohol in 2000 than in 1980, though consumption has increased since then (by how much the article doesn't say)
4. Less lead - the article reports that: "After the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, refiners were required to sell unleaded gasoline. Jessica Reyes, an economist at Amherst College, has argued that the children born after that law took effect breathed in less lead from car exhaust and that their brains were healthier as a result. She has estimated that the removal of lead reduced violent crime by no less than 56 percent. Other researchers are skeptical that lead could have caused such a large decline in U.S. violence, but many agree that the Clean Air Act had some effect on crime."
5. A better economy - here the article wavers somewhat and notes: "The authors of the Brennan Center report conclude that the increase in household income can probably explain about 5 percent to 10 percent of the decline in crime, similar to their estimate for alcohol. Yet economic factors seem more likely to affect rates of property crime than violent crime, and the relationship between the economy and the rate of gun violence in particular isn't clear." Indeed, not clear at all.And no surprise there, considering the ups and downs of the US economy since 1980, not to mention the 2008 Great Recession, the rise in income inequality and the slow collapse of the middle class...
So yes, the concept of a so-called "better economy" is not particularly germane to the argument, and even the article's author has his doubts about this one.
But how about reversing the argument?
Isn't it absolutely extraordinary that there have been more mass shootings in the US than there are days in the year - 355 so far in 2015 - even though there are "more police on the beat", that the "police uses computers", that Americans imbibe "less booze" and breathe "less lead"?
Could it be that too many people in America buy machine guns - war weapons really?
How about following the example of Australia that has simply banned the sale of such weapons? Hey, my American friends, it works!
November 25, 2015
The Weather War: UN Report Shows Toll of Climate Change
On 23 November, just a week before the opening of COP 21, the Climate Change Conference in Paris, the United Nations issued a fascinating (and scary) report showing the unexpected toll of climate change over the past 20 years (see here). The author of the report is the UN's office for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR). Headquartered in Geneva with 5 regional offices, UNISDR is an organizational unit of the UN Secretariat, headed by Margareta Wahlström and tasked to support the implementation, follow-up and review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 that was adoped by UN Member States in Japan in March 2015.
Margareta Wahlstrom, presenting the report. She is Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, appointed since 2008. A citizen of Sweden, she started her international career with the Red Cross (1995-2000).
Did you know that over the past twenty years, since the first Climate Change Conference (COP1) in 1995, over 600,000 people have lost their lives and over 4 billion have been injured in weather-related events? Losses to property are of course commensurate and enormous: 87 million homes were damaged or destroyed over the period of the survey; the total cost of property losses – including from earthquakes and tsunamis – is between US$250 billion and US$300 billion annually (a UNISDR estimate, noting that loss data is systematically under-reported).
The numbers are mind-boggling.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that weather-related events account for 90% of disasters. We always think of disasters in terms of war and other human-related causes (and of course, those are the worst, on ethical grounds because they could be avoided) and we tend to accept passively disasters caused by climate change.
But we shouldn't. The pace of climate-related events is increasing: An average of 335 weather-related disasters were recorded per year between 2005 and 2014, an increase of 14% from 1995-2004, and almost twice the level recorded during 1985-1995. That is truly scary.
Yet, there is a silver lining in all this. In the upcoming Climate Change Conference, we have a chance to finally do something constructive. This report proves that, in purely economic terms, engaging in measures to control gas emissions and reduce global warming results directly in lives and property saved. And that translates into an automatic reduction in the costs of controlling climate change. So it's not a straight exchange, one on one, between economic growth and climate change control. By choosing to curb emissions, even developing countries would find that they are enjoying a better quality economic growth.
And then there's the moral question. Do we really have the choice of sacrificing lives to the God of Economic Growth and the Golden Calf of Profit?
Adoration of the Golden Calf by Poussin
Margareta Wahlstrom, presenting the report. She is Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, appointed since 2008. A citizen of Sweden, she started her international career with the Red Cross (1995-2000).Did you know that over the past twenty years, since the first Climate Change Conference (COP1) in 1995, over 600,000 people have lost their lives and over 4 billion have been injured in weather-related events? Losses to property are of course commensurate and enormous: 87 million homes were damaged or destroyed over the period of the survey; the total cost of property losses – including from earthquakes and tsunamis – is between US$250 billion and US$300 billion annually (a UNISDR estimate, noting that loss data is systematically under-reported).
