The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming, David Wallace-Wells, 2023 edition adapted for young adults, 157 pages, ISBN 9780593483572, Dewey 304.28 WThe Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming, David Wallace-Wells, 2023 edition adapted for young adults, 157 pages, ISBN 9780593483572, Dewey 304.28 W155un new teen collection
mya = million years ago
Extinction events: 450 mya 86% of species dead 380 mya 75% of species dead 255 mya 96% of species dead 205 mya 80% of species dead 70 mya 75% of species dead
All but one of these involved greenhouse-gas-produced climate change. p. 3.
The worst, 255 mya, 96% of species dead, was caused by carbon dioxide raising global air temperature 5°C, leading to methane release. p. 3.
We are now adding carbon to the atmosphere at more than 10 times the rate of 255 mya. p. 4.
We're going to
bake, starve, drown, burn, parch, lose ocean life, choke, sicken, be impoverished, go to war, and worse.
Yet the author says he's optimistic because, "we remain in command."
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming, David Wallace-Wells, 2023 edition adapted for young adults, 157 pages, ISBN 9780593483572, Dewey 304.28 WThe Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming, David Wallace-Wells, 2023 edition adapted for young adults, 157 pages, ISBN 9780593483572, Dewey 304.28 W155un new teen collection
mya = million years ago
Extinction events: 450 mya 86% of species dead 380 mya 75% of species dead 255 mya 96% of species dead 205 mya 80% of species dead 70 mya 75% of species dead
All but one of these involved greenhouse-gas-produced climate change. p. 3.
The worst, 255 mya, 96% of species dead, was caused by carbon dioxide raising global air temperature 5°C, leading to methane release. p. 3.
We are now adding carbon to the atmosphere at more than 10 times the rate of 255 mya. p. 4.
We're going to
bake, starve, drown, burn, parch, lose ocean life, choke, sicken, be impoverished, go to war, and worse.
Yet the author says he's optimistic because, "we remain in command."
Reagan's military buildup strengthened hard-liners in the USSR, and impeded its opening and restructuring. --KilliDK290.3 A73 A3 1992 Memorial Library
Reagan's military buildup strengthened hard-liners in the USSR, and impeded its opening and restructuring. --Killing Hope, William Blum, 2014, p. 17....more
The Illustrated Atlas of Hawaii, Gavan Daws, 1970, 71 pages, 10" x 9.5" x .2" (25 cm x 24 cm x .5 cm) The Illustrated Atlas of Hawaii, Gavan Daws, 1970, 71 pages, 10" x 9.5" x .2" (25 cm x 24 cm x .5 cm) ...more
Best American Magazine Writing 2018, Sid Holt, ed., 2019, ISBN 9780231189996, Dewey 814.608
A celebrated sexual-harassment case. ["Sexual harassment" cBest American Magazine Writing 2018, Sid Holt, ed., 2019, ISBN 9780231189996, Dewey 814.608
A celebrated sexual-harassment case. ["Sexual harassment" could mean anything from a comment about her appearance, to rape. The authors do the reader the disservice of flogging this coy, meaningless phrase, refusing to say what they're talking about.] pp. 1-119.
900 mothers each year die in childbirth in the U.S., and 65,000 nearly die. There are 4 million births per year in the U.S. U.S. maternal deaths are 3 times the Canadian rate, 6 times the Scandinavian rate. pp. 120, 123, 144. The fragmented medical system makes it harder for new mothers, especially those without good insurance, to get the care they need. p. 124. Medicaid pays the medical costs of 45% of births in the U.S. The House of Representatives in 2018 passed a bill to gut Medicaid [the Senate did not]. p. 125. As recently as 2012, you could become an OB-GYN M.D. in the U.S. without learning to care for birthing mothers. p. 126. pp. 120-149.
Unintended victims of U.S. wars in the Mideast, 2003-2017. pp. 150-185.
