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This Can't Be Happening
In twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.
In the galvanising speeches and essays brought together in This Can't Be Happening, George Monbiot calls on humanity to stop averting its gaze from the destruction of the living planet, and wake up to the greatest predicament we have ever faced.
Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.
In the galvanising speeches and essays brought together in This Can't Be Happening, George Monbiot calls on humanity to stop averting its gaze from the destruction of the living planet, and wake up to the greatest predicament we have ever faced.
Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 26, 2021
18 people are currently reading
1090 people want to read
About the author
George Monbiot
43 books1,080 followersGeorge Joshua Richard Monbiot is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
October 8, 2021
This reading should be made compulsory in every school of Western Europe. Outstanding piece of work: its the best collection of essays I own for sure, and I’d even put it in the top three books I’ve ever read. Its thinking is profound, its story voice is articulate and economic, not a single word is wasted. And then every word is also absolutely transparent - no obscure or overly technical passages. At the core of it all, there’s a beating heart that makes this book warm, empathetic and hopeful. For those suffering from climate change anxiety, this is an answer. If I ever feel the ambition to stand on a patch of grass and teach what I’ve learned in this lifetime to anyone willing to hear it, this book would be on the syllabus. I feel grateful to the author, and above all, inspired. Now that’s the trademark of brilliant penmanship. For €7 in the bookstore, this is the deal of a lifetime (and no, I’m not being paid to promote this book. If I were, I’d be at your door right now preaching the gospel of George Monbiot.)
December 22, 2021
Find a copy and read this ... and then share your copy with a friend....
Really good stuff - succinct, accessible, powerful, compelling, persuasive, easy to read.... (Heck, I'd ask what's not to like? except for the harsh reality that the subject-matter is profoundly depressing and distressing, but I digress.)
OK, OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, it might be difficult to get a copy, but more on that below. Yes, yes, you should be able to download one on your Kindle, and, if you have a Kindle, I strongly recommend that approach.
Further, if you read a lot about climate change and the environment and what we (and our governments) are (or aren't) doing about it, you've probably found yourself reading some of the extremely informative and compelling reporting from the The Guardian ... [Full disclosure: I've only somewhat recently begun paying for/subscribing to the Guardian based on the strength of its environmental coverage, analysis, advocacy, and insight] ... in which case you may already be familiar with the author and his themes and his long-form reporting. So, maybe you're not the target audience ... but, then again ... even though I consume a fair amount of related literature, I found this package particularly well done. (And, for a slender volume, I dog-eared a surprising number of pages that I expect I'll want to return to.)
Ultimately, it's a slender volume (again, more on that below), and Monbiot doesn't break a lot of new ground, but he tells a powerful story ... and he reminds us that stories matter; indeed, he forcefully argues that we need a new story if we're going to change our climate change (or, dare I say, species') trajectory.
This pocket-sized collection of very short essays (originally published in 2017-1019) is volume 4 in the Penguin Green Ideas collection, which, apparently, is not available for sale (in the slipcase collection) in the U.S. (but it's not that difficult to order it from a UK supplier). I'm only a fifth of the way through, but, so far, this one was far and away my favorite. (Having checked, I'm extremely disappointed that it doesn't appear to have been printed and made available for a low price here in the US - that's a shame - I could easily see buying these in bulk....)
Reviewer's hat tip: Kudos to the reviewer (Rafa) who suggests that reading this book should be compulsory in schools. I like that, and I plan to borrow ... and repeat it.
Really good stuff - succinct, accessible, powerful, compelling, persuasive, easy to read.... (Heck, I'd ask what's not to like? except for the harsh reality that the subject-matter is profoundly depressing and distressing, but I digress.)
OK, OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, it might be difficult to get a copy, but more on that below. Yes, yes, you should be able to download one on your Kindle, and, if you have a Kindle, I strongly recommend that approach.
Further, if you read a lot about climate change and the environment and what we (and our governments) are (or aren't) doing about it, you've probably found yourself reading some of the extremely informative and compelling reporting from the The Guardian ... [Full disclosure: I've only somewhat recently begun paying for/subscribing to the Guardian based on the strength of its environmental coverage, analysis, advocacy, and insight] ... in which case you may already be familiar with the author and his themes and his long-form reporting. So, maybe you're not the target audience ... but, then again ... even though I consume a fair amount of related literature, I found this package particularly well done. (And, for a slender volume, I dog-eared a surprising number of pages that I expect I'll want to return to.)
