{"product_id":"book-gm20","title":"Ancient Futures","description":"\u003cp\u003eLet yourself be swept away to Ladakh, a region nestled high in the Himalayan plateau. It is a place like no other. The brightest sky makes snow-covered mountain peaks sparkle for miles. Below, scree tumbles down the mountain sides, infinite shades of ocher, into winding glacier-fed streams. The streams support a surrounding tapestry of vibrant green fields interspersed with stone houses, while on a nearby outcropping, a whitewashed monastery sits, overseeing the village, linking together land, people, mountains, and sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAncient Futures\u003c\/em\u003e is a lyrical and moving portrait of tradition and change in Ladakh, or \"Little Tibet\", as it was once known. The book is also an engaging critique of the global economy and a call for economic localization. When author, Helena Norberg-Hodge, first arrived in Ladakh in the 1970s, she found a pristine environment and a people who exhibited remarkable vitality and joy. Not long after, came economic growth and development and Norberg-Hodge watched how a whole range of problems-from polluted air and water to unemployment, religious conflict, eating disorders and youth suicide-began to appear for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet this is far from a story of despair. Social and environmental breakdown, Norberg-Hodge argues, is neither inevitable nor evolutionary, but the product of political and economic decisions-and those decisions can be changed. In a new Afterword for this audiobook, she contextualizes the current big-picture crises we face and the solutions each of us can be a part of. Norberg-Hodge also introduces us to a multitude of grassroots initiatives-a manifestation of a rapidly growing localization movement. She shows it is possible to reweave the local, the human-scale, and the place-based back into our lives, without terrible sacrifice, but rather to the benefit of all humans and nature. The story of Ladakh continues to serve as a source of inspiration to anyone interested in creating a better future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"INAudio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49418389913904,"sku":"BDgm20","price":10.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/gm20-Square-cover.jpg?v=1773492102","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-gm20","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}