THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PLANTS

Arjen Mulder


Hard times, dear reader. All Western systems of thought are bankrupt and the only thing that keeps them alive is the criticism of them. The beauty of science burnt its face through its complicity in the fossil-fuel economy and the poisoning of the earth. A mixture of fear, rage, resignation and mourning gnaws at every idea that we have, every plan, everything that requires a future. The superpowers of tomorrow will inherit a few burnt- out continents and billions of refugees. People will look back at our times as the Age of Blindness, when everyone knew what they were doing to the living earth, but effective reaction proved too difficult, demanded too much effort. How does one retain one’s common sense?

Learn to think like a plant. For half a billion years mosses, ferns, trees and flowers have kept the most beautiful ecosystems working on our planet. On the occasions when the latter were razed to the ground by the violence of super-volcanoes, comets or ice ages, the plants soon shot up again out of the ashes, to embark enthusiastically on a new round of vegetative inventiveness. Plants provide oxygen and food, retain water, offer shelter to animals and human beings, extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and in so doing moderate fluctuations in climate. All they ask for in return is an intact living space.

Plants can save the earth and its inhabitants. If we want to learn to think in a new way, cyclically instead of fixated on the end point, The School of the Plant will open its doors for readers anxious to learn. Switch to the side of the plants. That is the task I have set myself in this booklet.


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Flip-through of the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWRgPz5HRSw 

Arjen Mulder publiceerde eerder bij 1001:

DE SUCCESSTAKER – ISBN 978 90 71346 44 6
HET TWINTIGSTE-EEUWSE LICHAAM – ISBN 978 90 71346 23 1


THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PLANTS
This is the translation of the chapter ‘De plant als vriend’ (My friend, the Plant) from the book VANUIT DE PLANT GEZIEN (As Seen by the Plant) by Arjen Mulder, published in 2019 by Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Uitgeverij Duizend & Een / 1001 Publishers, 2020, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ISBN 978 90 71346 53 8
195 x 135 x 7 mm / paperback / 64 pages / price € 10,00 (excluding postage costs)

Order Book available in the Dutch and Belgium (internet) bookshops. For other countries order directly from the publisher: info@1001publishers.com