Ultimately, it's a slender volume (again, more on that below), and Monbiot doesn't break a lot of new ground, but he tells a powerful story ... and he reminds us that stories matter; indeed, he forcefully argues that we need a new story if we're going to change our climate change (or, dare I say, species') trajectory.
This pocket-sized collection of very short essays (originally published in 2017-1019) is volume 4 in the Penguin Green Ideas collection, which, apparently, is not available for sale (in the slipcase collection) in the U.S. (but it's not that difficult to order it from a UK supplier). I'm only a fifth of the way through, but, so far, this one was far and away my favorite. (Having checked, I'm extremely disappointed that it doesn't appear to have been printed and made available for a low price here in the US - that's a shame - I could easily see buying these in bulk....)
Reviewer's hat tip: Kudos to the reviewer (Rafa) who suggests that reading this book should be compulsory in schools. I like that, and I plan to borrow ... and repeat it.
August 3, 2022
Number 4 in the 'Penguin Books - Green Ideas' series, this book is a collection of speeches and essays by the investigative journalist and 'professional troublemaker' George Monbiot, a leading voice in the fight for climate justice.
This book isn't just about the obvious changes we have to make such as removing petrol-driven cars from the roads, but whether we need to replace these cars with electric cars at all or whether a change in thinking to bring about less journeys in vehicles isn't the better option. We have to do better very quickly otherwise climate changes will become irreversible.
Over four million acres of farmland in the UK is given over to sheep farming, providing 1% of the food of the country. This is 24 times as much land as is given over to vegetables and fruit and more land than is used to grow grain. This grazing wipes out wildlife and habitats. Even the well-intentioned movement towards pasture-fed meat doesn't help the planet. Free-range chicken farming doesn't help either even though it is cruelty free because all the reactive phosphate created by the chickens gets washed into nearby rivers where it causes algal blooms.
Humans have to think through all the lifestyle choices they're making and follow the ones that do the least damage. This book will open your mind to the best ways to do this.
This book isn't just about the obvious changes we have to make such as removing petrol-driven cars from the roads, but whether we need to replace these cars with electric cars at all or whether a change in thinking to bring about less journeys in vehicles isn't the better option. We have to do better very quickly otherwise climate changes will become irreversible.
Over four million acres of farmland in the UK is given over to sheep farming, providing 1% of the food of the country. This is 24 times as much land as is given over to vegetables and fruit and more land than is used to grow grain. This grazing wipes out wildlife and habitats. Even the well-intentioned movement towards pasture-fed meat doesn't help the planet. Free-range chicken farming doesn't help either even though it is cruelty free because all the reactive phosphate created by the chickens gets washed into nearby rivers where it causes algal blooms.
Humans have to think through all the lifestyle choices they're making and follow the ones that do the least damage. This book will open your mind to the best ways to do this.
November 3, 2021
This Can't Be Happening oleh #GeorgeMonbiot
•
Review ini akan bias, mirip dengan review penuh puja-puji ke penulis yang sering kalian liat di Instagram. Kanal ini bisa jadi tidak lagi kritis pada bacaannya jika dia mulai membaca tulisan dari tokoh favoritnya. Ya, tidak apa-apa ya namanya manusia.
Saat #PenguinGreenIdeas lauching buku ini benar-benar yang paling saya tunggu. Waktu kak @alien bilang bahwa Transit akan bawa seluruh series ke Indonesia saat itu juga saya siapkan uangnya. Sebegitu sukanya saya dengan Monbiot sebagai seorang orator. Saya pernah benar-benar terpuruk, saya marah atas dunia aktivisme dan marah terhadap beberapa oknum yang menggunakan alasan perjuangan untuk dapat uang. Lalu saat itu saya curhat dengan sahabat saya di Belanda, dia bilang mungkin ini saatnya saya coba berteriak. Dia menyarankan saya untuk menonton beberapa sound bite Monbiot. Dalam fase itu saya merasa punya teman untuk melanjutkan langkah ini. Walaupun barangkali kerja saya selama ini tidak benar-benar berdampak, tapi setidaknya pilihan ini lebih baik daripada saya melanjutkan corporate lawyering yang saya tahu itu jelas dampaknya bagi bumi ini dan bagi sesama manusia lain.
Buku ini berisi teks kumpulan orasi terbaik Monbiot mulai dari bicara soal memori, keadilan atar generasi hingga kapitalisme. Monbiot pun tidak segan mengkritik NGO besar, dia juga memimpin sebuah okupasi besar pada Greenpeace tahun lalu. Sebuah keberanian, sebuah hal yg layak dikenang bahwa kritik pada kritik adalah nyala.
