Stuck Monkey: The Deadly Planetary Cost of the Things We Love

“The monkeys, of course, are us. At the beginning of the book, James Hamilton-Paterson describes this tribe of hunters who hunt monkeys and eat them. The way they do it is they put a banana in a jar with a narrow entrance, and the monkeys can’t resist the banana. They put their hand in, and even though they could get their hand out, they don’t because they’re just addicted to it. What he is essentially saying is, ‘Look, before you get too carried away with various other explanations, remember there’s something fundamental about us humans and what we’re doing. That’s why our planet is going the way it’s going.’ Essentially, it’s about the fact that deep in our human nature is an insatiable desire to consume. We just can’t resist it…Hamilton-Paterson’s book is so well written. It’s confronting everyone’s prejudices…The book is in your face, in a very easy-going way. I thought it was a brilliant book. And it’s sobering.” Read more...

The best books on Economics and the Environment

Dieter Helm