James Martin: The Change Agent by Andrew Crofts

James Martin:  The Change Agent

by Andrew Crofts

Non-fiction/Biography

Reviewed by Kathleen Jones

Very few people have made as much money predicting the future as James Martin.  First of all it was computers, then it was the future of the human race in the 21st century.  According to him, we are facing the biggest crisis in human history, but also our biggest opportunity.  We can turn the world into a utopia, or plunge into a terrifying ‘Dark Age’ taking the world’s fragile eco-system with us.

James Martin, who died very recently, was one of those who believed that the crises of population explosion, climate change and water shortage could be solved by technology.  But then, he was a computer buff who lived on an island in Bermuda with computer powered waterfalls, and a dazzling technology controlled house. He believed that eco-affluence was possible and that there is nothing morally wrong with it.  So long as we’re not screwing the planet to get rich, then it’s ok to have more of it than other people.  A few years ago he gave more than a hundred million pounds to fund a multi-disciplinary research institute at Oxford University into ways for the human race to survive the 21st century.

James Martin was currently predicting the ‘Singularity’ - a moment in history when computers will overtake the human mind in capability. We will be able to communicate with computers through thought alone and, as the computers will all be connected to each other in a gigantic international web, we will all be connected to each other, and the way we live our lives will be irrevocably changed.

The economic and climatic catastrophe that is looming on the horizon can be avoided by education of the masses, computer technology, clean energy, birth control and stem cell medicine.  What’s needed is education of the young in order to convince them that it’s all possible and that the future is in their hands.  Particularly women.  When you read James Martin’s work (latest The Meaning of the 21st Century), it all sounds very attractive.

He was an optimist, not a doom merchant - he held out hope.  But I was not convinced.  He may have been one of the greatest brains of the 20th century, but I think he was politically naive.  To implement his proposals there would have to be a political cataclysm so extreme it would confound history.  Human nature is conservative - we are not evolving as fast as our technologies and we are sadly lacking in that evolutionary skill ‘common sense’. Our old instincts have long since been bundled into a cupboard and the key turned in the door. The human animal is living on a fragile construction of falsehoods, and since technology has been our nemesis, I’m not sure we can be relied on to make it our salvation.

And how are we ever going to get the leaders of diverse political systems in Asia, America, Russia, Africa and Europe, to agree to put aside the politics of greed and power?  Looking back through history it seems that only a catastrophe would get them round a table to begin to talk. And once the catastrophe has happened, it might just be too late.


Andrew Crofts went out to Bermuda to stay with James Martin and interview him for this fascinating account of his life and beliefs.  It’s a very well-written book, but I would have liked a more rigorous questioning and discussion of the issues raised.

Kathleen Jones is a biographer and poet who blogs at 'A Writer's Life'

Review of The Yellow Banana by Jian Qiu Huang

This autobiography by Jian Qiu Huang shows Western culture (specifically Australian) through Malayan eyes.  It is funny, poignant, honest and illustrates very clearly and cleverly, but without artifice, how different the cultures are.

The young Yellow Banana takes his entire family’s hopes on his shoulders in the early 1970’s as he goes to study at University in Melbourne. Yellow Banana is a cultural term, literally meaning ‘culturally’ Yellow on the outside ,White on the inside  and provides a simple and clear demonstration of the cultural dichotomy which pervades the life of Jian Qui Huang and doubtless many more in similar positions.

Whereas for your average westerner going to Uni is a time of freedom and irresponsibility, not so for Yellow Banana. For every Australian dollar he spends his family has to earn four times their normal income. He is therefore very careful in his expenditure. And he has a very serious attitude. His goals are to finish a degree and get a good, well paid and respected job, in business.  He little guesses how hard this will be. Or what the implications and consequences will be.

He finds the Aussie accent almost impenetrable at first, certainly very different from English as it was taught at school in Malaysia. He learns quickly that you speak different English depending on whether you are with Malaysians or Australians and this sense of duality pervades throughout the story.  There are beautiful and funny descriptions of how Australian sounds to the untutored ear.  It’s a humorous but clever reminder to dominant cultures of the importance that we learn to ‘see ourselves as others see us’.

Yellow Banana learns mainly through embarrassment and there are plenty of these scenes to make you laugh (and squirm) vicariously on his behalf. All are told with a simple honesty which is refreshing and quite captivating at times. From buying condoms to kissing a westerner (described as ‘tasting like lamb’) to getting a job, buying food and furnishing a house we see the clash and conflict of the two cultures he has to juggle in his daily life.

Yellow Banana learns the Western way by living it and his dreams become Australian dreams. He wants to become an ‘ex pat’ and go and live in Malaysia as an Australian ex pat would do. This is both sad and thought provoking as one realises that having ‘westernised’ his hopes and expectations he will no longer fit into his own society. He goes back to Kuala Lumpa as a ‘stranger’ in his own country.

His Taoist father gives him two pieces of advice. Don’t marry a white girl and don’t marry a tiger (Chinese astrological sign). He of course falls foul of both of these pieces of advice and lives to rue the day.  I found the calmness of Taoist philosophy quite moving throughout the work.  For me personally it was quite interesting because I came to Taoism as a Westerner and Yellow Banana grew up influenced by Taoism and tries to integrate it with a western lifestyle. It was like looking at a similar spiritual journey from two different ends of a spectrum. His ability to deal with his situations and specifically to try and look at the other person’s point of  view without imparting blame is central to this core belief system and is a constant throughout the telling of his story.

This story covers thirty odd years of his life and the sacrifices that have to be made throughout his life are often heart rending.  As we move from his youthful experience to that of what should be a ‘successful’ middle age, we find that things do not get any easier.  He has to come to terms with the concept that ‘pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional’and it becomes clear that this story is told therapeutically as much as anything.  It is none the less a story because of that. He points out that ‘we are all going through the classroom of life and each subject is there for us to learn from and grow as souls.’  I found it particularly moving that as his life takes turns for the worse, his basic faith helps him through. Spirituality and music and a sense of the importance of family are the grounding, eternal elements in Yellow Banana’s journey and help him to make sense of his life.

Acceptance is a core tenet of Taoism and Yellow Banana discovers this through the Beatles ‘Let it Be’ whereas I discovered it from my interpretation of  the Taoist concept of ‘Wu Wei.’ This shows that the core ‘ideas’ are there in many guises and we come upon them as they relate to our own personal experience.

This is a moving, poignant, very funny and thoughtful work which shows you Western culture from another perspective and Eastern religion and philosophy in practice in a non preaching way. All in all, it’s one man’s life. His real experience, told with candour and honesty is both moving and poignant.  As an autobiography it is compelling, as a piece of cultural commentary it is equally significant.  It helps you to look at life from the perspective of another person and reminds us that however different we are, at the core, we are all very much the same.

Reviewed by Cally Phillips  

Available in Kindle format and on other platforms. 

Find out more about  Jian Qiu Huang 

Review of Bombs and Butterflies by Jo Carroll

NEW EBOOK RECENTLY PUBLISHED

I’ve travelled with Jo Carroll (virtually) a couple of times before, so I knew I was in for a treat when she decided to take a trip to Laos.  Not that I had much of a clue where Laos was. No matter. It was costing me nothing (or simply the price of an ebook) and I was about to be whisked off to Laos (near Vietnam) via Thailand.

Jo has been something of an independent traveller in the past, having undertaken an exciting (sometimes too exciting?) round the world ticket gap year as a retiree; followed by a trip to Nepal, where she nearly bit off more than she could chew (or did it nearly bite her?) These trips are covered in the excellent Over the Hills and Far Away and its all too short follow up Hidden Tiger, Raging Mountain (both available and highly recommended as ebooks). In Bombs and Butterflies, because her time was short, she took the executive decision to go along (to an extent) with a tour group.  Which somewhat changed the dynamics of her journey for her and gave her perhaps more restrictions than she is used to or feels completely comfortable with.

However, it didn’t change the interest for the reader. Because (at least for me) one of the most compelling things about Jo’s travel writing is that she doesn’t just wax lyrical or informative (though she’s good at both of these) about scenery and history of a place; her journey is at least as much about the people she meets as the places she goes. And I’m interested in people. All kinds of people. Be they Aussie ‘backpackers’ or Buddhist monks.  Bombs and Butterflies introduces you to your fair share of both.

One of the things that puts me off travelling is the very transiency of the experience and the sense that unless one spends a lot of time in a place (something I am unable to do) you don’t really get into the skin of a place, you don’t really get to ‘know’ anything, or make anything other than superficial connections.  But at one step removed, travelling vicariously with Jo, I find that I get to know more than I ever imagined (and probably more than I’d  do if I  travelled on my own.) I don’t think this is just because Jo is a more ‘intrepid’ traveller than I would be, I think it’s because she is as she styles herself now a ‘writer and traveller’ and she knows how to convert her experience into words that take the reader straight to the heart of the matter – be that place or person. Her observational skills are good and her eyes are 20:20!  She doesn’t try to give you anything other than her own experience but that’s part of what’s so captivating. Reading Jo’s work you feel you get to know her as well as the people she’s meeting and share in her experiences along the way (all from the safety of your own couch!) That’s no easy feat.

So I can highly recommend Bombs and Butterflies as yet another episode in the ‘adventures’ of Jo Carroll.  I can’t wait to know where she’s going to head off to next. I don’t go on holidays any more. I don’t need to: I travel with Jo Carroll every step of the way. Keep travelling Jo. Keep writing about it.  There are two places I’d like Jo to go next: Cuba (where I’ve been) and Bolivia (where I haven’t). She’ll need to get saving those pennies.

You can find out all about Jo's travelling ebooks here.

Review by Cally Phillips