•
Saya tidak tahu apakah teman-teman non aktivis bisa relate dengan Monbiot tapi menurutku buku ini layak untuk dibaca saat kita merasa sendirian dan kebingungan melihat dunia yang semakin tidak humanis.
#ThisCantBeHappening #WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2021
•
Review ini akan bias, mirip dengan review penuh puja-puji ke penulis yang sering kalian liat di Instagram. Kanal ini bisa jadi tidak lagi kritis pada bacaannya jika dia mulai membaca tulisan dari tokoh favoritnya. Ya, tidak apa-apa ya namanya manusia.
Saat #PenguinGreenIdeas lauching buku ini benar-benar yang paling saya tunggu. Waktu kak @alien bilang bahwa Transit akan bawa seluruh series ke Indonesia saat itu juga saya siapkan uangnya. Sebegitu sukanya saya dengan Monbiot sebagai seorang orator. Saya pernah benar-benar terpuruk, saya marah atas dunia aktivisme dan marah terhadap beberapa oknum yang menggunakan alasan perjuangan untuk dapat uang. Lalu saat itu saya curhat dengan sahabat saya di Belanda, dia bilang mungkin ini saatnya saya coba berteriak. Dia menyarankan saya untuk menonton beberapa sound bite Monbiot. Dalam fase itu saya merasa punya teman untuk melanjutkan langkah ini. Walaupun barangkali kerja saya selama ini tidak benar-benar berdampak, tapi setidaknya pilihan ini lebih baik daripada saya melanjutkan corporate lawyering yang saya tahu itu jelas dampaknya bagi bumi ini dan bagi sesama manusia lain.
Buku ini berisi teks kumpulan orasi terbaik Monbiot mulai dari bicara soal memori, keadilan atar generasi hingga kapitalisme. Monbiot pun tidak segan mengkritik NGO besar, dia juga memimpin sebuah okupasi besar pada Greenpeace tahun lalu. Sebuah keberanian, sebuah hal yg layak dikenang bahwa kritik pada kritik adalah nyala.
•
Saya tidak tahu apakah teman-teman non aktivis bisa relate dengan Monbiot tapi menurutku buku ini layak untuk dibaca saat kita merasa sendirian dan kebingungan melihat dunia yang semakin tidak humanis.
#ThisCantBeHappening #WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2021
August 3, 2022
Een klein boekje met korte stukken en speeches van een bekende journalist over de klimaatcrisis, het verband met kapitalisme en groei, de nood aan actie.
Vlot geschreven, informatief en enthousiasmerend.
De stukken verschenen eerder in The Guardian.
Vlot geschreven, informatief en enthousiasmerend.
De stukken verschenen eerder in The Guardian.
December 27, 2021
Great summary of all the main issues put in a very stark way. Shame it is so short - must read more by George Monbiot!
February 28, 2025
As other reviews have hinted at, this book really should be read by all.
The book flows eloquently, each essay repeats what we all have a hint of understanding of yet Monbiot unravels and expands what we are all thinking about climate change & humanities complicated relationship with planet earth -- articulated in a mere 82 pages he asks the questions we need to face, touching each individual that reads his pleads.
Some of my favourite lines are as follows:
“What you see in the world is not what others see. We inhabit parallel worlds of perception, bounded by our interests and experience. What is obvious to some is invisible to others.”
“Perhaps this forgetfulness is protective. I have been averting my eyes. Because I cannot bear to see what we have done to nature, I no longer see nature itself. Otherwise, the speed of loss would be unendurable.”
“I will not allow myself to forget again: I will work to recover the knowledge I have lost. For I now see that without the power of memory, we cannot hope to defend the world we love.”
“The living world is dying of consumption.” - “As natural systems shift from one state to another, we almost immediately forget what we have lost.” - “We forget even our own histories.” - In Memoriam
-
“To be aware of the wonder is to take on a burden of grief that is almost unbearable.” - The Unseen World
-
“We want not just to protect what we already have, but to restore what we have lost. To bring the trees back to the barren hills. To let the rivers run freely once more. No one else will deliver it for us. No one is left but us.” - A Good Start
-
THIS SYSTEM IS DEHUMANISING! - So what does a better system look like?
“I believe our task is to identify the best proposals from many different thinkers and shape them into a coherent alternative - working collaboratively to create a better way of organizing ourselves that meets our needs without destroying our home.”
