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On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
by
#1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author Naomi Klein makes the case for a Green New Deal in this “keenly argued, well-researched, and impassioned” manifesto (The Washington Post).
An instant bestseller, On Fire shows Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but also as a spirit ...more
An instant bestseller, On Fire shows Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but also as a spirit ...more
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Audiobook, 11 pages
Published
September 17th 2019
by Simon Schuster Audio
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Start your review of On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal

Sep 30, 2019
Mario the lone bookwolf
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
klein-naomi,
0-social-criticism
We can create heaven or hell on earth, change the system or drive it against the wall, go towards a real utopia or a dystopia. With the climate as a cruel tyrant, wiping many of us from the planet.
Klein presents a collection of essays and concrete ideas towards an ecosocial change. As living examples, the Scandinavian states with their Nordic model can be seen as proof of functioning of a fairer society. Because critics like to say that humans aren´t philanthropic and altruistic and won´t work ...more
Klein presents a collection of essays and concrete ideas towards an ecosocial change. As living examples, the Scandinavian states with their Nordic model can be seen as proof of functioning of a fairer society. Because critics like to say that humans aren´t philanthropic and altruistic and won´t work ...more

Propulsive and inspirational, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal lays out a lucid roadmap for building a carbon-free, just society. Across several succinct speeches, think pieces, and long-form articles, Klein makes clear how a swift transition to clean energy has the potential to create a fair economy, right historical injustice, and repair the worn fabric of civil society. The standout intro and epilogue highlight how youth-led organizations like the Sunrise Movement, progressive p
...more

Naomi Klein’s book of essays roils with indignation at the consequences of stretching the limits of the environment, as in deep sea oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and of ignoring the actuality, let alone the implications, of climate change.
If you’re not familiar with these issues, this is a lively place to acquaint yourself. If you are, it’s useful to be reminded of the need for all of us to play as active a role as we can to influence governments and corporations to change their decision m ...more
If you’re not familiar with these issues, this is a lively place to acquaint yourself. If you are, it’s useful to be reminded of the need for all of us to play as active a role as we can to influence governments and corporations to change their decision m ...more

Feb 16, 2020
Kevin
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1-how-the-world-works,
econ-environment
Beyond “No!” protests: building a future.
The Good:
--Accessibility: unlike academic social science hieroglyphs, I take the time to read Klein’s works to experience how she engages with the wider public.
--This book is a collection of her articles/lectures on one of the great ideas in the age of runaway capitalist climate destruction. Highlights:
1) Beyond denial: the greater threats of hopelessness and climate barbarism.
--US fossil fuel companies have been planning for climate change for over 4 ...more
The Good:
--Accessibility: unlike academic social science hieroglyphs, I take the time to read Klein’s works to experience how she engages with the wider public.
--This book is a collection of her articles/lectures on one of the great ideas in the age of runaway capitalist climate destruction. Highlights:
1) Beyond denial: the greater threats of hopelessness and climate barbarism.
--US fossil fuel companies have been planning for climate change for over 4 ...more

First off, I got this book from the publisher sponsored by LitHub.com.
I have read other books by Klein that were though provoking and moving. I expected no less from this book.
This book is a collection of essays that Klein has written over the years about the Earth heating up and what individuals and groups are doing to “turn down the thermostat”. It also focuses on groups that don’t want to hear about it and want to keep on as business as usual.
I will admit I came to this book with a bit of a ...more
I have read other books by Klein that were though provoking and moving. I expected no less from this book.
This book is a collection of essays that Klein has written over the years about the Earth heating up and what individuals and groups are doing to “turn down the thermostat”. It also focuses on groups that don’t want to hear about it and want to keep on as business as usual.
I will admit I came to this book with a bit of a ...more

I really enjoy Naomi Klein's books and I would not say that this one is any different. It is a very interesting book on some very important topics of today; such as climate change and it's disastrous effects, systemic racism, capitalism, economic inequality within countries and between countries and the dismal outlook on our future if immediate and drastic changes are not made.
I genuinely think that this is a book for everybody and that at the very least, even if you do not agree with all of th ...more
I genuinely think that this is a book for everybody and that at the very least, even if you do not agree with all of th ...more

One of the many things that has intrigued me about the long run emergence of the climate emergency we now live in has been the shifting language we use to describe it. Leave aside the outright deniers, although in recent years many of them have shifted from denial of global warming to denial of it human causes; the rest of us have gone from talking of a build-up of greenhouse gasses (this is after the hydrofluorocarbon focus of the 1970s, and the hole in the ozone layer) to global warming to cli
...more

If you haven't read much else by Klein, this is a good intro to her take on the climate movement. But since I had just read her earlier book on the movement, "This Changes Everything," I found the new book less interesting. "On Fire" reprints two chapters from the earlier book, perhaps with some minor changes, though if so, not immediately apparent ones. Other essays are speeches given in various countries including Britain and Australia with less appeal outside of those particular nations.
What ...more
What ...more

