First, let me point out that I generally like to read in twos – two books on the same topic or two books by the same author. With that, here is my list:
Earth Odyssey
by Mark Hertsgaard
Scientists have long studied animal populations heading for extinction. Hertsgaard turned the binoculars on Homo sapiens, analyzing human behavior in relation to the Earth’s ecosystems to gauge our prospects for continued survival. He spent six years traveling the world. He consulted with experts and political leaders, and stresses the still(!) underappreciated fact that our actions create a ripple effect across the web of life that will come back to haunt us. He pays attention to the burgeoning human population and the reach of our technologies, climate change, pollution, the loss of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity. The moral of his story, in his own words: “Humans may or may not still be able to halt the drift toward ecological disaster, but we will find out only if we rouse ourselves and take common and determined action. I wish us godspeed” [sic].
The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
This is not a fair entry. These are supposed to be books that I have already read. This book is one I am currently reading (having been given a copy by my friend and colleague Eve Geroulis). This book, of course, pairs with Hertsgaard’s Earth Odyssey in that it also deals with humanity’s impact on the earth. Where Hertsgaard writes we “may or may not” be able to survive as a species, Weisman, a professor at the University of Arizona, conducts a thought experiment (perhaps inspired by the real life experiment in the DMZ separating North and South Korea – since 1953 the DMZ has become a defacto wild life refuge) asking the “what if” question, “If every human on earth suddenly vanished, what would become of the world?” By all accounts this is an accurate view of how things will fall apart. As I said, I haven’t finished the book yet so I can’t tell you how it ends. You will just have to read it yourself.
It’s All Greek to Me!
by John Mole
I don’t often read for fun but, rather, to learn. But during the summer of 2004 my wife and I were walking in the streets of Irkalion, Crete and we spotted this book in the window of a bookshop. We bought it to read while we (I) had nothing else to read. And I am glad I did. This is a story much along the lines of Frances Mayes’ 1996 book Under the Tuscan Sun. This is a true story, an account of an Englishman who was stationed in Athens by his firm. While there he fell in love with Greece and, when notified that he was to be transferred, wanted to do something to make their stay in Greece more or less permanent. He bought a run down and abandoned old stone house on the Island of Evia and spent a summer rebuilding it and converting it into a house he and his family could live in. Those with some Greek experience or background will get some of the jokes that might pass others, but everybody will be able to relate to the experience he relates. It is very well written, too. I have since bought several copies and given it as a present.
Why Do People Hate America?
by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies
I spend a lot of time in Greece and I know first hand that it is not Americans that are disliked; it is America that is disliked. These three books, as can be seen from their titles, each grapple with the issue as to why.
Sardar and Davies focused on how the U.S. is seen around the world, placing it in the context of one of our most important exports – our popular culture – as well as analyses of our foreign policy. What they see is a culture that exports its value systems, unaware how that export impacts those to which it is exported. Conclusion: People dislike America, in large part, because of our foreign policy and the values that we export under the guise of popular culture. People dislike America, too, because of what they see as hypocrisy – saying we value one thing yet behaving (in the foreign policy realm) otherwise.
Why the Rest Hates the West
by Meic Pearse
If you think this book seem to have a left-leaning perspective, and for that reason don’t want to read it, read Pearse’s Why the Rest Hates the West. Pearse’s argument is that Western culture, the values of Western Civilization are such a radical departure from traditional value systems, and those of other people around the world, that when the West comes in contact with the Rest a series of increasingly fearsome culture clashes result.
Whether left, right, or in the middle, these books come out at nearly the same place. As a professor of marketing, I understand marketing as one of the vehicles by which we export that value laden secular culture. I think these three books should be on every marketing major’s and international business major’s reading list. But then that is just my opinion.
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