An Inconvenient Apocalypse

Confronting harsh ecological realities and the multiple cascading crises facing our world today, An Inconvenient Apocalypse argues that humanitys future will be defined not by expansion but by contraction. For decades, our world has understood that we are on the brink of an apocalypseand yet the only implemented solutions have been small and convenient, feel-good initiatives that avoid unpleasant truths about the root causes of our impending disaster. Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen argue that we must reconsider the origins of the consumption crisis and the challenges we face in creating a survivable future. Longstanding assumptions about economic growth and technological progressthe dream of a future of endless bountyare no longer tenable. The climate crisis has already progressed beyond simple or nondisruptive solutions. The end result will be apocalyptic; the only question now is how bad it will be. Jackson and Jensen examine how geographic determinism shaped our past and led to todays social injustice, consumerist culture, and high-energy/high-technology dystopias. The solution requires addressing todays systemic failures and confronting human nature by recognizing the limits of our ability to predict how those failures will play out over time. Though these massive challenges can feel overwhelming, Jackson and Jensen weave a secular reading of theological conceptsthe prophetic, the apocalyptic, a saving remnant, and graceto chart a collective, realistic path for humanity not only to survive our apocalypse but also to emerge on the other side with a renewed appreciation of the larger living world.