What in the World? by Edwin Jay Sparks

What in the World? by Edwin Jay Sparkes
Buy What in the World? by Edwin Jay Sparks at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (Paid links)
Category: Politics and Society
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: A summary of what's wrong in the world and a manifesto to fix it. A thoughtful analysis of inequality from a progressive perspective and some bold policy prescriptions make Sparkes's book an interesting read, sure to provoke further thought and, hopefully, discussion, about a much-needed new direction.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 54	Date: November 2024
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing
ISBN: 978-1836150442
Share on: and

In our world of constant conflict, environmental destruction, cruelty, and misery for many, is a new direction needed more than ever?

Most of us would answer this question with a resounding yes, right? But most of us would also have no idea where to start. We do live in a world where conflict rears its ugly head far too often and in which resources are allocated in unfair ways and in which the most critical resource of all, the environment, is still pillaged and degraded in ways that are reckless for everyone's future.

In What in the World? Edwin Jay Sparks gives us a holistic diagnosis of the main issues facing us and follows them up with a manifesto for much-needed change. The diagnosis is condensed into several main areas: debt-based money and its effect on resource-based competition, race and its encouraging of in and out groups, religion which could be used to teach goals but instead often reinforces tribalism, politics and its failure to prioritise delivery, health of both planet and people where failures lead to global inequality, sexuality and consent vs coercion and the biggest baddie of all, war. It's hard to disagree with any of these clear-eyed assessments. I'll leave the manifesto for you to anticipate.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading What in the World?. I think we all know that the problems humanity faces are many, wide-ranging and deep. Finding solutions to all of them seems unattainable. It's easy to write about this but it isn't easy to leave your readers feeling anything other than overwhelmed and pessimistic about the chances of success. But Sparks has a lightness of touch and tone that fills you with the spirit of optimism. He also adds some lovely dollops of gentle humour - it's important that we can laugh at ourselves, sometimes, especially when we are talking about deadly serious topics. No, of course change won't be easy, but that doesn't mean that solutions aren't out there and we shouldn't work towards them. I liked that he talked about others, such as Martin Luther King, and makes the reader feel as though they have worthy shoulders to stand upon.

Some of Sparks's solutions are radical - in particular his suggestions for open source intelligence gathering and sharing and open source technology: states like secrets and entrepreneurs tend to like personal wealth. Others we can already see are less ambitious to implement and already have been in some times and places - universal healthcare, nuclear bans, for example. And to be nitpicky, I'm not sure where legalisation of all drugs came from because it didn't seem relevant to the preceding diagnoses of the main problems we face. But overall, it's an ambitious but do-able manifesto for change and a shared better future.

We need more such thinking! Why don't you have a read of What in the World? and think about the part you could play?

If sorting out the world's problems at scale feels a bit too much for you but you still want to make a difference, you could read The Everyday Activist by Michael Norton, which takes similar ideas and pitches them at the level of the individual.

Recommended.

Please share on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can read more book reviews or buy What in the World? by Edwin Jay Sparks at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free. (Paid link)

You can read more book reviews or buy What in the World? by Edwin Jay Sparks at Amazon.com. (Paid link)

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.