Product Description

The Story of Cassandra

Cassandra was the young and beautiful daughter of Priam, the last king of Troy. Apollo bestowed upon Cassandra a special gift—the ability to see the future. But when she refused his favors, he twisted her gift with a curse, so no one would believe her prophecies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #506079 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Kirkus Reviews
A prescription to ease our environmental blunderings, delivered to a relentlessly upbeat tune, from sustainability maven AtKisson (Beyond the Limitis, not reviewed, etc.). Those doomsayers who have predicted the end of the planet as we know it, and have been proven wrong, have served to relegate all environmentally concerned comments to the fate of Cassandras mutterings: They are ignored. And so they should be, asserts AtKisson, for the earth is not a lost cause, even if the problems are vast: too many people, overuse of resources, and gross pollution. The answer is to stop the growth of population, waste, and resource use, and accelerate the kinds of development that lead to improvements in human technology and advances in the human condition. AtKisson hasnt the unbridled faith in technology of a Julian Simon, but he does believe it can be harnessed to do good by the earth. Witness, for example, the advances in defusing the nuclear-waste problem, or the industry-government covenants in the Netherlands. Human ingenuity is the key, and sustainability the goal; we cant consume faster than the resource is replenished, we cant dump faster than the earth can absorb. AtKissons sustainability isnt the hair-shirt variety: A sustainable world . . . is a wildly diverse and fascinating world, one that nurtures creative expression and poking into the unknown: It is the process of trying to approach Utopia from a thousand different directions. Implementation is where AtKisson loses his feel-good tone, by fluttering with the fickle winds of fashion to attract interest in sustainabilitythe Mainstreamers watch the Transformers for cues on what new ideas to adopt and are almost sure to followtreating the populace like cattle rather than thinking individuals who must draw their own moral compact with the natural world. AtKissons points are commonsensical, and doubtless sincereuntil his condescending finalebut also well traveled. Why should people start listening now? -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
Apocalypse Got You Down?

Charge Into the Future with Cassandra

By George Thabault
At the vulnerable age of nineteen, I read a small paperback book called The Limits to Growth. No other book would influence my life so greatly, though I could barely understand its message at the time . . .
So begins the tale of Alan AtKisson, one of Chelsea Green’s newest and most refreshing voices on the American environmental scene. Here at Chelsea Green, we think of Alan as one of those extraordinarily lively characters you might chance upon in a café in a far-away city, who regales you with fascinating stories, enchanting, witty songs, and a hard-earned and definitely inspiring outlook on life. If you’ve had such a café experience, you know it can change your life. At the very least it will stay forever in your mind.
What’s the Problem?

In a way, what Alan has done with his first book, Believing Cassandra: An Optimist Looks at a Pessimist’s World, is to bring the entire American environmental movement into his café, and there, between stories of terrifying bus rides in Malaysia and mystic moments at Big Sur, he outlines our predicament.
FACT #1: The most important ecological systems around the globe are deteriorating rapidly, perhaps too rapidly to prevent their collapse.
FACT #2: Many thoughtful researchers and scientists have been toiling for years to observe and report on this disintegration of the intricate web of natural systems that have supported us for so long. (Even optimists tremble and grieve at the news.)
FACT #3: Paralyzed by the scope of the issues and a growing weight of hopelessness, frustration, and despair, many people have shut down. They reject the distress signals that Nature is sending us through our scientists. They don’t want to hear any more bad news about the environment. “Please change the channel,” they say.
That, in a nutshell, is what Alan deftly calls “Cassandra’s Dilemma.” Greek legend has it that beautiful Cassandra, youngest daughter of the last king of Troy, was endowed by the gods with the gift of seeing the future. And then, because she spurned the gods, her gift was cruelly twisted—no one would ever believe her prophecies.
Today’s alarming feedback from Nature about greenhouse gases, toxic waste, species destruction, or ocean pollution often prompts this ancient reaction of denial and disbelief. The dilemma is clear—we can see an immense global catastrophe coming, but we are powerless to do much of anything about it. We can’t even get people who might do something about it to really hear us.
“Our brains are very good at filtering out unpleasant and inconvenient information,” notes Alan. “We humans are wired to respond to immediate, obvious threats—like bears at the cave door—rather than abstract signals like graphs of atmospheric CO2 that simply do not look threatening,” he notes.
“The World’s responses to signals it does get from Nature generally come too late, or only partially, or not at all. What we’ve got here is a pair of dance partners who don’t do the same steps, don’t feel the same rhythm, don’t listen to each other, and have a growing number of bruised and bloody toes,” he writes, citing Gregory Bateson’s summary of the issue: “The major problems in the world are the result of the differences between the way nature works and the way people think.”
Who’s to Blame?
In a view point that might sound cavalier to some environmentalists, Alan says it's the design and function of systems, rather than the actions of individuals, that is the central problem we face.