2011.03 massacre of townspeople in Allende, Mexico, by the Zetas drug cartel, after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency told the Zetas' pet cops that someone snitched. pp. 186-219.
Russian revolutions, 1825- . Published in /Smithsonian/ magazine. [U.S.-Government-funded.] pp. 220-269.
The Uninhabitable Earth. David Wallace-Wells. The imminent climate catastrophe. pp. 270-292. In January 2018, the North Pole was 70° warmer than normal. p. 271. The last time the Earth was 4°C warmer, sea level was hundreds of feet higher. p. 274. --Peter Brannen, /The Ends of the World/. Four of the five previous mass extinctions were caused by climate change produced by greenhouse gas. 252 million years ago, 5°C of warming released the arctic methane and killed 97% of life on Earth. p. 287. We are now adding carbon to the atmosphere at 10 times the rate then. No plausible emissions reduction can avert disaster. pp. 274-275. Humans can't live in 105°F at 90% humidity. p. 276. The European 2003 heat wave killed 2,000 people a day. p. 277. A heat index of 163°F was seen in 2015 in the Mideast. Salvadoran sugar-cane workers have chronic kidney disease from heat. In June 2018, it's 121°F in Southern California. pp. 277-278. Food-growing regions are desertifying. p. 279. Unfrozen arctic animal remains release the diseases they died of into today's populations. p. 280. Tropical diseases spread as tropical heat expands. p. 281. Five billion people will be exposed to malaria by 2050. p. 281. One-third of deaths in China in 2013 were from smog. p. 283. [I'm sure he's right about all this, though it often seems he's overstating his case.]
"My President Was Black," Ta-Nehisi Coates. pp. 294-344. [Yes, but he was a servant of Wall Street.]
National Football League, 2017-2018 season. pp. 346-377.
Race and "culture" [the Oscars, television talk shows, pro sports]. pp. 378-407
Chomsky's thoughts through Oct. 15, 2001 on the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist atta9-11, Noam Chomsky, 2001, 125 pages, ISBN 1583224890, Dewey 973.931 C454n
Chomsky's thoughts through Oct. 15, 2001 on the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Terrorism is a gift to repressive elements on all sides. p. 19. The U.S. Government is taking the opportunity to increase militarism, control, and wealth-transfer to the rich. There are bin Ladens on both sides. p. 34.
Bush upped the violence, provoking more attacks. p. 27.
Bush unleashed death and destruction on millions of innocent Afghans. pp. 94-101.
The media salute power in a time of crisis. p. 30
As for "Western civilization," perhaps we can heed the words attributed to Gandhi when asked what he thought about "Western civilization:" he said that it might be a good idea. p. 92.
/Unholy Wars/, John K. Cooley, 1999, on the CIA's recruiting, arming and training the most extreme Islamists it could find, to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. p. 18. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849, Christopher Clark, 2023, 873 pages, Dewey 940.284, ISBN 9780525575207
PolRevolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849, Christopher Clark, 2023, 873 pages, Dewey 940.284, ISBN 9780525575207
Political change in Europe: monarchies are challenged; republics are mooted. Doesn't cover the flight of millions of Europeans to the United States and elsewhere.
PRECARITY
CLASSES, Nantes, Brittany, France, 1836. pp. 15-20. 1. wealthy. Average 2 children. 10-15 rooms. Average age at death 59 yrs. One death per 78 residents per year. 2. high bourgeoisie. Debutante balls. Horses, carriages. 3. prosperous bourgeoisie. Use omnibus. Frugality & work. 4. distressed bourgeoisie. Clerks, professors, shopkeepers. Expenses > means. Strictest economy. 5. poor bourgeoisie. 1,000-1,800 francs/yr. 2-3 rooms, no servants, patchy education for children. Clerks, cashiers, lesser academics. Survive; anxiety. 6. well-off workers. 600-1000 francs/yr. Without care for future. Printers, masons, carpenters, cabinetmakers. Long, hard work. Enough food, clothing, & fuel. Means = aspirations, so are happiest inhabitants. 7. poor workers. 500-600 francs/yr. 8. miserable workers. 300 francs/yr. The poorest live in sewerlike basements. Work 14 hours/day for 15-20 sous. Average age at death 31 years. One death per 17 residents per year.
