Talk:Lester R. Brown

Biography
There's a good long bio of him at the Earth Policy Institute, of which he is the president.

Lester R Brown and ZPG
You can't truthfully describe Lester R. Brown without adding "long associated with Zero Population Growth and what is now called 'sustainable development'." Your own cited biography describes him as deeply involved in “...thinking about problems of world population and resources.”  Yet my neighbor recently left a newspaper article on my porch that cited Jared Diamond and Lester R. Brown. He did this as a REFUTATION of my over-population concerns. Obviously some clarification is called for with regard to the general reading public. (Bbbbear 00:56, 11 September 2007 (UTC))


 * One year ago, I asked for a clarification of the above comment on the user talk page, but didn't get any reply. Apparently the account was only created to post this comment. I am puzzled about what the comment really means. AugustinMa (talk) 02:04, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Table of contents
The TOC is now formatted to remove white space and bring the text body up. The alternative look would have the body text begin below the TOC. Any comments pro or con would be appreciated. Wikiwatcher1 (talk) 19:41, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Neutrality of Article
Not to complain or anything, but this article definitely praises Brown overly for an informative encyclopedia. It also advertises his books. Not to say Brown is bad, but some other viewpoints should be included, and the article may have to be rewritten to make it less one-sided. 70.240.230.222 (talk) 23:47, 23 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep in mind that his most recent book that's mentioned is linked to a free online copy, as in the 1st paragraph for Plan B 3.0, "the entire book can be read online for free," so I'm not sure that would be considered traditional "advertising." As for earlier books, they are out of print. As for other viewpoints, feel free to add any sourced details you can since you feel they "should be included."  Just a few months ago, on December 1st, there were only a few short paragraphs for this article. There's no problem with your tagging blitz which all basically say the same thing although they're not real pretty. But if you can't support your redundant POV claims with some cited facts within a reasonable amount of time, they should be removed.  Editors aren't paid so you'll need to do your own work on this. --Wikiwatcher1 (talk) 00:48, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Agree with 70.240.230.222. The article praises Brown overly and advertises his books. This paragraph is a classic example:


 * His most current book is Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.[2] Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum describes it as "a great book which should wake up humankind," and CNN founder Ted Turner called it "a masterpiece!" Former President Bill Clinton wrote of Brown, "How to build a more just world and save the planet.... We should all heed Brown's advice." And Andrew Simms, in New Scientist magazine, calls him an "effective Cassandra," adding "his picture of climate-change-induced chaos is terrifying and convincing."

So I've added an Advertisement tag. Have also added a More sources needed tag further down. My suggestion is that long quotes (one sentence or more) should be moved to Wikiquote and any shorter quotes that remain here should be cited down to page number. Johnfos (talk) 22:29, 26 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Johnfos, you added a section called "Criticism," and unless I read it incorrectly, the entire criticism is based on his preference for capitalism as opposed to Marxism. If that's correct, can you prove that a failure to be a Marxist is worthy of "criticism?" Hopefully you have more neutral sources than the ones you gave. --Wikiwatcher1 (talk) 03:27, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

I've made quite a few changes to the article now, to improve NPOV. This has involved removal of peacock terms, removal of some material which would be better placed elsewhere, removal of some repetition, pruning of categories, and copyediting. The one sticking point seems to be the short Criticism section, which has now been removed by Wikiwatcher. This is it:


 * Lester Brown, along with many activists in the environmental movement, have been characterized as liberals. As such, Brown does not advocate fundamental change to the structure of capitalist production, but mainly wants more controls on it. This is a position which is critiqued by Marxists and some other leftists. Lester Brown has also been criticized by L.T. Evans for his "unrelenting pessimism" about the state of the environment.

-- Johnfos (talk) 23:26, 29 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I have carefully read the article and I find it completely biased. If it was only slightly more pro-Brown, it could be considered pure propaganda. --Sklodowski (talk) 07:46, 12 January 2010 (UTC)


 * this article concerning Lester R. Brown is pure yes-man ideologic propaganda for the communist party - shame on any 10-year old that reads more than 1/3 of it without noticing that there is NO CONSERVATIVE VIEWPOINT EXPRESSED as critical rebutal--70.162.171.210 (talk) 06:50, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

Third opinion
In general, a section entitled 'Criticism' should not be included in a biographical article (because one does not criticize the person but rather provides critiques of his or her views or actions). My suggestion is that the 'criticism', which is apparently based on his view of environmentalism, should be included in the section 'Environmentalist and author' which should, rather than jumping into individual subsections, should have its own lead explaining what kind of environmentalist Mr. Brown is and then conclude with a critique of his approach. --RegentsPark (My narrowboat) 14:10, 30 April 2009 (UTC)


 * there has been enough concern voiced over the neutrality of this article that it really should be flagged for neutral voice so that it can be improved. There's lots of good information here, but it would better meet the standard expected of other articles if it were more neutral and alternative views were included.  The pages for topics such as global warming, peak oil, population control and food shortages have been battle-tested over time. All sides will never be satisfied, but at least a variety of sources have been introduced.  This page could benefit from some thoughtful scrutiny.

