The Upside of Down:Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization

Thomas Homer-Dixon

Knopf Canada, 2007

by Gerald Wheatley

As the US empire becomes increasingly overextended, demonstrated by chronic military and security concerns, reduced global economic influence, and domestic education and health care decline, there has been a growing public interest in understanding this time in human history. With this clearly on the mind of Thomas Homer-Dixon, who explores fascinating details from the Roman empire as a method of outlining the challenges facing the planet’s current inhabitants.

Beyond anthropology, The Upside of Down, covers a wide range of current issues, logically moving through chapters on global warming, environmental destruction, energy return on investment and peak oil, demographic changes, and complexity. The tone is informational and engaging and, in spite of the book’s various dire warnings, encourages the reader to take action rather than take their own life as so many books in this field do.

The Upside of Down is a call to embrace social and economic complexity as the only sure way to soften the blow of impending empire collapse. These themes are also central to Arusha’s work; building social networks through events such as the Action Film series, supporting collective resources such as carsharing and local food production and fostering a more resilient local economy through the exchange of Calgary Dollars.