"Our choice comes down to this. Do we stop life to allow capitalism to continue, or stop capitalism to allow life to continue?” - The Problem is Capitalism
-
"Stories are the means by which we navigate the world.” - "We are creatures of narrative, and a string of facts and figures."
“Despair is the state we fall into when our imagination fails. When we have no story that explains the present and describes the future, hope evaporates.”
"Political failure is at heart a failure of imagination. Without a restoration story that can tell us where we need to go, nothing is going to change.”- “But with such a restoration story, almost everything can change."
"The story should resonate with deep needs and desires. It should be simple and intelligible, and it should be grounded in reality.”
"Our times tell us that we should live in extreme individualism and competition with each other. It pushes us to fight each other, to fear and mistrust each other. It atomizes society.” - “It weakens the social bonds that make our lives worth living. And into that vacuum grow these violent, intolerant forces."
"We are a society of altruists, but we are governed by psychopaths. But it doesn't have to be like this, because we have an incredible capacity for togetherness and belonging." - The New Political Story that Could Change Everything
-
“What counts is not what you do but what you stop doing.” - “Life on Earth depends on moderation.” - Embarrassment of Riches
-
“Let us challenge the old myths. Let us restore our world of wonders. Let us make this the rich and beautiful world we want our children to inherit.”
- We Can Stop the First Great Extermination
The book flows eloquently, each essay repeats what we all have a hint of understanding of yet Monbiot unravels and expands what we are all thinking about climate change & humanities complicated relationship with planet earth -- articulated in a mere 82 pages he asks the questions we need to face, touching each individual that reads his pleads.
Some of my favourite lines are as follows:
“What you see in the world is not what others see. We inhabit parallel worlds of perception, bounded by our interests and experience. What is obvious to some is invisible to others.”
“Perhaps this forgetfulness is protective. I have been averting my eyes. Because I cannot bear to see what we have done to nature, I no longer see nature itself. Otherwise, the speed of loss would be unendurable.”
“I will not allow myself to forget again: I will work to recover the knowledge I have lost. For I now see that without the power of memory, we cannot hope to defend the world we love.”
“The living world is dying of consumption.” - “As natural systems shift from one state to another, we almost immediately forget what we have lost.” - “We forget even our own histories.” - In Memoriam
-
“To be aware of the wonder is to take on a burden of grief that is almost unbearable.” - The Unseen World
-
“We want not just to protect what we already have, but to restore what we have lost. To bring the trees back to the barren hills. To let the rivers run freely once more. No one else will deliver it for us. No one is left but us.” - A Good Start
-
THIS SYSTEM IS DEHUMANISING! - So what does a better system look like?
“I believe our task is to identify the best proposals from many different thinkers and shape them into a coherent alternative - working collaboratively to create a better way of organizing ourselves that meets our needs without destroying our home.”
"Our choice comes down to this. Do we stop life to allow capitalism to continue, or stop capitalism to allow life to continue?” - The Problem is Capitalism
-
"Stories are the means by which we navigate the world.” - "We are creatures of narrative, and a string of facts and figures."
“Despair is the state we fall into when our imagination fails. When we have no story that explains the present and describes the future, hope evaporates.”
"Political failure is at heart a failure of imagination. Without a restoration story that can tell us where we need to go, nothing is going to change.”- “But with such a restoration story, almost everything can change."
"The story should resonate with deep needs and desires. It should be simple and intelligible, and it should be grounded in reality.”
"Our times tell us that we should live in extreme individualism and competition with each other. It pushes us to fight each other, to fear and mistrust each other. It atomizes society.” - “It weakens the social bonds that make our lives worth living. And into that vacuum grow these violent, intolerant forces."
"We are a society of altruists, but we are governed by psychopaths. But it doesn't have to be like this, because we have an incredible capacity for togetherness and belonging." - The New Political Story that Could Change Everything
-
“What counts is not what you do but what you stop doing.” - “Life on Earth depends on moderation.” - Embarrassment of Riches
-
“Let us challenge the old myths. Let us restore our world of wonders. Let us make this the rich and beautiful world we want our children to inherit.”
- We Can Stop the First Great Extermination
March 27, 2023
4.75 / 5 stars
Really enjoyed these essays/speeches. I found the length of each section to be perfect and the content wasn’t repetitive. Overall moving and inspiring works.
Really enjoyed these essays/speeches. I found the length of each section to be perfect and the content wasn’t repetitive. Overall moving and inspiring works.
