The Nation of Plants
Easy read
Educational
Repetitive

The Nation of Plants

"A leading plant neurobiologist presents the eight fundamental pillars on which the life of plants-and by extension humans-rests in this playful yet eye-opening guidebook. Even if they behave as though they were, humans are not the masters of the Earth, but only one of its most irksome residents. From the moment of their arrival, about 300,000 years ago-nothing when compared to the history of life on our planet-humans have succeeded in changing the conditions of the planet so drastically as to make it a dangerous place for their own survival. The causes of this reckless behavior are in part inherent in their predatory nature, but they also depend on our total incomprehension of the rules that govern the existence of a community of living beings. The last to arrive on the planet, we behave like children who wreak havoc, unaware of the value and significance of the things they are playing with. In The Nation of Plants, the most important, widespread, and powerful nation on Earth finally gets to speak. Like attentive parents, plants, after making it possible for us to live, have come to our aid once again, giving us their rules: this is the first Charter of Rights of Living Beings written by the plants. A short constitution based on the general principles that regulate the common life of plants, it establishes norms applicable to all living beings. Compared to our constitutions, which place humans at the center of the entire juridical reality, in conformity with an anthropocentricism that reduces to things all that is not human, plants offer us a revolution"--
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Reviews

Photo of taylor miles hopkins
taylor miles hopkins@bibette
3 stars
Mar 12, 2022

For a book that is meant to portray the plant point of view (“…finally gets to speak”) and remove the ever-so-prominent human-centric perspectives of our planet (“Compared to our constitutions, which place humans at the center of the entire juridical reality…”), this reads more like the author’s personal manifesto. Was really excited about the writing challenge and concept of speaking from a non-human point of view about our current environmental challenges, particularly from plants who do so much of the heavy lifting of keeping this planet alive, but the idea wasn’t properly executed (or, at least introduced clearly). That being said, Mancuso’s perspective of plants being a primary solution to climate change (cover cities with green!), approachable writing on anthropogenic data, and arguments for mutual aid/symbiosis was great. A quick read for anyone looking to think a little further on climate change and the interconnected organisms that call earth home. Enjoyed getting back into these ideas I sat with for so long during my thesis—would have been a helpful book for me during the time

+5

Highlights

Photo of taylor miles hopkins
taylor miles hopkins@bibette

Animals resolve all their problems through movement, usually by moving to where the problem no longer exists. Not plants. Not being able to avoid them as animals do, plants are forced to face their problems.

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