Ecology and the politics of scarcity
by William Ophuls · first published 1977
50% recommend50% critical
Based on the author's thesis, Yale, 1973.Includes index. Bibliography: p. [249]-284.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2015–2024Plato's revenge
William Ophuls
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 33 recommend · 3 mention3 recommend · 33 recommend
2016–2024Overshoot
William R. Catton
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 97 recommend · 9 mention7 recommend · 97 recommend
2017–2026Energy transitions
Vaclav Smil
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2008–2026Limits to Growth
Donella H. Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jorgen Randers, Dennis L. Meadows
Recommended by 19 · mentioned by 7819 recommend · 78 mention19 recommend · 7819 recommend
2017–2026Energy and Civilization
Vaclav Smil
Recommended by 23 · mentioned by 3223 recommend · 32 mention23 recommend · 3223 recommend
2009–2026Consilience
Edward Osborne Wilson
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 129 recommend · 12 mention9 recommend · 129 recommend
…that political barriers to effectively addressing the problematique in a manner that avoids catastrophic outcomes seem extraordinarily stubborn. I strongly recommend the works of William Ophusl, notably Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity (1977, 1994) and Plato's Revenge (2011).[2] Thomas Homer-Dixon is a political science scholar who seems to be continuing the work: https://homerdixon.com/ Global responses over the past two years and…
on “The Modern World Can't Exist Without Fossil Fuels” ↗…where'd you learn about it? On coercion -- you might be interested in William Ophuls. He's a political writer (Yale PhD and professor, worked in the US Foreign Service as well). His primary work is Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity (1977), which lays out the fundamental problem and dynamics. He's continued the discussion in a series of books published through 2013, of which Plato's Revenge and Requiem for Modern Politics are probably…
on “Nature’s libraries are the fountains of biological innovation” ↗…http://www.worldcat.org/title/limits-to-growth/oclc/70551520... The 30 year update: http://www.worldcat.org/title/limits-to-growth-the-30-year-u... For a view of the political and social realities of addressing limits, I can't recommend William Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity highly enough. http://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-sc... Joseph Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Societies, spells out the more general dynamic. http://www.worldcat.org/title/collapse-of-complex-societies/...
on “Saudi Arabia's Oil Wealth Is About to Get a Reality Check” ↗…capabilities than the USSR through much of the postwar period, total ground fources excepted). 3. William Ophuls, a little-known author, who combines ecology and political science. In his 1977 book Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, he calls much of the subsequent three decades of development, including the fall of the USSR, the industrialisation of China, and the nonindustrialisation (mostly) of India and Africa. Moreover, he…
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗If you want context, I'd recommend reading books. There's one in particular that has an excellent bibliography, and which I've cribbed from extensively: William Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, published in 1977. I'm linking the 1992 update (which might be found online via LibGen or Bo-ok.org), which doesn't depart much from the original, does extend some observations, and should include the…
on “The Limits to Growth (1972) [pdf]” ↗…and/or editorial assistance to tighten up and clean up his writing. That said, despite the similarities, the works do complement one another. Another author I'd recommend is William Ophuls, particularly Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity (1977, revised ~1994), which predates but also anticipates much of Tainter's work. Ophul's background and focus is politics and polity, but through the lenses of ecology and Limits to Growth particularly.…
on “Smartphone sales fall for the first time, says Gartner” ↗…Capacity: Article: https://www.worldcat.org/title/population-economics-environm... Book: How many people can the earth support? https://www.worldcat.org/title/how-many-people-can-the-earth... Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity: https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s... Ophul's bibliographies are excellent, one online: https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/6fgq8g/william... Smil, Energy and…
on “Overpopulation Is a Myth” ↗…like to read a comprehensive if rather depressing look at the question of how politics responds to the challenges of limits and scarcity, I'd strongly recommend William Ophuls, particularly his original Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity: https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s... (That's the 1992 revised edition, original was published in 1977: https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s...)…
on “How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong” ↗…and metaphorically. And that quibbling's been going on for well over a half-century (again, with different foci). I'm digging through an excellent 1970s treatment of the general issue, William Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity*. The international dimension begins at roughly page 200. The book as a whole is excellent, as are many of the author's subsequent works, exquisitely researched, argued, written, and referenced. Ophuls's…
on “China and India will have to ‘justify’ watered down coal pledge–Cop26 president” ↗…Arabia, Russia, Canada, China; natural gas: USA, Russia, Iran, Qatar, China, sourced from BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022. 2. Excellent contemporaneous discussion of this in William Ophuls, Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, 1977, particularly Chapter 7. <https://www.worldcat.org/title/2524932> <https://archive.org/details/ecologypoliticso0000ophu> 3. See: Hobbes and Adam Smith.
on “The SEC cracks down on greenwashing” ↗…Man, by Jeremy Campbell (1982) https://www.worldcat.org/title/grammatical-man-information-e... My introduction to information theory and its diverse set of interrelated applications and phenomena. 2. Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, by William Ophuls (1977) https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s... Distills the Limits to Growth issue to its essence, and looks at the political implications, with a set of estimates…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗…William Ophuls and Thomas Homer-Dixon are two authors in particular who have been looking at the political challenges of adapting to ecological limits. I strongly recommend all Ophuls' work, though Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity (first published in 1977, revised ~1994) and Plato’s Revenge (2011) are probably the best starting points. The first secion of Ecology in particular makes one of the most cogent arguments for the Limits…
on “Ask HN: What are the most promising technical solutions to energy/climate change” ↗Ophuls is a tremendously underappreciated author. I'd recommend going back to his 1977 Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, which is one of the best distillations of the ecological and limits arguments, and one of the very few extensions of that to political space, I've seen. I'm still planning on writing a proper review…
on “Ecological Wealth of Nations” ↗…particularly sanguine. There are many books and authors on this topic. For the energy angle, I strongly recommend Vaclav Smil. For the political dynamics, William Ophuls is among the best I've read. His 1977 Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity is a brief, but commanding overview of the problems and dynamics. It's long ago enough that many of its predictions are testable. While pessimistic on population and food, much the rest has held up,…
on “July was the hottest month ever recorded, according to Nasa” ↗…(mostly 20th & 21st century) thought on ecology, limits, and the interactions of these with polity. His bibliographies are excellent, and worth publishing on their own right. I'd recommend his 1977 Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity and his more recent Plato's Revenge. The former focuses more on the ecological case, the latter more on the questions (with very few answers suggested -- he's really exploring the problem space) of how…
on “Is democracy a failure? (1861)” ↗