Full Description
For more than half a century, our planet has enjoyed a prolonged period of privilege and stability. Recent decades have seen some of the most extraordinary prosperity in all of human history, and we have come to view this as the norm.But what if instability returned?And what can we do to prevent that from happening?In The Future in Plain Sight, author Eugene Linden lays out the nine factors that are symptomatic of instability in today's world. They include overpopulation, the widening gap between rich and poor, the resurgence of infectious disease, and the effects of a changing global climate. Linden explores these and other destabilizing forces and tells us what we can do to plan and prepare for life in an unsettled and unsettling universe.From crises in the world's financial markets to the breakdown of natural systems that support human life, The Future in Plain Sight is a powerful look at what lies in store for us in the coming decades.
Contents
PrefaceIntroductionPart I: Nine Clues to the Future1. Hot-Tempered Markets2. Karachi and Curitiba3. No "Vent for Surplus"4. The Ubiquitous Wage Gap5. A Warning from the Ice6. A Biosphere in Disarray7. Living with Limits: A Preview8. Infectious Disease Resurgent9. The Rise of the True Believers10. Looking ForwardPart II: Scenes from 205011. London: The Vicars of Finance12. The Philippines: Ruin, Rice, and Rebirth13. California: The Fog Lifts14. Oaxaca, Mexico: The Poorest Find a Way15. New York City: Advertising Adapts16. Central Africa: Nature Out of Balance17. Kansas: Trouble on the Farm18. Antarctica StirsPart III: The Case for InstabilityThe Case for InstabilityAfterword to the Plume EditionAcknowledgmentsIndex
