Disclaimer: I have purchased and read the book. I am a friend of the author and he acknowledged me upfront for a modest financial contribution to its professional editing.
That being said, he has asked me to review The Impossible Conversation. I have agreed to review it with integrity and honor.
I did not want to read this book. You will not want to read it either. And, yet, you must, we must. It is not a book to be overlooked, to be ignored. Nor is its messages to be, as Walker puts it, ‘overridden’ even as we are ignoring (overriding) the warnings of our scientists and visionaries. Our future generations, if any, will read it and they will be aghast at its accuracy and its insight and will be outraged that their ancestors did not wake up.
I am in agreement with the author’s assertion that we are at the end of our western culture of business-as-usual.
We are at the inevitable end of our culture’s assumption thatwe can have infinite progress in a finite world. We have ongoingly and foolishly damaged our nest too much. We, as the author points out with clarity, backing up his multiple assertions with deadly accuracy, no longer have a series of problems to be solved. Rather we have a set of predicaments. And predicaments, by their very nature, are insoluble.
He, as I, believe that our culture has spun its course and that our very near future will be an abyss. While his main thrust is the damage done by corporations and his main concern is that of man-created climate change, there are other possible scenarios that could trigger our downward plunge. He could have said more about these but chose not to extend the length of the book by doing so.
The main thrust of his book, however, is not upon our demise. Rather it is upon the question, How shall we live in the face of these predicaments? It is a book that speaks to joy and to personal responsibility. It powerfully speaks to reconnection with our Deeper Self … with Others … and with Earth itself.
This is a transformative book. And transformation is difficult work… work we would rather not do. Be bold, be daring, do it anyway. The Impossible Conversation will support your work. Our future, your future requires it.
I suggest you read the book in pieces, perhaps a chapter at a time. It will be well worth your while. And your descendants will be glad you did.
Harvey W. Austin 