March 13, 2024
A very well written novella.
The information in this short book were conveyed in a way that you can follow along easily with.
Lots of important facts!
The information in this short book were conveyed in a way that you can follow along easily with.
Lots of important facts!
April 18, 2022
No. 4 in Penguin’s Green Ideas series. Monbiot is my favorite journalist at the moment.
March 23, 2022
Amazing, succinct. Mr Monbiot (along with Jason Hickel) are my favourite politics/neoliberalism/environment authors as they write in a non-pretentious, clear, and understandable way. Their language is far from Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: problems with using long words needlessly and I am always here for that.
What I miss here are solutions, but these, unfortunately, often tend to be glossed over in many otherwise amazing critiques of global inequality and neoliberalism. However, these are small Guardian articles, so I can forgive that, yet without detailed solutions and global plans for solutions, the information here can quickly become something you've read many times.
What I miss here are solutions, but these, unfortunately, often tend to be glossed over in many otherwise amazing critiques of global inequality and neoliberalism. However, these are small Guardian articles, so I can forgive that, yet without detailed solutions and global plans for solutions, the information here can quickly become something you've read many times.
December 28, 2024
This book single handily changed my life in just 83 pages. I feel like I’ve just woke up from a dream to a horrific nightmare that I feel horrendously guilty for sleeping through. If you don’t take a good hard look at your life and the world around you after reading this I don’t really know what else to say. If you care even slightly about the environment or are planning on having kids one day, this is a must read.
July 24, 2022
I'm not really a fan of transcribed speeches but some of the essays included here were really good. if you were to read one thing from here, I recommend the "Embarrassment of Riches".
new insights / perspectives:
- we need a new political system that won't keep making things worse. Monbiot suggests this could be based around communities and regional-level legislation though the idea is far from finished.
- bonding vs bridging networks. the first one brings together similar people, while the second one connects people from different backgrounds (and it's the one that's far more beneficial).
- "income is by far the most important determinant of environmental impact" leading to "Perhaps the most radical thing we can do is limit our material aspirations."
- even though we're encouraged on all fronts to switch from intensively reared meat to pasture-fed meat, this means "swapping a system of astonishing cruelty for a system of astonishing destruction" because livestock cannot exist alongside wildlife
new insights / perspectives:
- we need a new political system that won't keep making things worse. Monbiot suggests this could be based around communities and regional-level legislation though the idea is far from finished.
- bonding vs bridging networks. the first one brings together similar people, while the second one connects people from different backgrounds (and it's the one that's far more beneficial).
- "income is by far the most important determinant of environmental impact" leading to "Perhaps the most radical thing we can do is limit our material aspirations."
- even though we're encouraged on all fronts to switch from intensively reared meat to pasture-fed meat, this means "swapping a system of astonishing cruelty for a system of astonishing destruction" because livestock cannot exist alongside wildlife
October 26, 2025
“to be aware of the wonder and enchantment of the world, it’s astonishing creatures and complex interactions, and to be aware simultaneously of the remarkably rapid destruction of almost every living system, is to take on a burden of grief that is almost unbearable”
This book did not make me feel even slightly better about the state of the world, but was a welcome reminder that the problem is capitalism and that everything is being destroyed before our eyes.
This book did not make me feel even slightly better about the state of the world, but was a welcome reminder that the problem is capitalism and that everything is being destroyed before our eyes.
September 17, 2024
This collection of essays offers a compelling and accessible exploration of Earth's ecological degradation and potential ecosystem collapse, while also addressing contemporary social and political dynamics. All with an insightful thread of hope running throughout the words. Excellently executed. An essential read for every human.
October 12, 2025
I'm a fan of Monbiot's writing and this collection of his speeches certainly drives home how dedicated he is to the cause of saving the world, so to speak. I think this would be a good read for people who haven't read anything by George Monbiot but are interested to, it paints the type of person he is and the passion which comes through in his work
May 3, 2022
A really short, easily digestible look into climate change, ecology and what we can actively be doing and campaigning for to enable structural change. At parts it feels disheartening but George Monbiot ends with a clear path to change with a string of hope on the way.
December 15, 2024
I think this is an important book for anyone seeking to know more about the climate crisis. He makes plenty of references to other authors and revolutionaries which remedy the fact that nothing was discussed in this book in satisfying detail (understandable, as it is a mere 80 pages).
