Introduction

This quarter started quite slow, reading just a couple of books in the first month or so. I picked up speed as the quarter draw to an end, reaching my goal of 12 books in 3 months.

Unlike other quarters, this one was characterized by having a theme. Can you guess it from the book in the list below?

The Books

All we can save | Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson

The climate crisis is the result of social, political, and economic systems that are wildly skewed to benefit those who already have so much.

Creating Climate Wealth | Jigar Shah

This is Vegan Propaganda | Ed Winters

The reality is that if we took the legally sanctioned practices from the animal farming industries and then applied them to other situations, we would think those practices horrendous. For example, if dog owners were cutting off their pets’ tails and chopping their teeth out, we would condemn that as being horrific animal abuse. But we do it to pigs and call it high welfare. If someone was killing puppies by thumping their heads against a wall or dislocating their necks, we would call that evil, yet that happens to animals such as piglets and chickens and we call it humane. But the experience is the same for the individual animal, regardless of what species they are.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma | Michael Pollan

The ninety-nine cent price of a fast-food hamburger simply doesn’t take account of that meal’s true cost–to soil, oil, public health, the public purse, etc., costs which are never charged directly to the consumer but, indirectly and invisibly, to the taxpayer (in the form of subsidies), the health care system (in the form of food-borne illnesses and obesity), and the environment (in the form of pollution), not to mention the welfare of the workers in the feedlot and the slaughterhouse and the welfare of the animals themselves.

How the World Really Works | Vaclav Smil