Have you ever asked yourself questions such as these:
- Is human existence ultimately an endless race? Do we exist in perpetual competition with everyone else in the global economy? Is this the highest vision of humanity that we can attain?
- If you are one person in seven billion, can you make any difference at all, or are you so insignificant that your contribution won't count?
- Is it fundamental human nature to consume natural resources endlessly? Is our species destined to use up this planet eventually?
- Will the world in 100 years be better or worse than the world today?
Most people are aware of the world's dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, fresh water, arable land, and other natural resources. Many people believe that climate change will radically alter our world for the worse. We all understand that we will need to change the way we live, sooner or later, if we are to inhabit this planet indefinitely. The only question is, when? Will our generation change our behavior, or will our children or grandchildren have to deal with the mess we leave them? Will it be too late by then?
Okay, all right, I know what you're thinking — blah blah blah, this guy's trying to give me a giant guilt trip, and I just don't have time for that crap. Who cares about a hundred years from now? I'll probably be dead by then. And anyways, I'm only one person. How much difference can I possibly make?
Well, my friend, you're absolutely right. No one can make you care about something. No one can force you to read a book. But before you go, let me ask you a simple question: When was the last time someone told you that you were capable of great things? Yes, you there, human being -- you unlikely, never-to-be-seen-again spark of life -- you are the only force powerful enough to change the world. What do you want to do with the priceless gift of being born human?
This book is a hint of all that is possible when you redeem this priceless gift. It explains a set of ideas through a series of conversations between two characters. David Turner is an advertising copywriter with a sensitive only child named Claire. When Claire begins to learn about all the predicted impacts of climate change, she withdraws into a hopeless depression. Desperate to find a way to draw her out of her shell, David finds a mysterious woman on the Internet named Cora, and the two of them begin a series of discussions about how the world has come to be the way it is, and what one can do about it.
Cora begins by explaining how we modern human beings now measure our lives and our worth in primarily economic terms. The problem is that these metrics fail to provide the deep fulfillment that we all need as spiritual beings. Furthermore, this worldview also untethers us from the life-sustaining matrix of the natural world, putting us on a path to depleting many nature resources. The rest of the book discusses what a single individual can do in the face of this unsustainable mainstream worldview, by introducing ways for people to reconnect with nature and with each other. While you might not find action or adventure in this book, you might just possibly find inspiration and hope.
Robert F. Kennedy once said: "Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not." This book is a dream of things that never were.
Ben Lai is an author and a software engineer. He lives in Northern California with his family. This is his first book. He maintains a blog at never-were.com.
