Pentti Linkola (1932–2020)

Complicated book to review as it's a series of essays from different years with varying topic and scope. Linkola's purview is centered around his own existence as a fisherman, his desires tied to propagating his own lifestyle; when faced with opposition from other eco activists, he necessarily chooses what combination of ideals that would impact him the least. In the future eco fascist utopia, Linkola's life wouldn't be changed much, and society would "ideally" choose to do what benefits show more him.
It's in that myopic view the holes in the worldview also open up as he expounds on the deep ecology vision later in the book, a world without trade, largely without machines, without transport. Yet he's sure to mention salt would have to be an exception since there isn't enough salt readily available in Finland for him to preserve his fish. Thus, again, all exceptions to rules exist to ensure his own comfortable continued existence without any disruptions.

Yet it's also obvious the man has a deeper connection to his surrounding nature than most eco activists ever have. Personal observations of animals, records of nesting birds kept over decades, constantly living in the ongoing ecological change and seeing the impact of industrial impact on nature from his own daily life, rather than in theory or in pictures, has obviously given him more pertinent insights than many eco activists have. His bemoaning of "greens" trying to protect invasive species because they're furry and cute, rather than domestic animals that aren't as photogenic, is one such sign.

The pronouncements of imminent doom make him (and many others) easily dismissed as crackpots or apocalypticists, being as we are comfortably living in the decades beyond in which he confidently, repeatedly, predicts the death of mankind at large. But between bouts of hyperbole and shortsightedness there's also a lot of gems sprinkled in that are worth considering. The radical ecological perspective is also worthy of consideration before dismissing, no matter the personal shortcomings of Linkola himself. show less

Nice to read a steadfast rejection of modern society, but the author's arguments are as weak as ever in this book. He repeats his misanthropic mantra again and again but fails to justify it on a philosophical level.