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There was a time when humanity looked in the mirror and saw something precious, worth protecting and fighting for—indeed, worth liberating. But now, we are beset on all sides by propaganda promoting a radically different viewpoint. According to this idea, human beings are a cancer upon the Earth, a horde of vermin whose aspirations and appetites are endangering the natural order. This is the core of antihumanism.
Merchants of Despair traces the pedigree of this ideology and exposes its pernicious consequences in startling and horrifying detail. The book names the chief prophets and promoters of antihumanism over the last two centuries, from Thomas Malthus through Paul Ehrlich and Al Gore. It exposes the worst crimes perpetrated by the antihumanist movement, including eugenics campaigns in the United States and genocidal anti-development and population-control programs around the world.
Combining riveting tales from history with powerful policy arguments, Merchants of Despair provides scientific refutations to all of antihumanism’s major pseudo-scientific claims, including its modern tirades against nuclear power, pesticides, population growth, biotech foods, resource depletion, and industrial development.
Willis_Shirk
Posted April 20, 2012
This is a riveting and lucid analysis of the seamy history behind the fundamentally flawed thinking that drives so many radical environmentalists to portray humanity as a cancer upon the earth. The author grounds his artful prose with sound mathematical and scientific evidence that demolishes the claims of those who assert that global warming is something to be feared, or that increased world population is a threat. His arguments deserve a wide audience and invite vigorous debate on their merits. This book not only challenges many of the assumptions of the more radical environmentalists, such as Paul Ehrlich, John Holdren and Al Gore, however, but also dismisses the arguments of those on the political right who ignorantly dismiss the evidence for the theory of evolution or the fact that the global climate actually is at the moment actually getting warmer. While acknowledging that of course evolution by natural selection is true, and of course the planet is currently getting mildly warmer, the author invites his readers to think deeply and more creatively about the significance of those facts. While his training may be as a nuclear and aerospace engineer, Dr. Zubrin is also a highly insightful and very gifted historian. His work deserves a wide audience, especially at a time when so much political charlatanry on these subjects is being perpetrated by those on both the extreme left and the extreme right of the political spectrum.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 12, 2013
great read. Zubrin does a marvelous job connecting the dots that are the foundations of today's Malthusian environmentalists.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.jpocsr
Posted July 10, 2012
Great read to understand "how we got it here"!
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Overview
There was a time when humanity looked in the mirror and saw something precious, worth protecting and fighting for—indeed, worth liberating. But now, we are beset on all sides by propaganda promoting a radically different viewpoint. According to this idea, human beings are a cancer upon the Earth, a horde of vermin whose aspirations and appetites are endangering the natural order. This is the core of antihumanism.
Merchants of Despair traces the pedigree of this ideology and ...