Power Down
Two NZ books ponder some important questions.
The big questions we need to ponder
The Big Questions is a series of individual essays. It follows Unquiet Time by Colin James (Fraser Books, $40, 2017). Both are worth reading. Both deserve a place on New Zealand bookshelves. Hopefully they mark the beginning of an overdue societal conversation.
“Each of the contributors… was approached separately, and they express their own opinions, uninfluenced by each other.
“Common themes can be traced – most clearly the need for us all to keep the bigger picture in mind.” Introduction, The Big Questions
Like me, you’ll have your favourites in the list of topics, and one or two you might gloss over.
Rod Oram kicks things off on climate change and our economy, thoughtfully referencing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Dame Anne Salmond gently but firmly draws us through 700 years of history. She references Jared Diamond at one end and Lord Nicholas Stern at the other in her piece on how we live within the natural world. She pinpoints what she calls the “scientific and political silos” we are “extremely well placed to think across.”
The message I got: we aren’t, yet, thinking across. She’s a national treasure.
Of left-field interest to me was Patrick Reynolds’ contribution, Is this the future for our city streets? I hope this man is being listened to at local and central authority levels. His essay is a fast-moving, visionary journey on transport and how it could look if done well. It was one I read, and re-read.
The other essays cover everything from prisons to women’s rights and immigration. However, to me they are one
notch lower than the ones I’ve
mentioned. What they address depends on successfully answering the bigger questions put by Oram and Salmond.
Leonie Freeman writes about a housing crisis, but not in relation to population. Tim Watkin articulately champions debate, but barely mentions journalism’s near-total failure to debate growth, population, or real sustainability.
But these are small quibbles. This book is about questions, not answers, and it asks some good ones.
In comparison, Colin James – another national treasure – has a more coherent story in Unquiet Time, thanks to its single authorship. It traces our socio-political history, is easy to read, and is an excellent reference.
In a balanced fashion, he runs through questions on how we go forward, including the population question.
“The next decade will likely be turbulent. It will likely be challenging and energising, painful and uplifting for those who live through the change. This is an unquiet time.” Quite. I devoured both these books in a single sitting. Hopefully they seed an on-going societal debate and create something we’ll be proud to call our legacy.
“The next decade will likely be turbulent... challenging and energising, painful and uplifting... an unquiet time.” Colin James, Unquiet Time