That being said, I did not really enjoy his speeches, which at some moments came off as rather cloying. I recognise that this sentiment is likely due to the fact that I study climate change and would have appreciated a drier, less emotional tone of writing.
That being said, I did not really enjoy his speeches, which at some moments came off as rather cloying. I recognise that this sentiment is likely due to the fact that I study climate change and would have appreciated a drier, less emotional tone of writing.
October 2, 2023
A fresh look on climate change and diet change l havent seen for a long time.
February 19, 2024
Mooi klein bundeltje me essays over de staat van onze wereld (niet goed). Mooie analyse van de oorzaken en een oproep om een nieuw narratief te ontwikkelen (en te volgen) om nog iets te redden.
January 11, 2023
<3
On some points I got goosebumps. True,honest, hopeful but urgently. If you ever needed motivation to care about sustainability and climate change, read these pages.
On some points I got goosebumps. True,honest, hopeful but urgently. If you ever needed motivation to care about sustainability and climate change, read these pages.
October 22, 2023
This novella sized book throws out a challenge to its readers - if you truly value the planet, live as though you do. Monbiot covers everything from politics and philosophy to education and cultural beliefs. As a journalist he is able to put across his thoughts in an engaging way, and I at least will be thinking about its contents for a long time. For those interested, this is part of a series of booklets published by Penguin.
January 5, 2025
The most incredible piece of writing. I can easily say this is my number one book ever read. Monbiot speaks with such eloquence and power that it is hard to stop thinking about. Every page is filled with rage-inducing, eye-opening, profound realisations that changes the way you see the world. If you have not read, this is a MUST READ!!!
January 20, 2022
Short, but powerful. I consider using this for my course.
January 16, 2022
Too many sheep
January 6, 2024
Absolutely amazing collection of essays and speeches, very well worded, supported by facts and imagery.
November 28, 2024
Book number four in Penguin’s Green Ideas series, George Monbiot’s This Can’t Be Happening gathers up eleven short speeches and essays from 2017–2019, many previously published in The Guardian, and one, “The New Political Story that Could Change Everything,” that was delivered at TEDSummit 2019. As I read elsewhere, it’s hard to argue with anything Monbiot has to say, though, as with much environmental writing, it all just piles on. Essentially, we are fucked, though some (the global poor) will have it worse than others (the global rich) unless we can come together to demand systemic change. We can, and we do, but, at least here in the United States, what is done is undone by the opposing political administration—one step forward; two steps back.
In the foreword, Monbiot tells a story about trying to convince the other parents waiting to pick their children up at school to turn off their car engines. To him (and me) the reasoning was obvious, but it was far from obvious to the other parents. After several months, he gave up, his efforts having no lasting discernable impact. It was yet another reminder of the futility of acting alone. In This Can’t Be Happening, Monbiot argues that, yes, we need to demand practical changes, but, more importantly, we need to do something deeper: overcome the ignorance the billionaire press has manufactured, wake our friends from the stupor of consumption, break through the barrier of disbelief, and provoke a new moral imagination.
If one of those four points is not like the others, it is, to me anyway, the last one: provoke a new moral imagination. While not directly related to what Amitav Ghosh posits in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, it’s as close a sentiment as I’ve heard from another environmentalist. In the present context, it also feels like the overarching necessity that makes the others possible. That is, as a species, we lack the moral compass needed to guide us through this crisis: We need to understand that we can inflict great harm on others, even if we don’t intend to; We need to connect our daily activities on one side of the world to catastrophic effects on the lives of people on the other; and We need to see that the way we live can destroy the chances of those not yet born. Unless and until we can imagine those things and then turn that imagination into belief, we won’t get anywhere. We won’t get anywhere because, without a shift in thinking, everything given up will feel like, in all senses of the word, a loss. It’s the same reason going on a diet rarely works over the long term: The dieter hasn’t changed his mindset, he’s only changed his behavior. Goal reached, he reverts to the old ways, happy to have back what had been temporarily sacrificed.
In the context of environmental collapse, many of our core beliefs—progress, wealth creation, self-improvement—drive us in the wrong direction. How, then, can we make the leap from where we are to where we need to be? For Ghosh, it’s literature—serious literary fiction, not sci-fi or cli-fi that are, rightly or wrongly, genres that aren’t taken seriously—that is uniquely positioned to do this. Maybe so, though in the years since its publication I’ve yet to see it materialize on any scale I’d consider necessary for change. For Monbiot, it’s more urgent. As he concludes in the essay “Deathly Silence”: “Let’s be embarrassing. Let’s break the silence, however uncomfortable it makes us and others feel. Let’s talk about the great unmentionables: not just climate breakdown, but also growth and consumerism. Let’s create the political space in which well-intentioned parties can act. Let us talk a better world into being.” Let us indeed.
