John Yunker

When it comes to nonfiction environmental books these days, I feel that we're reaching “peek dystopia.”

Or, at least I hope we are. Because it seems that between books about our warming planet, animal extinction, water shortages and wars, I'm sufficiently enlightened and depressed.

What we don't have enough of these days are hands-on books about doing something to make the world better right in your own backyard, which is the subtitle of this very practical and subservisely entertaining book by Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop.

I was already familiar with Paul Wheaton through the website he founded Permies.com. If you want to know everything about permaculture, homesteading, solar power, you name it, this is a very good place to start.

And this book is in many ways a “best of” Permies.com.

The authors are promoting what they call “luxuriant environmentalism.” By that, they're saying that you can still be comfortable and sustainable. And you can save money along the way. In other words, just because you can't afford a Tesla and a solar array doesn't mean you can't achieve significant energy savings. And they're right. A Tesla, after all, is just a really big lithium-ion battery — which carries a host of its own environmental baggage. So why not just focus on the little things, like light bulbs and the thermostat and cutting back on the clothes dryer.

Where the book shines is in its focus on permaculture. Permaculture is a word I find difficult to explain because its really a way of life. It's about recycling, about keeping chemicals out of the soil, about gardening in ways that work with the soil and not against it, and about getting along with all those critters that we've been raised to believe are pests.

As a vegan, I was worried the book would focus too much on using animals (as so much of homesteading does) but the book is actually much more about saving energy, smarter gardening, Hugelkultur (sounds complicated but not, and very cool), and healthier living. It's impossible to cover everything in this book — like building a “freaky cheap home that doesn't look freaky cheap,” or “better than solar panels: a solar food dehidrator.” But I guarantee that by the end of this book you'll find a nugget or two of advice (probably many more) that will help you improve the world and your life.

In the end, we need to spend less time complaining about how those in power are ruining the planet (which they are!) and focus on what we can do. As Paul writes:

Nearly all these massive problems are caused, indirectly, by us. By you. And when we get angry at “them” it turns out that we paid “them” to create this problem. . . . The problem is ourselves. We need to own our own shit. We need to clean our own backyard and stop feeding the monsters that are, in turn, harming (and even killing) our friends and families. If we stop giving money to the monsters, they stop being monsters.

NOTE: This review was first posted on EcoLitBooks.com.

What happens when a predator becomes prey?

Today, the animals we have long viewed as predators – lions and tigers, bears and sharks – are in some cases on the verge of extinction. And, thanks to science, we now know that these predators are not nearly so violent or dangerous as we were once told (or continue to tell ourselves).

Nevertheless, we cling to the idea that these “beasts” are lesser creatures, and they suffer for it.

For example, it is estimated that as many as 100 million sharks are killed each year, many as bycatch and many more simply for their fins – to be used in shark fin soup. And grey wolves, as they begin to rebound from near extinction, are finding themselves demonized in states such as Oregon and Idaho.

In Beasts: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson aims to rid us of outdated or incorrect notions of the apex predators of our planet – those animals that dwell at the top of the food chain. This is a cleverly constructed book because it draws readers in with the promise of learning more about apex predators, only to contrast the actions of these species with the actions of their human counterparts. And it is humans who come out looking like the true beasts.

Masson opens by documenting instances in which crocodiles can and do live in peace with humans. In chapters titled “Conformity,” “War,” and “Cruelty,” Masson contrasts human and non-human species through history and literature. For example, he writes of the extent to which orcas will go to help one another – even at the expense of their own lives. And then he points to Sea World, which is a sad testament to how humans treat one of the smartest and most emotional mammals on this planet.

Masson sheds light on “why” humans view and treat some animals differently than others. He writes:

Humans seem to have a mania for hierarchy, which inevitably signals a wish to dominate another. In this hierarchy we judge someone or some other being to be inferior and hence ultimately dispensable. Extermination starts with finding differences.

True, apex predators have attacked humans and should always be given a wide berth. But as Masson writes, more often than not the attacks that we read about in the media are a result of animals losing critical territory, desperately seeking food, or simply reacting to human interaction – as opposed to hunting humans.

He devotes extensive attention to chimpanzees – who are often cited as cruel and prone to war. He notes that the violence observed by Jane Goodall could have been a side effect to her feeding them bananas on a regular basis, in effect changing the society dynamic in a way that led to competition over resources.

Regarding sharks, Masson quotes Peter Benchley, author of Jaws, who has since come to regret the way his novel has treated this species.

An underlying theme of this book that resonated with me is the extent to which our society will seek out stories about humans as victims of apex predators. If there is a shark attack in Australia, you can be sure it will be widely reported across the US, even though such attacks are statistically so rare and are sometimes a simple case of mistaken identity. Surfers dressed in black wetsuits can be confused as seals, a popular shark diet.

Psychologically, when people cling to the idea that they are victims, they ultimately create victims in others. This is why wars seem never to end. And this is why wolves continue to be hunted across the West.

I should stress that this is ultimately an optimistic book. As Masson notes, humans have an amazing capacity for kindness – through the forming of animal sanctuaries, changes in diet, and changes in lifestyle to minimize climate change.

Humans have the potential to evolve quickly – and we must act quickly. Masson writes:

The magnitude of human misery has been increasing for the last ten thousand years but was immeasurably less before that time. That is why I believe it is wrong to speak of our species as hopelessly bound to violence – because there was a time when we were not, and that time could come again.

NOTE: Review first published on EcolitBooks.com:
http://www.ecolitbooks.com/2014/07/real-predators-review-beasts-jeffrey-moussaieff-masson/