The Messiah & The God-Emperor of Zurich: a review of Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Ministry for the Future"

Many climate fiction enthusiasts I have spoken with over the years rightfully praise KSR for tackling such a daunting topic in a world where we cannot imagine any climate future. I fully agree with them: a bold approach by a well-known author opened a lot of new readers to the movement.

At the same time, I think we NEED to be aware of the book's limitations, often invisible to someone who hasn't experienced a lot of the situations described in it - or has never read less popular positions on the topic. All my research into Solarpunk narratives teaches me that it’s not enough to say that something is missing: we must imagine an alternative, a step forward, even if just as a naive proposal.

If we allow ourselves to read "The Ministry For The Future'' as "let's continue with neoliberal capitalism; blockchain will save us; let the brown people bloody their hands", then we might delude ourselves into thinking that there's nothing more to do. We might refuse to answer any uncomfortable questions about our position in the world, hoping that after a lengthy career in banking or UN we rightfully deserve our peaceful retirement in the beautiful Alps. The world will sort itself out.

https://alxd.org/ministry-for-the-future-review.html