As both parties happily drift to the right, we should not be surprised that the number of Americans who believe climate change is real has plummeted from 71% in 2007 to 51% in 2009, and 44% in 2011. If the trend continues, the Simpson’s character Cletus will become the fount of all wisdom while Americans report to work in Snuggies. Republicans are opposed to recognizing the climate crisis simply because they know its solution would mean wealth distribution, resource sharing and reparations. As N
...more

It's exciting to have the opportunity to read a book that feels so important. Our rapidly advancing climate crisis has advanced beyond the worrisome stage and we are faced with the possibility of catastrophic disaster if we continue on the destructive path that has brought us to this place. Naomi Klein shares her considerable expertise and formidable knowledge concerning climate change, environmental disaster, and the intersectionality of economic inequality, systemic racism, the dangerous exces
...more

We have 11 years. That's according to Naomi Klein (although she humbly adds she is merely one of many voices in her field who have been drawing similar conclusions).
Nevertheless, we only have 11 years. That's not anything resembling idle speculation. Its not just talk; it's a rather exact measurement. And it's not negotiable. We have 11 years to get the Green New Deal in motion.
Or we're fucked. And... should The Thing in the WH get re-elected... well, in Naomi's words: "Game over."
She knows t ...more
Nevertheless, we only have 11 years. That's not anything resembling idle speculation. Its not just talk; it's a rather exact measurement. And it's not negotiable. We have 11 years to get the Green New Deal in motion.
Or we're fucked. And... should The Thing in the WH get re-elected... well, in Naomi's words: "Game over."
She knows t ...more

This book is both a huge success and a massive failure; it depends on who you were before you opened the book. It won't change your mind. The arguments in here are not going to convince anyone who doesn't want to believe. In fact, I would venture to say very little of this book can serve as an argument. Instead, this book should be seen as a way to galvanize those already invested in this idea.
The actual book is a collection of writings: some essays, some articles, some random musings near as I ...more
The actual book is a collection of writings: some essays, some articles, some random musings near as I ...more


@AllenLaneBooks will publish @NaomiAKlein's On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal: http://bit.ly/2SIp1TR ...more

Naomi Klein’s latest book ‘On Fire. The Burning Case for a Green New Deal’ (2019) is a very timely collection of essays written between 2009 to 2019 - in many ways a lost decade but one of a profound shift between the 2009 UN climate summit where Bolivian climate negotiator Angelica Navarro Llanos called for a ‘Marshall Plan for the Earth’ to AOC and ‘the squad’ introducing the Green New Deal to Congress in 2019 and the UK Labour Party adopting the GND at their 2019 party conference earlier this ...more

Naomi Klein writes (and speaks) with an urgency and clarity that is unrivalled when it comes to climate imo. She convincingly makes the case for a truly intersectional solution to climate change. It's not simply right to address historical and contemporary injustices while dealing with the climate emergency. Klein asserts that any climate movement that leaves out justice for minority groups, women, the global south, and indigenous peoples, is doomed to fail.
tl;dr polluters must pay ...more
tl;dr polluters must pay ...more

I was of the opinion that This Changes Everything was a fuzzy-headed and tentative book, but Naomi Klein is on fire in this one. The Introduction is among the best things she has written. And the following essays are well crafted and fit the overall theme of the book supporting the Green New Deal. It is a call to action.
On Fire is hard hitting and honest: "So, let’s summarize. Responding to climate change requires that we break every rule in the free-market playbook and that we do so with great ...more
On Fire is hard hitting and honest: "So, let’s summarize. Responding to climate change requires that we break every rule in the free-market playbook and that we do so with great ...more

This book is comprised of a lengthy forward and essays/speeches Naomi Klein had given throughout the 2010s, often in response to climate disasters. She's added her 2019 reflections at the end of each essay to contextualize any changes to events in that location, policy, or her own thinking.
Initially, I was a bit taken aback because I thought the book was all original work... but then I found the book structure was brilliant. It's vital to keep a clear history of environmental justice movements ...more
Initially, I was a bit taken aback because I thought the book was all original work... but then I found the book structure was brilliant. It's vital to keep a clear history of environmental justice movements ...more

I liked Naomi Klein's On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal, a book which collects Klein's essays on climate change from the 2010s, and here are some reasons to read it.
First, it can be read as a sort of representative history of how climate activists thought and reacted during this past decade. I often feel a need for a history of green thought but have not yet stumbled upon one.
Second, these essays show that by the end of the decade a group was organizing around the thought of Klein, ...more
First, it can be read as a sort of representative history of how climate activists thought and reacted during this past decade. I often feel a need for a history of green thought but have not yet stumbled upon one.
Second, these essays show that by the end of the decade a group was organizing around the thought of Klein, ...more