Mtanne (talk) 06:22, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Criticism in "The Rational Optimisit"
Author Matt Ridley in his book "The Rational Optimist" heavily criticizes Brown's failed predictions: ''One of the hoariest causes for pessimism about the fate of humanity is the worry that food will run out. The prominent eco-pessimist Lester Brown predicted in 1974 that a turning point had been reached and farmers could 'no longer keep up with rising demand'. But they did. In 1981 he said that 'global food insecurity is increasing'. It was not. In 1984, he proclaimed that 'the slim margin between food production and population growth continues to narrow'. Wrong again. In 1989 'population growth is exceeding farmers' ability to keep up.' No. In 1994, 'Seldom has the world faced an unfolding emergency whose dimensions are as clear as the growing imbalance between food and people' and 'After forty years of record food production gains, output per person has reversed with unanticipated abruptness.' (A turning point had been reached.) A series of bumper harvests followed and the price of wheat fell to record lows, where it stayed for a decade. Then in 2007 the wheat price suddenly doubled because of a combination of Chinese prosperity, Australian drought, pressure from environmentalists to encourage the growing of biofuels and willingness of American pork-barrel politicians to oblige them by sluicing subsidies towards ethanol producers. Sure enough Lester Brown was once again the darling of the media, his pessimism as impregnable as it was thirty-three years before: 'cheap food may now be history,' he said. A turning point had been reached. Once again, a record harvest followed and the wheat price halved.'' I believe this could serve as a basis for a 'Criticism' section and help balance the neutrality of this article. --OmerMor (talk) 19:08, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Hype Terrorist
While not a forum, the baseless opinions of Brown in many areas are ignored and not covered in the article- e.g. global warming screetches should give way to this latest 2010-2011 winter of one of coldest on record leaving record level snow packs across many areas-the opposite of global warming theories. And the special main point being, with such theories been then not truly proven and ill grounded; then to endlessly, AS Brown does, mega over hype them as proven science, would leave anyone concluding that he is a form of global terrorist, selling books on ill grounded, ill founded hype, which he does seem a master at, esp via obtaining as this article endlss more hyping. And balancing all that hype agasint the fact that the planet earth has ALWAYS healed itself from whatever threat of whatever kind, is another overarching trtuh being ignored by young Brown, Mother Geia XXX 69.121.221.97 (talk) 02:16, 2 April 2011 (UTC) 69.121.221.97 (talk)

== Re-add Brown is featured on PBS's Journey to Planet Earth TV series episode Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization based on the book. per ==

Re-add Brown is featured on PBS's Journey to Planet Earth (tv series) episode Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization based on the book.   99.119.128.35 (talk) 22:35, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
 * As the IP has attempted to add, to articles about every single person who appears in the series, a link to the series or episode, we need a trusted source for the notability of the relationship, not just the fact of the relationship. — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 10:06, 31 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Are you, by chance, meaning Planet Earth: The Future and Planet Earth (TV series)? 99.190.84.131 (talk) 05:50, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes. Is this a different TV series, that you're spamming? — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 07:19, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I saw the show online. Very few people have ever had an hour and a half PBS documentary based on their work. Mention of the show obviously belongs somewhere in the article.--Wikiwatcher1 (talk) 07:30, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
 * That statement, if sourced, would be appropriate. "Featured" is not.  — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 07:44, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
 * What is wrong with "featured", and please be specific. 97.87.29.188 (talk) 22:30, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
 * It qualifies as a WP:WEASEL word. However, if a reliable source says that the program features Brown's work, that could be added.  IMDb and PBS, in this context, are not reliable, as the statement qualifies as "unduly self-serving"  — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 23:18, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Where is featured on Manual of Style (words to watch) or please direct me to the correct link? 97.87.29.188 (talk) 23:55, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Neither WP:PEACOCK nor WP:EDITORIAL is complete, and "featured", depending on context, can fit in one of both of them. In this context, it's more clearly WP:PEACOCK than WP:EDITORIAL.  — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 01:20, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Since they are not complete, as you say Mr. Rubin, what word would you suggest to replace featured? 97.87.29.188 (talk) 22:16, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I'd suggest not mentioning it at all unless there is a reliable, third-party (not Brown or PBS) source making the connection. — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 02:44, 6 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Suggested text (with fixed cite): "A PBS documentary was broadcast on March 30,2011, based on his book, Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Mother Earth News writes that the documentary focuses on how reducing greenhouse gases would create jobs and reduce terrorism. Mother Earth News, Oct. 29, 2010"


 * Is Mother Earth News reliable? It doesn't appear so, but there may be some evidence available that it could be.  — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 06:09, 6 April 2011 (UTC)
 * What does appear and may be some evidence available that it could be...  represent, Mr. Rubin? 20:09, 20 April 2011 (UTC)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.255.78.138 (talk)
 * Can you provide any evidence that Mother Earth News is reliable? — Arthur Rubin  (talk) 05:28, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

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Links to similar people
See Also Hope you appreciate the kick-off assist,SvenAERTS (talk) 04:26, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Lester_R._Brown
 * Jeremy_Rifkin

dead link
footnote 20 is a dead link. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.118.64.248 (talk) 23:02, 18 March 2018 (UTC)