The numbers are mind-boggling.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that weather-related events account for 90% of disasters. We always think of disasters in terms of war and other human-related causes (and of course, those are the worst, on ethical grounds because they could be avoided) and we tend to accept passively disasters caused by climate change.
But we shouldn't. The pace of climate-related events is increasing: An average of 335 weather-related disasters were recorded per year between 2005 and 2014, an increase of 14% from 1995-2004, and almost twice the level recorded during 1985-1995. That is truly scary.
Yet, there is a silver lining in all this. In the upcoming Climate Change Conference, we have a chance to finally do something constructive. This report proves that, in purely economic terms, engaging in measures to control gas emissions and reduce global warming results directly in lives and property saved. And that translates into an automatic reduction in the costs of controlling climate change. So it's not a straight exchange, one on one, between economic growth and climate change control. By choosing to curb emissions, even developing countries would find that they are enjoying a better quality economic growth.
And then there's the moral question. Do we really have the choice of sacrificing lives to the God of Economic Growth and the Golden Calf of Profit?
Adoration of the Golden Calf by Poussin
November 17, 2015
The Key for Peace: The Indispensable Role of the United Nations
Once again, one of my articles, just published on Impakter, with a remarkable introduction from the Editor (he is a millennial, a man deeply concerned about the issues of our time, value-driven like his whole generation, and this too is reason for hope in a better future). This is the beginning, to read the rest, go on Impakter, click here.
THE KEY FOR PEACE: THE INDISPENSABLE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONSCLAUDE FORTHOMME on 16 November, 2015 at 19:00Note from the Editor: In these hours, following the tragic killing of innocents in Paris and Beirut, our thoughts are with the people of France and Lebanon.Impakter is a global publication. Our team comes from every corner of our beloved World. We represent the citizens of the World. Furthermore, our aim is to express that through this publication. Today we want this thought to reach higher than ever before. We believe that the current events taking place during the G20 could potentially be a significant milestone in our human history. A unprecedented event. The G20 could potentially regroup all the citizens of the World. All united into delivering a safer and united future for all the generations to come.The road is full of challenges, but we will all walk through it under one flag, that of Peace. This is without a doubt a key turning point in our history. Like the Phoenix, we are to be reborn from the ashes of our World’s darkest hours.Now, more then ever, we must move upwards and onwards. This is a first analysis of what might be happening next.LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PARIS ATTACKS – THE WAY FORWARDOnce the United Nations Security Council is unblocked, we can hope to see an end to the Syria crisis. So far, because of Russia’s repeated use of its veto power at the Security Council, supported by China, its usual ally, the international community has not been able to move forward in a concerted fashion. Syria, after three years of a devastating civil war, is now pounded by Russian and American forces and their respective allies, but they haven’t agreed on common objectives: Russia supports Bashir al Assad, the United States targets Daesh, a.k.a ISIS or IS. But now things are changing.On Sunday 15 November, at the G20 meeting in Turkey, a major political decision was reportedly taken, a page in the difficult relationship between Russia and the West appears to have been turned. It seems that Putin and Obama had an eye-to-eye talk that lasted half-an-hour and their meeting was caught on Turkish television.
THE KEY FOR PEACE: THE INDISPENSABLE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONSCLAUDE FORTHOMME on 16 November, 2015 at 19:00Note from the Editor: In these hours, following the tragic killing of innocents in Paris and Beirut, our thoughts are with the people of France and Lebanon.Impakter is a global publication. Our team comes from every corner of our beloved World. We represent the citizens of the World. Furthermore, our aim is to express that through this publication. Today we want this thought to reach higher than ever before. We believe that the current events taking place during the G20 could potentially be a significant milestone in our human history. A unprecedented event. The G20 could potentially regroup all the citizens of the World. All united into delivering a safer and united future for all the generations to come.The road is full of challenges, but we will all walk through it under one flag, that of Peace. This is without a doubt a key turning point in our history. Like the Phoenix, we are to be reborn from the ashes of our World’s darkest hours.Now, more then ever, we must move upwards and onwards. This is a first analysis of what might be happening next.LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PARIS ATTACKS – THE WAY FORWARDOnce the United Nations Security Council is unblocked, we can hope to see an end to the Syria crisis. So far, because of Russia’s repeated use of its veto power at the Security Council, supported by China, its usual ally, the international community has not been able to move forward in a concerted fashion. Syria, after three years of a devastating civil war, is now pounded by Russian and American forces and their respective allies, but they haven’t agreed on common objectives: Russia supports Bashir al Assad, the United States targets Daesh, a.k.a ISIS or IS. But now things are changing.On Sunday 15 November, at the G20 meeting in Turkey, a major political decision was reportedly taken, a page in the difficult relationship between Russia and the West appears to have been turned. It seems that Putin and Obama had an eye-to-eye talk that lasted half-an-hour and their meeting was caught on Turkish television.
Negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations between the Syrian opposition and the regime [meaning Bashir al Assad] and a cease-fireA White House spokesman said afterwards...
November 12, 2015
Climate Fiction Update, it's Now Eco-Fiction
The thread discussing climate fiction on the top-rated SFF World website is still on-going! If you haven't read it yet, click here to see it. It has now veered to discussing what makes for a good story based on an eco-fiction premise. And here I thought the thread had been winding down! But it hasn't, you're still in time to join the discussion and post your comment. I'd even posted this comment that I thought would be my last:
Yes, I do think the debate around what to call a book set in a post-climate change world (or in the midst of the worst of it) has been laid to rest. And I much prefer the discussion around what makes for a good story. I was introduced to a soon-to-be published anthology of eco-fiction, called Ecotones, and I'm looking forward to it.
Here it is on Kickstarter, seeking to gather funds by 1 December:
Hurry if you want to help them! I did, they're half-way there. And you know how Kickstarter works, don't you? If they don't reach their stated goal (in this case £1,000) they don't get the money, Kickstarter cancels the whole campaign and doesn't take any money you have contributed. Here's the message you get once you've paid in:
Nice, isn't it? I hope they make it! These are both talented and dedicated writers, deeply engaged in our future - but then, aren't we all? Aren't we all worried about global warming, pollution, wars, the end of civilization as we know it? Don't we all want to pass onto our children and grandchildren a beautiful and safe and just world?
Bless you all!
I do hope that one lasting result of this excellent debate on SFFWorld is that we can put to rest the discussion around cli-fi vs. climate fiction vs. eco-fiction!
I vote for eco-fiction, particularly since it has shown to have proven historical antecedents - wow, back to 1971, as Burt pointed out, and with a string of big names from Asimov to Vonnegut to Steinbeck...That's impressive and yes, I would certainly also sign on to that pitch Burt quotes:
"Eco-Fiction is a provocative and poignant collection of short stories that issue a plea to each individual to recognize his inevitable place and vital responsibility for the future of man on earth." Indeed, our responsibility "for the future of man on earth" is vital. This is what Mary and Bert do so beautifully: fighting for a better world with "provocative and poignant" stories - they, and all the other authors mentioned in this thread...
By the way, let me close by saying that I am looking forward to Ecotones!
Yes, I do think the debate around what to call a book set in a post-climate change world (or in the midst of the worst of it) has been laid to rest. And I much prefer the discussion around what makes for a good story. I was introduced to a soon-to-be published anthology of eco-fiction, called Ecotones, and I'm looking forward to it.
Here it is on Kickstarter, seeking to gather funds by 1 December:
Hurry if you want to help them! I did, they're half-way there. And you know how Kickstarter works, don't you? If they don't reach their stated goal (in this case £1,000) they don't get the money, Kickstarter cancels the whole campaign and doesn't take any money you have contributed. Here's the message you get once you've paid in:
Nice, isn't it? I hope they make it! These are both talented and dedicated writers, deeply engaged in our future - but then, aren't we all? Aren't we all worried about global warming, pollution, wars, the end of civilization as we know it? Don't we all want to pass onto our children and grandchildren a beautiful and safe and just world?
Bless you all!
November 6, 2015
Climate Change and the Price of Survival
BOOK REVIEW - BACK TO THE GARDEN, by Clara Hume, published by Moon Willow Press (2013) Available on Amazon, click here
Climate change usually inspires the direst of dystopian fiction: end-of-the-world situations, cities under water, people desperately seeking safety and fighting for survival while children and the elderly are the first to die...With Clara Hume's Back to the Garden, you get that but you also get much more and something that is very different.
