3 Thought-Provoking Books from the Past Year

I enjoy books that help me see things differently. While I suppose all books carry this objective, sometimes a new set of ideas can really make a mess of long-held common belief systems.

Deglobalization is happening. It could be sudden and dramatic.

As a kid I loved learning about global geography and geopolitical issues. When I was in grade 10 we sold our dairy in the globalization run-up that had the World Trade Organization replace the General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade. When I went to University I had the aim to build a career in exporting beef to Asia. Surely globalization is irreversible?

Peter Zeihan published The End of The World is Just the Beginning in 2022 as follow-up to his Disunited Nations. Both were riveting reads combining global geography and demographic circumstances and how they will impact the future. Several factors will be leading to deglobalization - the United States is more focused on domestic interests, export markets shrinking due to aging demographics, and various national insecurities. Covid-19 or the Russian invasion of Ukraine accelerates these change forces. While Mr. Zeihan is a self-proclaimed optimist, the content and predictions offered are significant deglobalization and human suffering commencing over the next ten years.

Eat only meat. It could be good for your health

For several years I've listened to accounts of how eating only beef and lamb had major health improvements for some sick people. I picked up three books last year on carnivore diets, including Dr. Paul Saladino's Carnivore Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health by Returning to Our Ancestral Diet. This book outlines Dr. Saladino's beliefs and research on how to eat a healthy meat-only diet and all the ways vegetables have evolved to include defense chemicals to ward off predators.

Following him on Instagram he only eats beef, lamb, fruit and honey. His detractors suggest he does this for commercial reasons. But there are many people that follow such a diet. I love vegetables so will probably carry on with an omnivore diet, although my balance is leaning heavily towards beef and lamb as it has for eight years. I am at my fitness best and feel great when most of my calories come from meat and simple eating. I admit, much could be from just reducing processed foods and sugars. Heavier meat consumption though helps me reduce the cravings for garbage food. While I am skeptical of the assertions behind extreme diets like vegan or carnivore as a human health tool for widespread use, seeing meat's health benefits featured more prominently is welcome.

The climate crisis is overblown?

By far my biggest mind-changer has been the arguments put forward by Alex Epstein in his book Fossil Future. It plainly makes the solid case that the climate catastrophe has been grossly overblown. It spells out how our current path is highly dangerous - it will increase human suffering while making the environment worse. The planet is slowly warming and that may not be a bad thing provided we spend more effort on adaption. This book needs to be widely read so we can have open debates on this topic to make better decisions that will offer solutions to progress humanity and the environment for future generations. For those who are highly anxious about the state of the climate and our earth, I cannot recommend this book more strongly. There are far better solutions than what we are currently working on - locally and globally. More importantly, there are also bigger environmental problems than carbon dioxide. While it is worthwhile to work on better ways to use less carbon, we need to be more honest as a society on fulsome solutions politically - instead of fear, dogma, or partisanship.