The Human Factor

Ron Bailey is a libertarian and an environmentalist. This may seem like a contradiction, and it is, with consequences that inflict serious damage on his latest book. This is a disappointment, because Bailey has written many first-rate works.

And Bailey’s new book, The End of Doom, is not all bad. In fact, parts of it are excellent. For example, Bailey does a great job in gathering hysterical doomsday predictions that Malthusians have made continuously, with absolute confidence, since Malthus, only to be repeatedly refuted by reality. He also has fine sections debunking technophobic opposition to a litany of vital innovations; the chapter defending genetically modified crops is outstanding. His refutation of the “precautionary principle,” a.k.a. the Vorsorgeprinzip, a demented piece of philosophizing that would effectively preclude any exercise of creativity to advance the human condition, is delightful, and alone worth the price of the book.