Purpose in the Age of Uncertainty – March 21st

David Korowicz spoke at the Cork launch of Feasta’s Fleeing Vesuvius.

Described as a “goldmine” by Richard Heinberg, in his foreword to the just-published North American edition, Fleeing Vesuvius is Feasta’s most important work to date. It draws together many of the ideas developed within Feasta over the years and applies them to a single question:  how can we bring the world out of the mess in which it now finds itself? The conventional answer – even more economic growth – is seen in the book as part of the problem rather than the solution.

Fleeing Vesuvius confronts this mess squarely, analysing its many aspects: the looming scarcity of essential resources such as fossil fuels – the lifeblood of the world economy; the financial crisis in Ireland and elsewhere; the collapse of the housing bubble; the urgent need for food security, especially in today’s climate of rising food prices; and the enormous challenge of dealing with climate change.

The solutions it puts forward involve changes to our economy and financial system, but they go much further; this substantial, wide-ranging book also looks at the changes needed in how we think, how we use the land and how we relate to others, particularly those where we live.  While it doesn’t discount the complexity of the problems we face, Fleeing Vesuvius is practical and fundamentally optimistic. It will arm readers with the confidence and knowledge they need to develop new, workable alternatives to the old-style expanding economy and its supporting systems. It’s a book that can be read all the way through or used as a resource to dip in and out of.

As well as the publication of the North American edition of the book (by New Society Press) a New Zealand/Australian version will be published shortly, proving that Fleeing Vesuvius has both regional and global relevance.