You get a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of hope even though in that book, as in all other climate fiction novels I've ever read, the world is overheated and overrun with lawless gangs as society as we know it has collapsed.
What this book tells us is: maybe mankind can survive after all...but at what price! Back to the Garden is like going back to square one, the start of civilization. All technological advances are lost, there is no electricity and little fuel left. This is a world of growing scarcities. But is that "garden", the one in the book, a new, revised garden of Eden?
Maybe it is, and that is a comforting thought: what we have here is dystopia with a smile.
And that's what makes Back to the Garden very different and really worth reading.
And pondering over.
This is the story of a trip across a devastated, post-apocalyptic America told from multiple points of view, one for each traveler, and each one is an engaging character. We soon find ourselves liking them, feeling their pains, their hopes, their loves. This is a very human tale, some die and we cry, others live on in spite of dreadful obstacles, and they all finally get "back to the garden" - but I stop here, I don't want to give away the story and ruin the suspense, I will not tell you about this garden, pick up the book and find out!
One commentator on Amazon (see here), made the interesting comparison with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, noting that while Steinbeck depicted a cross-country trek of people driven from home by the Great Depression, Clara Hume's characters are driven by Climate Change. The comparison is apt, although the story is in fact very different (as are the characters). But we are indeed at a literary level, this is a beautifully written novel.
The author (Clara Hume is a pen name) is a young woman deeply committed to fighting climate change and preserving our environment for future generations. She maintains a vibrant website Eco-Fiction that acts as a hub for a community of people eager to debate environmental themes, including climate change, in both literature and the arts.
Here's the landing page, and you can glimpse a series of interviews of climate fiction authors:
The site is an outreach project run by Moon Willow Press, an independent small press in Canada (British Columbia) with a mission to "help sustain forests while celebrating the written word". On the site, we learn that "MWP has planted over 1,000 non-invasive trees in ecologically and economically rough areas since 2011. The press prints only on recycled, hemp, and forest-certified fiber."
Here's their opening page (screenshot, there are three images that keep changing, I caught this one about the "Blue Dot Run Team"):
Well done, MWP, this is a social-minded business, it is currently open to submissions for both fiction and non-fiction books. And of course, MWP is the publisher of Back to the Garden and numerous other climate fiction novels - reads that anyone with an environmental conscience and a concern about man's survival on this planet should not miss...
Climate change usually inspires the direst of dystopian fiction: end-of-the-world situations, cities under water, people desperately seeking safety and fighting for survival while children and the elderly are the first to die...With Clara Hume's Back to the Garden, you get that but you also get much more and something that is very different.
You get a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of hope even though in that book, as in all other climate fiction novels I've ever read, the world is overheated and overrun with lawless gangs as society as we know it has collapsed.
What this book tells us is: maybe mankind can survive after all...but at what price! Back to the Garden is like going back to square one, the start of civilization. All technological advances are lost, there is no electricity and little fuel left. This is a world of growing scarcities. But is that "garden", the one in the book, a new, revised garden of Eden?
Maybe it is, and that is a comforting thought: what we have here is dystopia with a smile.
And that's what makes Back to the Garden very different and really worth reading.
And pondering over.
This is the story of a trip across a devastated, post-apocalyptic America told from multiple points of view, one for each traveler, and each one is an engaging character. We soon find ourselves liking them, feeling their pains, their hopes, their loves. This is a very human tale, some die and we cry, others live on in spite of dreadful obstacles, and they all finally get "back to the garden" - but I stop here, I don't want to give away the story and ruin the suspense, I will not tell you about this garden, pick up the book and find out!
One commentator on Amazon (see here), made the interesting comparison with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, noting that while Steinbeck depicted a cross-country trek of people driven from home by the Great Depression, Clara Hume's characters are driven by Climate Change. The comparison is apt, although the story is in fact very different (as are the characters). But we are indeed at a literary level, this is a beautifully written novel.
The author (Clara Hume is a pen name) is a young woman deeply committed to fighting climate change and preserving our environment for future generations. She maintains a vibrant website Eco-Fiction that acts as a hub for a community of people eager to debate environmental themes, including climate change, in both literature and the arts.
