Confronting harsh ecological
realities and the multiple cascading crises facing our world today,
An Inconvenient Apocalypse
argues that humanity’s future will be defined not by expansion but
by contraction.
For
decades, our world has understood that we are on the brink of an
apocalypse—and yet the only implemented solutions have been small
and convenient, feel-good initiatives that avoid unpleasant truths
about the root causes of our impending disaster. Wes Jackson and
Robert Jensen argue that we must reconsider the origins of the
consumption crisis and the challenges we face in creating a
survivable future. Longstanding assumptions about economic growth and
technological progress—the dream of a future of endless bounty—are
no longer tenable. The climate crisis has already progressed beyond
simple or nondisruptive solutions. The end result will be
apocalyptic; the only question now is how bad it will be.
Jackson
and Jensen examine how geographic determinism shaped our past and led
to today’s social injustice, consumerist culture, and
high-energy/high-technology dystopias. The solution requires
addressing today’s systemic failures and confronting human nature
by recognizing the limits of our ability to predict how those
failures will play out over time. Though these massive challenges can
feel overwhelming, Jackson and Jensen weave a secular reading of
theological concepts—the prophetic, the apocalyptic, a saving
remnant, and grace—to chart a collective, realistic path for
humanity not only to survive our apocalypse but also to emerge on the
other side with a renewed appreciation of the larger living world.