In the foreword, Monbiot tells a story about trying to convince the other parents waiting to pick their children up at school to turn off their car engines. To him (and me) the reasoning was obvious, but it was far from obvious to the other parents. After several months, he gave up, his efforts having no lasting discernable impact. It was yet another reminder of the futility of acting alone. In This Can’t Be Happening, Monbiot argues that, yes, we need to demand practical changes, but, more importantly, we need to do something deeper: overcome the ignorance the billionaire press has manufactured, wake our friends from the stupor of consumption, break through the barrier of disbelief, and provoke a new moral imagination.
If one of those four points is not like the others, it is, to me anyway, the last one: provoke a new moral imagination. While not directly related to what Amitav Ghosh posits in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, it’s as close a sentiment as I’ve heard from another environmentalist. In the present context, it also feels like the overarching necessity that makes the others possible. That is, as a species, we lack the moral compass needed to guide us through this crisis: We need to understand that we can inflict great harm on others, even if we don’t intend to; We need to connect our daily activities on one side of the world to catastrophic effects on the lives of people on the other; and We need to see that the way we live can destroy the chances of those not yet born. Unless and until we can imagine those things and then turn that imagination into belief, we won’t get anywhere. We won’t get anywhere because, without a shift in thinking, everything given up will feel like, in all senses of the word, a loss. It’s the same reason going on a diet rarely works over the long term: The dieter hasn’t changed his mindset, he’s only changed his behavior. Goal reached, he reverts to the old ways, happy to have back what had been temporarily sacrificed.
In the context of environmental collapse, many of our core beliefs—progress, wealth creation, self-improvement—drive us in the wrong direction. How, then, can we make the leap from where we are to where we need to be? For Ghosh, it’s literature—serious literary fiction, not sci-fi or cli-fi that are, rightly or wrongly, genres that aren’t taken seriously—that is uniquely positioned to do this. Maybe so, though in the years since its publication I’ve yet to see it materialize on any scale I’d consider necessary for change. For Monbiot, it’s more urgent. As he concludes in the essay “Deathly Silence”: “Let’s be embarrassing. Let’s break the silence, however uncomfortable it makes us and others feel. Let’s talk about the great unmentionables: not just climate breakdown, but also growth and consumerism. Let’s create the political space in which well-intentioned parties can act. Let us talk a better world into being.” Let us indeed.
July 27, 2021
#4 of Penguin's Green Ideas series, due to be published on August 26 (five books sent to me by the publisher).
This volume, which consists of eleven short articles Monbiot wrote for The Guardian between December 2017 - October 2019 (stopping a bat's wing short of the Covid-19 pandemic), feels like a précis of Feral's (2013) thesis, while also elaborating that book's ideas into the future - particularly through Brexit, and the rise of Extinction Rebellion. At 83 pages it's an easy volume to read in one sitting, and I would recommend doing so. It's fascinating to track Monbiot's thinking, his increasing frustration and radicalisation, across the eleven pieces, and recognising the conclusions he comes to later as having been seeded in earlier articles. The first three or four articles are primarily about wildlife, landscape, and conservation, but the pieces become increasingly concentrated on politics, political reform, and capitalism. Titles like The Unseen World (as quaint and vague as anything by Jacques Cousteau) quickly give way to issues like Hopeless Realism and Intergenerational Theft. In Embarrassment of Riches, he gets right down to the core of it: "If everyone is to flourish, we cannot afford the rich." Monbiot is reflective without being Romantic, hopeful without naiveté, and despairing only where a lack of cooperation stands in the way of progress. The world is not lost, he argues, if only people will stand together to rediscover it. His prose is lucid, sensible, and easy to apprehend - he has a gift for turning philosophical ideas into a catchy phrase, and talking about science in a way that's infectiously passionate. He's fucking angry, but knows how to bend that anger to a beneficial, rather than destructive (insulting, shit-throwing) purpose. To anyone well-read on these topics already, he's likely saying nothing new, and the slimness of this volume will make it easy to ignore. But anyone looking for a compact, thorough, and persuasive introduction to why capitalism is destroying the world, and why conserving and rewilding that world should be our most important agenda, This Can't Be Happening couldn't be more ideal.
