This Ugly Civilization [Ralph Borsodi]

[Anarchism] [Reality] [Important]

This Ugly Civilization 90th Anniversary Edition

Ralph Borsodi

Underworld Amusements, USA. 2019. 90th anniversary  paperback edition. Like new.

From the publisher:

"There are three basic themes in Ralph Borsodi’s This Ugly Civilization: a critique of modern industrial civilization, achieving personal economic independence, and maximizing individual potential. Borsodi advocates a lifestyle of self-reliance and decentralized power, and outlines how it can be realized either by one man or by all. The logical steps are given for moving beyond a “victory garden” so that each of us may cultivate a human-scale existence compatible with nature and the pursuit of the good life. Received with great interest upon release in 1929, This Ugly Civilization offered a course of action for those who were soon facing the Great Depression. The book again found an audience during the rationing and instability of World War II. This Ugly Civilization and Borsodi’s subsequent Flight from the City (1933) became “bibles” to many in the successive “back-to-the-land” movements that occur every generation. His ideas gained further momentum among young people looking for answers in the 1960s and 70s. The indefatigable Mildred Loomis, the greatest advocate of Borsodi’s work, even garnered the nickname “grandmother of the counterculture.” Within another decade, the punk-inspired DIY movement would rail against centralizing authority and encourage the creation of a new culture of self-determination—although such radical ideas were hardly new, as Borsodi’s book shows."

A personal fascination of mine is "out of place" artifacts; the Baghdad battery, light bulbs in Giza, that kind of thing. Of course most of those can be explained by misinterpretation or more importantly, a general failure to understand that the human mind has been fundamentally the same since it became self aware. I would argue This Ugly Civilization is one of those items - 90 years ago, someone had the same feelings and attitudes as many of you. Disgusted with the world, he sought peace. A fascinating book, highly recommended.