Naomi Klein's monster of a book took me a while to read. And it was a wild ride of emotions.
I started it before I knew a movie would be made from it. I liked the title and the attitude, but knew very little else about it. I progressed slowly through it, swinging from amazement and joy of learning stuff I didn't even imagine, to depression and fear because, well we seem to be so doomed.
I read quite a few other books simultaneously, just to catch a breath of fiction that would keep me from despair at humanity's bleak future. But I also returned to it to find sparks of light and hope that would make me believe that there is a way out of this hole we have dug ourselves into.
Now the movie has come out, I have watched and enjoed it, although it falls a bit short when compared to the book. (Surprising... haha)
This truly changes everything... we need to rethink and reinvent our roles as inhabitants of this planet. We need to re make the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. We need to return to ancient knowledge and add it to our modern one. We need to rebuild on top of the rubble that this modern capitalism has left us with.
We stand in front of the biggest crisis our species has ever faced. No option is off the table. No certeainty can be left unquestioned.
Of course, the book doesn't provide the answers to all the problems. No one could ever do that. But it points in the right directions, it asks the right questions. I would say it is a necessary book for our society and times.
I know I will return to this book. I don't know when, but I know I've highlighted a large percentage of the book. And it has inspired to look for more information. To make a stand and collaborate in hopes of a better future. It has made me realise that I am not alone in the fear and despair that invades me with the news every day. I am not alone in the hope that we can create a better, fairer reality for all of us. There are more of us everyday and we WILL be heard.
Change is coming. There is no other way, and it is good to know that we can stand together in Blockadia, to rebuild a better world. One with life in the center, instead of profit.