I frequent Little Free Libraries all over Beloit, dropping off old books and finding new treasures. I'm not particular about what I read - I've been known to read almost anything, provided the blurb on the back intrigues me enough to shove it in my purse.
On a recent walk around the neighborhood with my nephew, I picked up a copy of A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright. It seemed promising (and even more so when my dad read the back and made me promise to pass it to him next). I've been so busy helping my parents with their taxes (which have been finished as of this afternoon), there hasn't been a lot of free time to read. In what time I've had, I've made it halfway through and I'm hooked.
Wright's argument is simple: we have made so much progress that we are now on a path to destruction.
The book is simple, but brilliant. Wright did an excellent job taking many different disciplines and weaving them in a straightforward, concise manner. He explains history as a writer would unfold a story. It's enlightening and enjoyable and also...scary.
We've gotten ourselves into an interesting predicament and if history is bound to repeat itself (which it so often does, as Wright claims), then we're nearing the point when our civilization is about to collapse. We don't see it, not yet, but it's coming.
Why don't we heed the warnings? Is it because we choose not to? We're afraid? It's easier to continue as we've been doing because acknowledging the truth is too painful? Will people ever realize what we've done in time to save ourselves?
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