Here's the landing page, and you can glimpse a series of interviews of climate fiction authors:
The site is an outreach project run by Moon Willow Press, an independent small press in Canada (British Columbia) with a mission to "help sustain forests while celebrating the written word". On the site, we learn that "MWP has planted over 1,000 non-invasive trees in ecologically and economically rough areas since 2011. The press prints only on recycled, hemp, and forest-certified fiber."
Here's their opening page (screenshot, there are three images that keep changing, I caught this one about the "Blue Dot Run Team"):
Well done, MWP, this is a social-minded business, it is currently open to submissions for both fiction and non-fiction books. And of course, MWP is the publisher of Back to the Garden and numerous other climate fiction novels - reads that anyone with an environmental conscience and a concern about man's survival on this planet should not miss...
October 30, 2015
What Turns a Police Thriller into a Bestseller? Lessons from Faceless Killers
Discovering Henning Mankell (here)Let me start with a confession: I'm not a habitual reader of police thrillers and murder stories. Like everyone, I've read Agatha Christie when I was young, I've gone through all the classics from Arthur Conan Doyle to Ngaio Marsh but I'm not a fan, call me a dispassionate reader.
Why? Because too often, I can see through the plot and it all looks depressingly formulaic.
When Henning Mankell died this month (see this excellent article in the Atlantic Monthly, here), I was reminded of his stature in Scandinavian literature - the Atlantic Monthly calls him the "dean of Nordic Noir", with 30 million copies of his Kurt Wallander series sold since the first one came out, 25 years ago, in 1990.
Of course, I'm familiar with the character of Kurt Wallander, an ordinary, middle-aged policeman working in a small town in Southern Sweden, having seen several episodes of a series featuring him on ARTE TV. But now I wanted to find out more, I thought I would try and uncover the roots of his success by reading that first book in the Wallander series, the one that "made it", with the arresting title Faceless Killers.Here's what I found - the main "lessons learned" to ensure that your next thriller is going to rise above the genre and make it as a global bestseller.
As you will see, there are only two rules to follow.
First, let me say it's a great read, the pace never slackens. When it does slow down - as inevitably it must if you're following a police investigation step-by-step, an indispensable aspect of making this novel realistic - then Kurt Wallander's personal life butts in. He has problem with his senile, grumpy and lonely father, a landscape artist endlessly painting the same landscape, his cool wife Mona who has just left him, causing him to dream of making love to a black woman (inexplicably black but then dreams are not always explainable) and his complicated daughter Linda, an independent young woman who lives with her boyfriend from Kenya and can't make up her mind about attending college. You get the sense that Kurt Wallander, ordinary as he is, has in fact a complex life and you, the reader, feel for him.
This observation leads directly to:
Rule #1: establish empathy with your main character - even if this is a police procedural and the implications are that police procedures and the thrill of the chase should trump characterization .
To transcend the genre and establish credentials as a genuine, world-class work of literature, follow Mankell's example: develop your main character. Kurt Wallander soon becomes someone you feel you know, someone who goes through the same (often depressing) experiences so many of us go through our lives as a marriage grows stale, as a child turns into a rebellious teenager, as a parent slowly sinks into old age.
The other striking aspect of Faceless Killers is its social dimension.
This is a book that has deep roots in Swedish society, and by extension, in the society of any advanced country that calls itself (like Sweden) a democracy, that believes it has humanitarian traditions. And it's a book that does not shy from raising deep, uncomfortable questions. In fact, Mankell himself had lived in Africa and brought his own views to his books and the character Kurt Wallander. As he explained on his website,
“Racism for me is a crime, and therefore it seemed natural that I wrote a crime novel. It was after that the idea of a policeman was born.”The book is peppered with Mankell's personal opinions about racism and how refugees are viewed and ill-treated in refugee camps in Sweden. One, a Somali, father of nine children, while walking alone down a country lane near his camp, gets his head blown off by a ruthless killer with an accomplice in a near-by car ready to whisk him away from the crime scene.