300 francs/year for miserable workers: 150 bread 46 salt, butter, cabbages, potatoes 35 fuel (wood, peat) 25 rent 15 light 12 footwear 12 laundry 3 repair of broken furniture 2 change of domicile (at least once/year) 0 clothing (wear old clothes people give them) 0 doctor 0 pharmacist (sisters of charity bring meds) A certain amount is also spent at the bar. Despite occasional charity bread, the existence of these families is horrific.
The average Parisian worker in 1830 earned 20-100 sous/day. p. 178.
Half the children of weavers and cotton spinners died before age two; half the children of merchants, businessmen, and factory directors reached age 29, as of 1840, in Haut-Rhin, France/Swiss border. pp. 20-21.
50-60% of Prussians lived on a subsistence minimum, in the 1840s. p. 34.
CROP FAILURE Phytophthora infestans, potato-blight fungus, reached Europe from America around 1840. 60,000 Dutch and 1.1 million Irish starved to death in 1845 and 1846. The crop never recovered. pp. 44-45.
HARVEST FAILURES of 1846/7 led to hunger riots across Spain, Germany, Italy and France, including 158 riots in Prussia in April/May 1847, when food prices were highest. p. 255.
Hunger is a political phenomenon, not a natural one. p. 48.
Only through association would the working masses overcome the structural weakness of the individual. p. 53.
Estate-owning noblemen who promised to liberate the peasants faced a credibility deficit. p. 73.
Impoverishment mostly makes people inactive, rarely revolutionary. p. 88-89. Men adapt themselves to material suffering with little difficulty when they do not feel despised. p. 114.
The elite used the threat of general unrest to extract concessions from the government. "God preserve this country from the horrors of anarchy and the rage of the people!" pp. 212, 278.
ORATORY flourishes only under a free political constitution. Oratory requires clear understanding, good judgment, a lively spirit, a strong, pleasant-sounding voice and the highest dignity when presenting an address. --Robert Blum, 1845. p. 220.
In Hungary, as elsewhere, the frustration of moderate reform strengthened the case for a more radical approach. p. 232.
Hungarian lower gentry were getting a bit richer in 1801-1848, but feeling much poorer, as their conspicuous consumption exceeded their gains. p. 233.
The French government's attempt to shut down banquets featuring opposition speakers, triggered a revolution. p. 245.
Once "too little too late" has been reached, government concessions no longer mollify but only embolden the political opposition. p. 266.
REPRESSION The only way to cultivate a 'good press' is kill all the journalists. My enemies? I have none. I have had them all shot. --Ramón María Narváez, Spanish prime minister and dictator, 1848. p. 340. Only power can rule. pp. 655, 657, 676, 680.
WHAT NOW? All governments face insoluble problems--that is what government is for. It is in the nature of political problems that they cannot be 'solved.' p. 342.
THEY DIED FOR THE REPUBLIC In honoring the dead revolutionaries, the new governments legitimized themselves. pp. 354-355
RESPECT A ruler in an ermine coat still receives much more respect and obedience from Europeans than one in a frock coat. p. 384. Those who have done away with even the frock coat in the hope of making the worker's smock the sole general uniform of humanity learned that the smocks do not obey when a smock is giving the orders. p. 386.
REGIME CHANGE? The new parliaments were conservative! They were dominated by the same people who had been the elite of the old regimes. pp. 385, 387, 407.
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONS Many monarchies retook power. pp. 393, 404, 406-407.
SIGNIFICANCE Representative governments, even if short-lived, paved the way for the coming nation-states by creating political infrastructure and involving people in political debates. p. 394.
