Philip Cafaro

The author takes on the argument about immigration, demonstrating reasons he feels that progressives should quit ceding the discussion to the racists and nativists, and make the case for reducing immigration like, today. Not a Donald-Trump ban the bad hombres type of argument, but a compassionate, empathetic argument that actually considers the needs of the immigrants and points out that the overall impact of reducing immigration could be a positive one, if we did it in a manner that promotes progressive values and avoids racist posturing. A must read for all of the people who wouldn't be caught dead reading a book like this because it violates all their values.… (mehr)

This book should be required reading for everyone who...well, everyone who is alive in the world. Yes, that means you. The authors of this work of collected papers pull no punches. They don't pussyfoot around the population issue like so many national spokespeople. They present their case - very compelling - and then wrap it up with suggested solutions (that is the weakest section). There is very little disagreement about the scope and nature of the problem; it is when the solutions section comes up that the contributors begin to disagree and contradict each other, which demonstrates just how big a problem it is. Even when everyone agrees that something must be done, it's difficult to agree what. The book lost a half star for a handful of howlers that could have been resolved by just a bit of research (the noble savage; the "fact" that there are more people alive on the earth in 1950 than in all previous human history put together - not true; the statement that our species has been on earth for 5 million years. Our genus, perhaps, but not our species). Otherwise, a fine work, though it will not leave you feeling optimistic, since their solutions are sort of rosy, and are not likely to be implemented and probably wouldn't work that well if they did. But that's all right, because I don't believe you have to have all the solutions to a problem when you are pointing it out; that can come with further discussion once the problem is acknowledged. Just getting people to read this book would be the start to that.… (mehr)