But the book does not merely "show", Mankell is not afraid of "telling", here are some examples:
[One character says:] "We have a refugee policy in this country that must be followed." [The other answers:] "Wrong. It's precisely the lack of refugee policy that creates chaos."[Then this character amplifies his thinking]: "Right now we're living in a country where anyone with any motive at all can come in anywhere in this country at any and in any manner. Control of the borders has been eliminated. The customs service is paralyzed. There are plenty of unguarded strips where the dope and the illegal immigrants are unloaded every night."Sounds familiar? Yes, it's amazingly relevant to our own times and the current migrant crisis in Europe. Germany expects to have to take in one million refugees this year, Sweden less of course, but it is still a favorite destination of the millions of migrants pouring into Europe through Greece, the Balkans and Italy - most of them from war-ridden countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan (Darfur, remember it?)
I wonder if any of those migrants has read Faceless Killers?
The book gives you the whole range of feelings - pro and against - caused by waves of migrants, here are a few more samples:
"For brief moments [Wallander] could also detect contradictory sympathies in himself for some of the anti-immigrant arguments that came up in discussions and the press while the trial was in progress [trial about the murder of the Somali man]. Did the government and the Immigration Service have any real control over which individuals sought to enter Sweden? Who was a refugee and who was an opportunist? Was it possible to differentiate them all?"And then comes the conclusion, one that is haunting all of us these days in Europe as we watch waves upon waves of migrants entering the continent:
"How long would the principle of the generous refugee policy be able to hold without leading to chaos? Was there any upper limit?Indeed, that is precisely what we wonder about now. And we are all like Kurt Wallander, who, as Mankell writes:
"He realized that he harbored the same vague apprehension that so many other people did. Anxiety about the unknown, about the future."This is what makes this book so extraordinary, and enables it to rise above the "genre" of mysteries, leaving behind the usual tropes and reaching out to the level of "real" literature - not pure thrills, not entertainment for the sake of entertainment but applying a lens to reality that makes you understand reality better, and perhaps in a way you have never understood it before. In short, great literature.
And this brings us to:
Rule #2: Root your story in reality - address real life issues.
In this case, migrants, what to do with them, how to integrate them in our society. In a globalized world shaken by war and injustice, this is the kind of issue that will stay with us a long time. Think of it, Faceless Killers was written 25 years ago, yet the issues it raises are incredibly relevant to our situation today.
From BBC article: "What can Europe Achieve?" (see here)You may wonder whether those two rules actually apply beyond thrillers and mysteries.
Of course they do!
In my view, applying those two rules to any genre novel will lift it to the level of
(a) a bestseller; and
(b) literature with a capital "L".
You may make a lot of money with strictly genre books, selling by the millions like 50 Shades of Grey did, but you won't reach the top. To achieve that, as Menkell shows, you need to go beyond mere thrills and open the doors of the real world for your readers, you need to make them think.
And you may ask, what is the benefit for you, the writer? Not much beyond some splendid obituaries like the one Henning Mankell got in the Atlantic Monthly or the New York Times and of course, why should you care?
But if you're an activist who would like to see the world become a better place, then you do care. I know I do. How about you?
October 20, 2015
Water is Life
Another one of my articles published on Impakter:
THE BATTLE FOR WATERCLAUDE FORTHOMME on 19 October, 2015 at 12:45Water is life. Water is essential to food security and nutrition: who could disagree? There is a “right to food” and now we have an emerging “right to water” and “right to land”. And a coming battle for water.This – “water is life” – is a direct quote from a major United Nations document put out by a unique Committee in the United Nations System, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) that has just concluded its 42nd annual meeting, held in Rome at FAO Headquarters, from 12 to 15 October 2015.
CFS 42 – First Day October 12, 2015, Plenary Hall, FAO Rome.Over 1,000 participants attended, a majority from civil society and the private sector.The CFS is unique in the United Nations system in that it is an open “multi-stakeholder platform”, as we were reminded by the CFS Chair, Gerda Verburg, Ambassador of the Netherland, in her closing remarks – she is outgoing after serving her 2-year term as a very successful, forceful chair. The CFS, founded in 1974 and reformed in 2009 to open it to non-government stakeholders, has a Bureau of 12 member countries plus the Chair, an Advisory Committee that includes representatives from non-government stakeholders and it is supported by a permanent Secretariat located in FAO, Rome, with inputs from the World Food Programme and IFAD.Here is one of the numerous and vigorous videos through which CFS Chair Gerda Verburg has spread her message about “climate smart agriculture” in various expert meetings, exemplifying the role of the CFS:...