SLAVERY Slaves on Martinique revolted in 1789, 1800, 1811, 1822, and 1831. On 1848.04.12, news reached Martinique that the new French government would write a law abolishing slavery. pp. 416-417. Slaves revolted; on 1848.05.23, the governor of Martinique emancipated the slaves--before any order came from Paris. p. 418. Emancipation spread to Guadeloupe and nearby Dutch islands. Successive French governments became ever more accommodating to slaveowners' requests for indulgence; by 1858, the emancipation law was so loopholey as to be ineffective. Former slaves in Martinique were bound to their plantations by vagrancy law, a workbook system, and a head tax. p. 424. Slavery would not be suppressed in French West Africa until 1905. p. 425. [In the U.S., slavery as punishment is still legal.] But 1848 was a start. p. 426.
WOMEN Women participated in the revolutions, but remained subservient to men. French women weren't allowed to vote until 1946. p. 437.
Forward! call the apostles of light Let us be torches of truth and right. Backward! howl the men of the dark Hide from the brightness of the spark.
Forward we struggle and forward we strive The will to action keeps us alive. Backward, if safety and wealth you prefer Back to the darkness of things as they were. --Kathinka Zitz-Halein, 1850. pp. 440-441.
JEWS The poorest European Christians had for centuries blamed economic distress on local Jews. p. 454. Jews were easier targets than wealthy and powerful Christians. p. 456. Modern anti-Semitism preached "emancipation /from/ the Jews." p. 462.
ROMA Some 400,000 Roma were enslaved in Romania. Emancipation would wait until the mid-1850s--and is arguably incomplete even in 2023. p. 465.
PEASANTS The new governments taxed peasants heavily, losing their support. pp. 507-511. Peasants were still obliged to provide goods and services to the lords of lands they worked. In Hungary, peasant/landlord laws would be unresolved until 1896. p. 512.
FAKE NEWS A crowd of workers, with official preclearance, walked to the Hôtel de Ville, 1848.04.16, to present a list of candidates for command posts in the French National Guard and to demand progress on labor reform. The Provisional Government instead called out the troops to meet the demonstrators with bayonets. The crowd disbanded. National Guard units then attacked the premises of radical clubs in Paris. Reports had circulated that the clubs were preparing a violent seizure of power: lies, engineered to trigger a crisis. pp. 479-480.
US vs. THEM Solidarity within nations accompanied embittered relations between them. p. 541.
MIGHT MAKES RIGHT? The powers of the old regimes always dominated the revolutionaries militarily. p. 549. In Hungary, 370,000 Russians, Austrians and Croatians defeated 170,000 Hungarians' hopes of independence. p. 674.
PEASANTS Peasants still adored their emperors. Revolutionaries made no rural inroads p. 614.
COLLABORATION Political clubs were nuclei of revolution. pp. 638, 647.
Build community. Organize. When people get together, all sorts of things are possible. If you’re isolated, you’re going to break. --Noam Chomsky, /Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky/, pp. 121, 185 of 400.
The good things that have been done, the reforms . . . all of that was not done by government edict. . . . It was all done by citizens' movements. And then keep in mind that great movements in the past have arisen from small movements, from tiny clusters of people that have gotten together here and there. If you have a movement strong enough, it doesn't matter who's in the White House. What really matters is what are people doing, and what are people saying, what are people demanding. --Howard Zinn, /You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train/
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? Pragmatic, moderate politicians win few friends in an environment polarized by conflict. p. 640, 648.
BYE! Where /is/ the German Fatherland? In England and America! The only refuge from Russian, Prussian, and Austrian bayonets! p. 695.
WINNERS Elites used state power to control nations. p. 747. The new governments spent money on rail, canals, telegraph, roads, and other investments to grow the economy. pp. 715-717
THE UPSHOT We don't say that an ocean storm, a solar flare, or a massive snowfall succeeded or failed; we measure their effects. Revolutionaries largely didn't achieve what they hoped. The old regimes retook power, but now with many constitutions, parliaments, and new political avenues. pp. 745-746. No one represented rural commoners, which most Europeans were. pp. 746-747.