This volume, which consists of eleven short articles Monbiot wrote for The Guardian between December 2017 - October 2019 (stopping a bat's wing short of the Covid-19 pandemic), feels like a précis of Feral's (2013) thesis, while also elaborating that book's ideas into the future - particularly through Brexit, and the rise of Extinction Rebellion. At 83 pages it's an easy volume to read in one sitting, and I would recommend doing so. It's fascinating to track Monbiot's thinking, his increasing frustration and radicalisation, across the eleven pieces, and recognising the conclusions he comes to later as having been seeded in earlier articles. The first three or four articles are primarily about wildlife, landscape, and conservation, but the pieces become increasingly concentrated on politics, political reform, and capitalism. Titles like The Unseen World (as quaint and vague as anything by Jacques Cousteau) quickly give way to issues like Hopeless Realism and Intergenerational Theft. In Embarrassment of Riches, he gets right down to the core of it: "If everyone is to flourish, we cannot afford the rich." Monbiot is reflective without being Romantic, hopeful without naiveté, and despairing only where a lack of cooperation stands in the way of progress. The world is not lost, he argues, if only people will stand together to rediscover it. His prose is lucid, sensible, and easy to apprehend - he has a gift for turning philosophical ideas into a catchy phrase, and talking about science in a way that's infectiously passionate. He's fucking angry, but knows how to bend that anger to a beneficial, rather than destructive (insulting, shit-throwing) purpose. To anyone well-read on these topics already, he's likely saying nothing new, and the slimness of this volume will make it easy to ignore. But anyone looking for a compact, thorough, and persuasive introduction to why capitalism is destroying the world, and why conserving and rewilding that world should be our most important agenda, This Can't Be Happening couldn't be more ideal.
September 28, 2022
4.8/5
Charged with the politics of love, Monbiot asserts his lifeline for the human race. It is a deep critique of capitalism, anthropocentrism, neoliberalism, and globalism in just 80 or so pages. And no essay skips a beat in its epiphany, every one captures the essence of the idea Monbiot transmits.
This book does not take a second to be funny or absurdist. It simply questions, again and again, what we do on a daily basis. It is entirely unrelenting in its stomp on our modern thinking.
As humans, we have devised a system that demands infinity. In pushing the Earth to its limits, we have reached oblivion. Monbiot desperately asks us humans to love ourselves and our planet. It is such a basic task that we have pushed aside to make way for neoliberal capitalism, which extracts our time for what amounts to nothing.
Monbiot knows he is the bringer of bad news. The Earth is collapsing. The Homo sapien species itself is an empire in decline. And we are bringing everything down with it. But Monbiot knows the power of human thought and action can prolong our existence on, or rather, our co-existence with, the planet we inhabit. Must read.
Charged with the politics of love, Monbiot asserts his lifeline for the human race. It is a deep critique of capitalism, anthropocentrism, neoliberalism, and globalism in just 80 or so pages. And no essay skips a beat in its epiphany, every one captures the essence of the idea Monbiot transmits.
This book does not take a second to be funny or absurdist. It simply questions, again and again, what we do on a daily basis. It is entirely unrelenting in its stomp on our modern thinking.
As humans, we have devised a system that demands infinity. In pushing the Earth to its limits, we have reached oblivion. Monbiot desperately asks us humans to love ourselves and our planet. It is such a basic task that we have pushed aside to make way for neoliberal capitalism, which extracts our time for what amounts to nothing.
Monbiot knows he is the bringer of bad news. The Earth is collapsing. The Homo sapien species itself is an empire in decline. And we are bringing everything down with it. But Monbiot knows the power of human thought and action can prolong our existence on, or rather, our co-existence with, the planet we inhabit. Must read.
August 2, 2021
In this collection of short essays and speeches spanning just over two years, Monbiot explores the many different ways people are able to turn a blind eye to the inevitable capitalist climate distaster we are facing, whether through dissonance and ignorance. Drawing on his own experiences from Extinction Rebellion to scientific observations - each essay is succinct, factual and evokes a visceral emotional reaction from the reader. There is a clear message of anger and urgency throughout each essay - but this anger is clearly utilised into passionate action rather than outright aggression. Now, there is no ground-breaking research or revelations in these pages, but it is an excellent peice of literature for anybody who wants to start learning or just reflect on the environmental and societal issues we are all facing.
"What you see is not what others see ... What is obvious to some is invisible to others."
"What you see is not what others see ... What is obvious to some is invisible to others."
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