This Isn’t Fine

Summary

This Isn’t Fine is a surprisingly funny and accessible ride through a world on the brink of collapse—and what we can do to survive it. Diving headfirst into finance and energy, culture and ecology, Taylor Ahlstrom transforms the complex systems and histories that underpin our society into relatable narratives, all while mythbusting popular delusions on everything from free-market capitalism to electric cars.
This is not a book about the end of the world. This is a book about how we can save it. And it’s a must-read for any human on planet earth.
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Feel like the whole world is going to shit?
Been haunted by a creeping sense of existential dread?
Worried about the future of the planet—and ourselves?
. . . it’s both better—and worse—than you think.
Wars and pandemics and wildfires and murder hornets, Elon and Bezos and dick rockets and cost-of-living crises—this isn’t fine. In fact, it’s totally, utterly, almost inescapably f*cked. But however bad you think things seem . . . I promise you, all of these things are just a drop in the bucket, a matchbook in the dumpster fire we need to put out.
It’s the biggest problem that nobody’s talking about . . . the biggest secret that’s hiding in plain sight. It’s the biggest problem humanity has ever faced. And no, I’m not talking about climate change. Well, there’s that too. And to make matters worse, as the dumpster fire keeps on raging, we’re starting to get used to the smell.
Within these pages is the beginning to the answer to the problem at the heart of all the problems. It’s why you’ve probably tuned out, given up, or given in, and what you can do to come back to life. It’s everything that’s wrong with the world and the way we’re living in it and what we have to do to turn this ship around.
But if we want to put out the fire, burning. And if we want to build something better, we have to know which pieces were better off getting burnt.