Oct 29, 2019
Sotiris Karaiskos
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
politics,
modern-issues
There are many books that refer to the ugly way in which the world works and causes many problems for much of humanity, but Naomi Klein's books always stand out for one reason: they are not simply whining but suggest some solutions. In this she goes on to argue in favor of the idea that imposing of specific drastic solutions to climate change can bring about major changes in the way the world economy operates, thereby creating a fairer world. Drawing inspiration from the drastic political change
...more

Hmmm. I believe in, and support the launch of “A” Green New Deal for the development of a just human society on a sustainable basis in the United States — or at least in my bioregion. But like the deal for which it is named, THE green new deal is many things to many people, and is as yet mostly undefined. That’s my first quibble, significant in that detractors (almost everyone of both U.S. parties currently in power) choose to label it as “socialism” — a death knell in U.S. politics — and define
...more

The book equipped me with a broader perspective on climate change that also includes social justice. While it was depressing to read the author's almost-decade old essays and to know that no significant action has been taken since then, the book ends on a more optimistic note with a call to action – which does not include buying more green products but instead supporting decisive and sweeping changes that offer a better future both for our planet and its people.
...more

I just finished this incredible thought provoking book about climate change and making our life into smart green approaches. We all need to read this book and think about what is occurring around us and our planet. It is time to make change for real and start at your own home, encourage your family and friends and take time to get involved in your local community to discuss green energy, green way of life and the elimination of problems that are contributing to ruining our world of what makes th
...more

Climate change is terrifying and paralyzing, the most natural response is to give up. The climate justice movement / the Green New Deal / Klein's work here are totally essential for presenting an alternate picture where confronting climate change is more than just an attempt to stave off disaster, but a unique opportunity for building a better, more just world.
So: this is fantastic, and you should read it. Klein's writing is powerful and moving, as well as detailed and harrowing. Didn't realize ...more
So: this is fantastic, and you should read it. Klein's writing is powerful and moving, as well as detailed and harrowing. Didn't realize ...more

This book joins the ranks of Klein's previous ones as a non-fiction work that is both accessible and urgently needed.
The book does not seek to convince climate change deniers that they are wrong, as that would be a waste of one of our most precious yet scarce resources in the fight to keep Earth from becoming incompatible with life: time. Rather, it implores those who already care or are on the fence that collective action - a truly broad-based movement incorporating an array of solutions to so ...more
The book does not seek to convince climate change deniers that they are wrong, as that would be a waste of one of our most precious yet scarce resources in the fight to keep Earth from becoming incompatible with life: time. Rather, it implores those who already care or are on the fence that collective action - a truly broad-based movement incorporating an array of solutions to so ...more

Naomi Klein will help you remember that climate change and environmental catastrophe are connected to the rapacious destruction of standards of human life and dignity, along with the massive redistribution of wealth from the poor to the wealthy.
On Fire collects Klein's essays from the last ten years or so, from her initial writings on the BP oil devastation across the disappearing shores of Louisiana (and beyond) to her more recent project with the Leap Manifesto and championship of the Green Ne ...more
On Fire collects Klein's essays from the last ten years or so, from her initial writings on the BP oil devastation across the disappearing shores of Louisiana (and beyond) to her more recent project with the Leap Manifesto and championship of the Green Ne ...more

Naomi Klein argues that intersectionally-sound policies are necessary in order to fight climate change. While more CO2 is released into the atmosphere, the nations that are going to suffer first are developing nations who weren't part of the problem. Klein also argues that our current capitalistic model is not going to solve the problem of climate change. Radical reform is needed.
An excellent read! ...more
An excellent read! ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Play Book Tag: On Fire - Naomi Klein 3/5 | 2 | 12 | Feb 16, 2020 12:29PM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Wrong number of pages for Allen Lane Hardcover | 2 | 14 | Oct 29, 2019 01:05AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Combine Editions - "On Fire" by Naomi Klein | 2 | 10 | Oct 02, 2019 01:31AM |
Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist, documentary filmmaker and author of the international bestsellers No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. She is a senior correspondent for The Intercept and her writing appears widely in such publications as The New York T
...more
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Kerine Wint is a software engineering graduate with more love for books than for computers. As an avid reader, writer, and fan of all things...
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“What we need are transitions that recognize the hard limits on extraction and that simultaneously create new opportunities for people to improve quality of life and derive pleasure outside the endless consumption cycle, whether through publicly funded art and urban recreation or access to nature through new protections for wilderness. Crucially, that means making sure that shorter work weeks allow people the time for this kind of enjoyment, and that they are not trapped in the grind of overwork requiring the quick fixes of fast food and mind-numbing distractions.”
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“There is simply no way to square a belief system that vilifies collective action and venerates total market freedom with a problem that demands collective action on an unprecedented scale and a dramatic reining in of the market forces that created and are deepening the crisis.”
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