Distract Me |

I have to admit these days I mostly feel like Wesley Crusher in that episode of Star Trek:TNG where the entire crew becomes obsessed with a new gadget and soon find themselves so addicted they can't perform basic ship functions but instead sit in zombie-like trances.

Poor Wesley runs around trying to save the ship while at the same time avoiding having the glasses forced on him. (Google is even coming out with glasses that resemble the device in question.)

And so, it's no surprise that with people glued to their screens, terms like global warming and global food shortages don't really sink in. Only when an unusual weather event occurs (read Hurricane Sandy, or that tornado that hit York region a couple of years ago) do people grumble, "It's cause of climate change." But those unaffected shrug and go back to what they were doing.

To really understand the crisis our planet is under is to pick up a book like Full Planet, Empty Plates and read in detail about what is happening around the globe. And when you finish the book you wonder why does no one know this? Is it too bleak? Or is David Suzuki right when he said:

"We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone's arguing where they're going to sit."

Lester R. Brown outlines how overpopulation and mismanagement of resources is destroying the planet. He explains about climate change and desertification. He shows us the reasons behind high food prices and the rush to buy land that is the direct result. Finally he details why millions of people now face foodless days on a regular basis.

Gloom and doom stuff, but utterly fascinating to someone who just wants the truth about what's happening out there.

Lester R. Brown is not the only author to tackle this subject. Al Gore's The Future describes the situation as it stands and points to changes that will have to be made to ensure we have a future.

Abundance, on the other hand, takes a different perspective and discusses how science can fix everything.

But can it really? With a world addicted to entertainment – apps, online gaming, YouTube, movies – it seems that the more uncertain our future, the more we just want to be…

… distracted.

For more books on the subject look for these at your local library: