Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change, and Pandemics

Summary

A plan to save the earth and bring the good life to all

In this thrilling and capacious book, Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass challenge the inertia of capitalism and the left alike and propose a radical plan to address climate disaster and guarantee the good life for all. Consumption in the global North can’t continue unabated, and we must give up the idea that humans can fully control the Earth through technological “fixes” that only wreak further havoc.

Rather than allow the forces of the free market to destroy the planet, we must strive for a post-capitalist society able to guarantee the good life for the entire planet. This plan, which they call Half-Earth Socialism, means we must:

• Rewild half the Earth to absorb carbon emissions and restore biodiversity,
• Pursue a rapid transition to renewable energy, paired with drastic cuts in consumption by the world’s wealthiest populations,
• Enact global veganism to cut down on energy and land use,
• Inaugurate worldwide socialist planning to efficiently and equitably manage production, and
• Welcome the participation of everyone—even you!

Accompanied by a climate-modelling website inviting readers to design their own “half earth,” Vettese and Pendergrass offer us a visionary way forward—and our only hope for a future.