Activity Report Explorer

Polly Dyer – Seattle • Entered by Penelope Peterson on September 25, 2024

GOB Book Club

June 6, 2024 – June 6, 2024

Key Issue: Climate Change
Activity Type: Education & Outreach (tabling, films & lectures, regional B-walks/works)

Short Description of Activity

For this session, we read a fiction book entitled, Ministry for the Future. We had read only one other fiction book previously, and that was the Overstory. Ministry for the Future is science fiction that portrays the happenings in world suffering from the worst effects of climate change. As always, I prepared a list of questions for discussion as follows:

Do you think it would take an event as severe as the heatwave described in the first chapter to trigger people to respond more seriously to climate change? Do you think it’s plausible or would it be a more gradual change?

What is one theme, scene, or conversation in the book that had a strong impact on you? Why?

The Ministry for the Future proposes a three-pronged approach to combating climate change–science, politics, and ecoterrorism The last is arguably the novel’s most interesting choice. What is your opinion on Black Ops? Do you think using Black Ops can ever be justified?

What do you think about the Carbon Coin? Do you think it could work? Should Central Banks play more of a role than they do now?

And finally, what was the major scientific endeavor undertaken in the novel to slow climate change? Did you think this endeavor is plausible?

What is one theme, scene, or conversation that had a strong impact on you? Why?

Ministry leaders discuss possible leverage points they can work with to save the world (pp. 54-56). Which of these do you think are the most effective and why?

Fredric Jameson, who was Robinson’s doctoral supervisor, famously stated: “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism.” Robinson’s inventive attention to economics, policy, and technological innovation indicates that he believes it might be possible to transform capitalism into a system which saves the world — imperfectly. Does the book influence your understanding of the relationship between climate change and capitalism? If so, how?

Mary visits Frank regularly from the time she meets him until his death. Why do you think that Mary makes these regular visits?

Does Robinson end the book the way you expected? Did you find the conclusion satisfying? Why or why not?

Would you recommend the book to someone else? Why or why not?

One reviewer disagrees with Robinson’s insistence on “taking people as purely rational beings, whose motivations are fundamentally good, who want to do good for themselves and others, and are just missing the means, and the social organization to do that. No space is ever given to the simple fact that there are many, many people whose structure of feeling is the exact opposite of that, and the first step of creating a mass movement to combat climate change is going to be figuring out how to deal with them.” Do you agree or disagree with this reviewer?

Reflection/Evaluation

Eight Broads attended this Book Club discussion via Zoom. As usual, we had a rousing discussion when one member was highly critical of the book. Janna, the Book Club member who suggested we read this book argued vociferously in favor of the importance of the author’s message. Indeed, several days after our meeting, Janna wrote us the following email:

“I’ve been thinking about why I so vigorously like Ministry and found criticisms somewhat petty and quite untenable.
I realized that part of my experience includes knowing and following the folks at Synergia Ranch outside Santa Fe NM and the irrational and unlikely accomplishments they have created. I believe the Broads did training at Synergia in recent years. My oldest son Zack and his dad, my first husband, Eric, were regular visitors there. Marie Harding spoke at Eric’s memorial in 2009.So for me, with knowledge of real life projects from the ranch to the ocean going ferro cement Heraclitis to Biosphere2, the Hotel Vajra in Kathmandu and others, the trajectory of the Ministry for the Future was entirely believable and inspiring! Spaceship Earth is available to screen for free from KCLS Kanopy. I’d encourage folks to view it!”

https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/12503/spaceship-earth-documentary-matt-wolf-biosphere-2-kathelin-gray

I consider it a successful Book Club discussion when different perspectives are presented and explored, and the discussion leads us to think deeply about the book. Indeed, in this case, our Book Club meeting even led us to continue thinking about the book days later.