Robert MacNeil Christie takes us on an unprecedented intellectual journey to 
understand the complex societal causes of the converging crises of climate, economic, ecological, and political systems. His forthcoming book, At The Edge Of Illusion, explains that the roots of our problems lie in our addiction to fossil fuels and industrial consumerism.
We dodge our deep predicament by clinging to abstractions like “sustainability” or by engaging in diversions like “greenwashing” our failing economic system. We hold to illusions that we can somehow solve our problems in ways that allow us to continue our wasteful lifestyles with little inconvenience. Meanwhile, power elites corrupt our politics while our leaders lack the courage to face the truth of what we must do.
Dr. Christie explains why the only viable answers lie in our ability to move away from the techno-industrialized culture by reorganizing our communities and our institutions at the deepest levels. Our survival requires nothing less than a “Great Transformation” of our lifeways, greater in scope and scale than the Industrial Revolution, yet grounded in local communities. We must live in harmony with our local ecosystems by transforming the way we live. That requires us to abandon industrial civilization now, rather than allowing its catastrophic collapse to destroy us.
Dr. Christie is professor emeritus from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He spent his professional career conducting community research and while studying how societies rise, evolve, and sometimes collapse.
Hopeful Realism: A Climate Manifesto
“Sums up the predicament that we find ourselves in. It is a ray of sanity that cuts through the mountains of greenwashing and feel good ‘solutions’ – that are not solutions at all and actually perpetuate the problem – to lead us on a journey of how we got here and where we must go if we are to keep the planet habitable. It doesn’t dabble in techno-solutions nor hide from the huge amount of change we need, but recognises that this change will be good for us, as well as the planet (certainly compared with the alternative that business as usual will lead to) and that we must all be a part of this change if we are to realise this hopeful vision of the future. A must read for anyone who cares about the future of the only planet known to support life.”
~ Erin Remblance, Freelance Columnist on climate action, modern monetary theory, degrowth, and social change, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The book is available now. Buy on Amazon.
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 