Mindful Conservatism: Rethinking the Ideological and Educational Basis of an Ecologically Sustai Nable Future

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Summary: Today's 'conservatives' don't know much about conserving
Review: How on earth can you call a book about sustainability 'Mindful Conservatism', you might ask. Please don't let your preconceptions and the current usage of the term 'conservatism' make you turn away from this important and timely book.
C. A. Bowers opens up one of the most crucial debates that we should lead if we are serious about an ecologically sustainable future. We generally shy away from this discussion because of its potential pitfalls, misunderstandings and a tradition of abuse of the term 'conservatism'.
I believe that Bowers' book is hugely important because it emphasises throughout the concept of mindfulness, as opposed to preconceived convictions. It challenges us 'to rethink our traditional political categories' and to question what the media and politicians want to make us believe. We have to learn to step out of the box because the traditional political vocabulary simply is not fit to cope with the sustainability challenge.
The central question of the book is 'What do we need to conserve in order to have a more sustainable future and just world order?' This clearly calls for a complex answer and is also arguably the most important question to be asked if we want to turn our destructive, exploitative, overdeveloped and overconsuming global world order into something which can sustain itself within the limits of the ecosphere.