To see the video and read the rest, go to Impakter, click here.
See you there, let me know your point of view, either there or here, I love to hear from you!
THE BATTLE FOR WATERCLAUDE FORTHOMME on 19 October, 2015 at 12:45Water is life. Water is essential to food security and nutrition: who could disagree? There is a “right to food” and now we have an emerging “right to water” and “right to land”. And a coming battle for water.This – “water is life” – is a direct quote from a major United Nations document put out by a unique Committee in the United Nations System, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) that has just concluded its 42nd annual meeting, held in Rome at FAO Headquarters, from 12 to 15 October 2015.
CFS 42 – First Day October 12, 2015, Plenary Hall, FAO Rome.Over 1,000 participants attended, a majority from civil society and the private sector.The CFS is unique in the United Nations system in that it is an open “multi-stakeholder platform”, as we were reminded by the CFS Chair, Gerda Verburg, Ambassador of the Netherland, in her closing remarks – she is outgoing after serving her 2-year term as a very successful, forceful chair. The CFS, founded in 1974 and reformed in 2009 to open it to non-government stakeholders, has a Bureau of 12 member countries plus the Chair, an Advisory Committee that includes representatives from non-government stakeholders and it is supported by a permanent Secretariat located in FAO, Rome, with inputs from the World Food Programme and IFAD.Here is one of the numerous and vigorous videos through which CFS Chair Gerda Verburg has spread her message about “climate smart agriculture” in various expert meetings, exemplifying the role of the CFS:...
To see the video and read the rest, go to Impakter, click here.
See you there, let me know your point of view, either there or here, I love to hear from you!
October 15, 2015
Amazon Has Done It Again for Self-Publishing!
The wonderful case of Swedish self-published author Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin is there to prove it! Thanks to Amazon, this author, a psychologist who has founded a psychological coaching company and published several "help" books in various genres since 2006, has hit the jackpot.News came out in this summer that something strange was happening on Amazon's printed books best selling list: big best-sellers from established authors (like Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman) were being displaced from their top position by a book for children from an unknown Swedish author with the weird title The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep - a book specially designed to lull restless children to sleep.
The news were repeated in the press both in America and in the UK (for example, here and here, both pieces dated August 15) and now the New York Times has just learned that in September Mr. Forssen Ehrlin had landed a juicy deal for multiple books, including re-issuing his first book unchanged (but on better quality paper), with one of the Big Five: Penguin Random House no less.
The interview he gave to NYT is an eye-opener. Curious? You can read it here.
So what is the secret of Forssen Ehrlin's success?
To begin with, a huge number of readers' reviews - now already over 900 on Amazon.
Next, a well-orchestrated presentation. The NYT felt the illustrations looked a little "amateurish" - perhaps they do, but Penguin Random House is (wisely) maintaining them and (I personally think) they have a lot of charm, and obviously a lot of readers have felt the same way. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Also, an attractive, professional author website. Take a look here and see for yourself. The site is as much about the author as it is about his books, well balanced, convincing.
Last but not least, an unique sales pitch. The author presents himself as a trained psychologist and life coach, someone "in the know", who can help parents in the delicate task of relaxing their children at bedtime. His book meets a broadly perceived problem, et voilà, you have a best-seller on your hands, with desperate parents loading up on the book!
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of this story is the fact that this is NOT A KINDLE SUCCESS STORY. It's a Create Space success, Amazon's service for self-publishing printed books.
We've been used to read about Amanda Hocking, Bella Andre and Hugh Howey - they all made it first by hitting the Kindle's best selling lists.
Carl-Johan has done it differently, with a printed book.
And, not content to break new ground format-wise, he's done it genre-wise too. This is not a romance, this is not a thriller or science-fiction, it's a children's book.
Congrats Carl-Johan, well done!
Carl-Joan Forssen Ehrlin's website (Screenshot)PS. This story can also be construed as another confirmation that the digital format is not particularly adapted to children's books. Mr. Forssen Ehrlin was wise to choose a printed book format, that is what parents want to do with their children, sitting on their bed after dinner, thumbing a book...Your views?