“Huge and impersonal forces are at work that are bigger than any individual actor could possibly be responsible for, whatever their motivation,” AtKisson declares. “The World is literally out of control. The problem is not the individual . . . unless you’re a wildlife poacher who formerly worked for Greenpeace.”

AtKisson focuses on the complex systems of how “Nature” gives us signals, or feedback, on its health, and how the “World” does or does not respond. And he does it without getting lost in the arcane language of systems dynamics. Here’s a tasty example from his analysis of the decline of the North Atlantic cod fishery:
Although it might be therapeutic to blame Nature for not responding adequately to humanity’s growing, changing needs—by, say, learning to grow fish faster—it’s hardly helpful. We’re the ones with consciousness, after all. Nature is going to do the rhumba, no matter what we do. So it is incumbent upon us to learn the music, the rhythm, the steps. In dance-floor terms, Nature leads. We have to learn to anticipate her next move.
So who, or what, is to blame? “The problem is not easily attributable to technology, affluence, poverty, population increases, sprawl, economics, human greed, human evil, or human ignorance,” AtKisson decides. “The problem originates in all of the above . . . and while the problem is not our fault, we are obligated to solve it,” he declares.
Where Do We Turn?

Part II of the book deals with the very important question: Where do we go from here in the face of all this bad news and everyone’s refusal to listen? Toward sustainability is AtKisson’s fervent hope.
Sustainability is for AtKisson a coming journey for everyone, from the individual homeowner to the CEO of a transnational corporation. Alan summarizes the allure of sustainability this way: “To prevent global collapse, we need something that is both visionary and highly profitable, something that can appeal to both the ardent altruist and the hardened venture capitalist. We need a source of hope that is also a business opportunity, a hot investment that is extremely idealistic. We need something that will change our higher natures and attract our baser instincts, coaxing us into the game of transformation without polarizing society or fomenting revolution. We need something that has not been seen since humans first began plowing up dirt, building skyscrapers, messing around with atmospheric chemistry. We need something that has the power to command a lifetime of allegiance, even though it does not exist now in practice, and may never really exist except in theory. We need something we can hardly begin to describe in tangible, concrete terms.”
Alan carefully walks the reader through the minimum conditions necessary for a sustainable economy and society, and supports his arguments with real-world examples in the chapter, “Proof of the Possible.” He avoids the anti-business rant of some environmentalists. Indeed, for AtKisson, businesspeople are among the people who must help avert catastrophe. But he challenges business people to understand the difference between “growth” and “development,” and why the world needs less growth and more development.
Sustainability and environmentalism are very different things, says AtKisson. “Activism to protect Nature from the ravages of the economy is different from working to redesign the economy itself,” he writes.
“We continue to need a strong (in fact stronger) environmentalism, setting boundaries and protecting society from some people’s unfortunate tendency to try to get away with profiteering at Nature’s and society’s expense.”
“But for environmentalism’s NO to work, there must also be sustainability’s YES,” AtKisson declares. Sustainability encourages and provides incentives, is about transforming the economy, promotes a vision of the future, creates possibilities, and can be a political win-win situation. “Sustainability is an ideal, like truth, justice, freedom, democracy, and love. We never completely reach our ideals, but we strive toward them—and striving toward them is what defines us as a culture,” he writes.
AtKisson believes that, in the end, society will become sustainable because it has to. “We’ll become sustainable at some level of comfort or discomfort, by choice or by Nature’s forcing hand. It is far more desirable to attain it by choice, and that means studying it, planning for it, measuring our progress toward it,” he writes.
This piece was written for Chelsea Green's newspaper The Junction by reviewer George Thabault, who is a freelance writer from Colchester, Vermont, a Burlington Free Press correspondent, and former communications director for The Center for a New American Dream (www.newdream.org). He and his family also sell fruits and veggies at the Burlington Farmers’ Market.

Vicki Robin, co-author of YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE
"This book is clarifying and inspiring. Read it and you'll not only know how to think sustainability and do sustainability--you'll know how to dance, sing, and laugh it as well."

Customer Reviews

Read this!
A brilliant, sensitive, amusing, personal and deeply profound look at the current attitude towards important environmental issues including climate change - it depresses, accuses, relieves, encourages and instills hope in any environmentally aware soul and should provoke a serious response in any 'business as usual' die hard. A brilliant read.

A Different Kind of Environmentalist, Perhaps?
In this book, the author skillfully co-opts the thinking and valuable contributions of those considered to be pro-people-oriented development, such as Susan George and Amartya Sen, as well as those considered to be anti-environmentalist, such as Julian Lincoln Simon, to peddle his brand of feel-good, evangelical environmentalism. The author does make an attempt to partially define some of his terms, such as `growth' and `development' but curiously refrains from defining many terms underlying his central concepts. On one hand, he buys into the popular notion that the situation at present is dire, but on the other hand, as an evangelical environmentalist, he departs from traditional apocalyptic environmental camps when he insists that while on the face of it, enormous challenges exist and that there is a very real possibility that these challenges could get worse, they are nonetheless challenges that humanity can overcome, so long as we exercise what he calls our `distinguished quality of consciousness'.

