John Shuttleworth, Founder of Mother Earth News, Interview Part II

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PLOWBOY: This is dynamite! Why haven't I heard of The Great Frontier or Webb before?

SHUTTLEWORTH: I don't know. It was only by the merest chance that I stumbled across the book in that secondhand store. I'm guessing that Webb's ideas went so much against the grain of accepted thought at the time he formulated them ... that most of the movers and shakers of our society just ignored him. Now that his predictions are all coming true, however, I see that the University of Texas Press has decided to keep The Great Frontier in perpetual print.

I've got to give you one word of warning about that University of Texas Press edition, however. It contains an introduction by Arnold J. Toynbee that is an almost total piece of crap. Toynbee takes it upon himself to speculate that if Webb were to write another book, he'd tell us all that technology — "conventional" technology at that! — is going to save the world after all. I find nothing in The Great Frontier and nothing that has happened since Webb wrote it to lead me to believe anything of the sort. Toynbee should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and, although I don't like the idea of defacing books, I heartily advise you to rip his introduction out of The Great Frontier if you're unlucky enough to buy the edition printed by the University of Texas Press.

PLOWBOY: John, I'm beginning to believe you when you say you can name people who predict the future with accuracy. But Walter Prescott Webb has been dead since 1963. Is there anyone writing today who, in your opinion, does as good a job as Webb in forecasting what lies ahead?

SHUTTLEWORTH: Dave Brower, the founder of Friends of the Earth, is awfully good. So is William Ophuls. Howard T. Odum has a genius for developing penetrating insights into the coming years, based mainly on the planet's supply and man's use of energy. Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau seems to be making an increasing number of forecasts that I think are worth listening to. Then there's William and Paul Paddock who, back in 1967, wrote a book titled Famine 1975!... how's that for hitting the nail squarely on the head? Let's see ... Dennis Meadows ... The Club of Rome, especially before it began to back down ... dang it, there are lots of people around today who in my opinion have a pretty good handle on the future.

Probably the best of all, though, for downright readability and an up to the minute comprehensive world overview coupled with rational suggestions for personal action is Stanford biologist Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne H. Ehrlich. They're also the least expensive. Their latest book, The End of Affluence, is available as a Ballantine paperback for only $1.95. It's so damn good I can't believe it.

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