The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam, Michael G. Vann (1967- ), author, and Liz Clarke (1982- ), illustThe Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam, Michael G. Vann (1967- ), author, and Liz Clarke (1982- ), illustrator, 2019, 263 pages, ISBN 9780190602697, Library-of-Congress DS559.93 .HV36 V38 2019 Memorial Library
This is a "microhistory." He uses the failed 1902 plague-carrying rat eradication to introduce imperialism, globalization, and pandemic disease. The first 122 pages are an engaging history of French imperial domination of Hanoi, in comic-book format. Then after a set of primary sources, mostly from the dawn of the 20th century, Vann gives us 33 pages of what he calls, "historical contexts." These introduce the world history leading to French control of Indochina. Accessible; suitable for kids.
The 1902 rat hunt itself is on pages 89-96. It was ineffective. The plague pandemic eventually subsided; cholera and other diseases became bigger problems.
Maps pp. ii, 21, 31-34, 37-40, 43, 49, 55, 66-67, 73, 75, 78-81, 93, 103, 108, 111, 121, 201, 220
Pages 1-122 history in comic-book format.
Pages 123-195 primary sources, 1887-1996. "Always ask yourself if you can trust these sources." p. 127.
Pages 197-231 historical contexts: The New Imperialism Western Industrial Capitalism The Third Republic (France, 1870-1940) Vietnamese Resistance: Nationalist, Communist, and Everyday The Third Bubonic Plague Pandemic, 1855-1959
Pages 233-243 "the making of this book."
Pages 247-250 discussion questions. If you were going to read this book as a student, you'd want to read these first, and write down their answers as you come to them in the book.
Pages 251-255 timeline of Vietnamese dynasties.
Pages 256-263 annotated bibliography.
541-767 First bubonic-plague pandemic: up to 50 million die. p. 73. 1096-1291 Crusades expose Europe to the riches of Asia. p. 32 1346-1835 Second bubonic-plague pandemic: up to 200 million die. p. 73. by 1820, Indian opium sold in China flows silver to Britain. p. 34. 1839-1842 First Opium War, begins China's century of humiliations. pp. 35, 253. 1855-1959 Third bubonic-plague pandemic: up to 15 million die. pp. xiv, 73, 227-231, 253. 1857-1860 Second Opium War: France enters Indochina. pp. 37, 253. 1869 Suez Canal open. p. 36. 1870-1940 French Third Republic. pp. 217-221. 1871 Germany takes Alsace and Lorraine from France; Germany unifies. p. 202. 1882 French seize Hanoi pp. 13, 39, 253 1901 Plague in Hanoi 1902.04.25-1902.07.10; 1903.04.03-1904.02.22 Bounty on rats in Hanoi. pp. 89-96, 104. 1929-1939 Great Depression disrupts colonial economy; mass unemployment. p. 110. 1930.10 Ho Chi Minh organizes Indochinese Communist Party. p. 110. 1940-1945 Japan captures Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. p. 111. 1941 Ho Chi Minh organizes Viet Minh to fight all foreign occupiers. p. 111. 1946-1954 First (French) Indochina War. p. 254. 1963-1973 Second (American) Indochina War. p. 254. 1995 Diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the U.S. established. p. 255. 1995 Vietnam joins ASEAN. p. 120. 1997, 2014 Michael G. Vann visits Hanoi. pp. 117-122.
Books:
Empires and Colonies in the Modern World: A Global Perspective, Heather E. Streets-Salter, Trevor R. Getz, 2015.
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West, William Cronon, 1991. Shows that no city is an island. Chicago exists because of the Midwest, sending agricultural products to the city, and getting manufactured goods from it. p. 199.
[In that regard, The Penguin Atlas of Medieval History, 1961, shows that, when trade collapses, cities evaporate. Covers Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, 362 CE to 1478 CE. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ]
Thomas Ray
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