My Ishmael (Library Binding)

The entire concept of the Quinn's books are to convey to the reader that we "civilized" humans have developed, and entrenched ourselves, in a system of living that is doomed to fail. It's not an anti-capitalism, pro-socialist treatise per se, however, most of the tenets of capitalism could be found flawed in Quinn's assessment. Basically, Ishmael (Quinn) has determined that native peoples have survived for hundreds of thousands of years longer than "civilized" peoples because: a) tribal cultures don't lock up their food so that you have to buy it (this locking up of food results in poverty, war, and dissent, according to Quinn); b) hunter/gather societies (with some agriculture) have been able to sustain their likelihood without disrupting family, wealth (in tribal terms), prosperity, and the environment.

Contrary to this, are the tenets of our "civilized" society. They lock up food (a substance that should be free to all humans just like air or water) and place it in the power of the wealthy who then redistribute it to those who can pay for it. This basic concept (capitalism, essentially) spawns a vast array of problems: poverty for those that can't afford to pay for the simple necessities of life (no tribal system would allow any of its members to go hungry, simply because that would mean the degradation of the tribe); family degradation, war over who owns what, and crime in general because basic necessities are no longer open for the taking. Also, this "civilized" system can only grow and live if it constantly consumes (with no regard to replacing that which it consumes). So, on this note, Quinn is quite right; we cannot continually consume. There is simply not enough resources to sustain our population (and what do we do when we run out of resources? Traditionally, we destroy or displace other populations to gain their resources).

So, we're all supposed to revert to some grand-scale tribal system (also known as socialism to some)? The 12 year-old girl asks exactly this. Ishmael (Quinn) makes a strong point here that he has never suggested such a thing. He is merely pointing out the flaws, and suggesting a starting point to fixing the problem. I can buy that on some levels, but mostly, he is suggesting that tribal systems are better than our current system, which is true on many levels, but a tribal system of living would be impossible with over 6 billion people on the planet (which, to Quinn's defense, he poignantly acknowledges).

Overall, it's a good read even if it leaves the reader with a million more questions (which I supposes is the whole point). Quinn leads the reader to believe in each of these books that his message is complete when in fact, it is far from it. He leads one to believe that he's done his job as a "Save the world" teacher when in fact he leads much to be desired. However, with that said, Quinn's book is definitely worth reading (start with the first book Ishmael). Even his conclusions are naive, they raise some vital questions about where our culture is heading. With all his flaws, Quinn is a must, if only to get you thinking in a completely different direction: can we continue to consume without replenishment, and while capitalism has proven extremely fruitful, is there a better form of capitalism that is more conducive to global prosperity on all levels?

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