In the Prologue, he introduces the central theme of the book, Cassandra's Dilemma. In Greek myth, Cassandra had a double-edged curse: she could see the dangers threatening others, but could not prevent them. In Greek myth, even though Cassandra's predictions were always correct, no one believed her in advance of the outcome, thus whatever she foretold always came to pass. In modern times, the author means to invoke Cassandra as a representation of all those, from scientists to concerned citizen-environmentalists, who in increasing desperation advocate for a change in course, as they see humanity and the world it inhabits headed for destruction; yet, no one it seems (or so they say) believes them.

However, in Greek myth, Cassandra was always correct, but in modern reality, the scientists and concerned citizen-environmentalists have had a less than enviable track record in the prediction business. Too often, the most vocal of the scientists and concerned citizen-environmentalists, much like the boy who cried wolf, sound the environmental alarm and make dire predictions, only to see the alarms and predictions turn out to be false. Moreover, in contrast to the mythical Cassandra, these doomsayers command a ready following of believers, many of whom are in positions of power and authority.

Atkisson presents the architects of World3- a mathematical computer model that consistently produced a pattern of results characterized by rapid exponential growth followed by collapse five or more decades from the starting point, who later become the authors of the book Limits to Growth based on the model, as the modern-day equivalent of Cassandra. As he sees it, the role of Cassandra is a no-win situation, as success in conveying a message of doom leads to being proven wrong (the crisis is averted because people see it), while failure in conveying the same message leads to catastrophe (the crisis comes to pass because people do not see it). However, the problem with this warped logic is that his position assumes automatically that any assertion made by the Cassandra-figure is correct, and regrettably, history has shown repeatedly that this is not the case. Plainly speaking, the Cassandra-figure is ultimately proven wrong simply because the basis for his or her prediction was not right in the first place.

Yet, when proven wrong, the modern-day Cassandra-figure is quick to point out, most incorrectly, that people got his or her message and averted the crisis (even though most of the people may have never heard of the person), or, in more insidious cases, that although the specific prediction was right, the timing was wrong, and the prophecy of doom may yet be fulfilled, albeit sometime in the conveniently vague future (this last statement has some rather disturbing connotations of a religious, Millennial hue). As such, being a Cassandra-figure is actually a win-win situation, and a profitable one at that, and not a lose-lose or Catch-22 proposition, as Atkisson would like us to believe, since many of them have the ear of the powerful, influential people in industry, academia, government and activist circles.

In reading this book, I think the real problem Atkisson tries to address does not have anything to do with Cassandra's Dilemma, but everything to do with increasing levels of public apathy with regard to environmental issues. Having been fed a steady diet of bad news, and witnessing the dire predictions of doomsayers prove false (while continuing to do the very things that the Cassandra-figure says will bring about our eventual downfall), most of the public no longer seems to care about the environment in the way that Atkisson and other eco-hip luminaries feel that they should. Incidentally, Lester Brown acknowledges this in his book Plan B, where he states that terrorism has taken center stage in a world beset with numerous environmental problems.

Thus, the real problem, as far as Atkisson and other Mother Earth Gurus see it, has to do with the level of belief, and not necessarily whether or not people believe, in the notion that there are pressing environmental concerns. In other words, he laments that everyone is not buying their b------t (props go out to Penn & Teller for that last bit!). True to form, Atkisson does not feel that the real problem turns on exactly what he and other concerned citizen-environmentalists believe, and their approach to advocating this belief. One can see evidence of this in the first chapter, where Atkisson extols upon the virtues of the Limits to Growth, particularly the governing equation underlying the mathematical model World3 made world famous in the 1970s. The very fact that folks can presume that everything worthwhile in the world can be distilled into a mathematical equation strikes one as arrogant and foolish and truly boggles this reviewer's mind. The model, like Atkisson's argument, rests on certain assumptions, and if any one of those assumptions are incorrect, then so too is the conclusion flowing from the argument or model.

Therein exists the real problem. Too often, the predictions of the doomsayers rest on faulty assumptions, assumptions which under certain limited contexts hold, but when generalized fall apart. Too often their view of the current state of affairs is framed in ways that do not agree with the actual situation. These faulty assumptions generally flow from a certain type of outlook, a particular set of biases that, frankly, are very negative, and by themselves adequately explain why the Cassandras almost always get it wrong. Who was it that said `the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves'? Perhaps he should have said, `the flaw, my dear Cassandra, lies not in the stars, but in yourself', instead.

A Good Optimistic Outlook
Don't be put off by the cover photo. This is a great overview of the environmental issue. But as opposed to many books by environmental doomsday prophets, this book tells a cautionary tale but also offers hope. It also gives some practical examples of how we can affect change. Although it gets a bit cheesy at times, Attkisson's optimism is refreshing.