who only by moving can balance

[content notes: misogyny, abuse, violence]

Here is my one-sentence summary: Gavin de Becker makes a fundamentally reasonable point in the shittiest and most self-aggrandising way he can without having it be immediately obvious to everyone.

Also, he's a misogynist who doesn't understand geology.


Sadly, none of this was mentioned - that I recall - by any of the people I've seen recommending this book in activist and anti-abuse circles.

( In slightly more detail... )

---

Of course, these excerpts are only a few paragraphs from a 353 page book - but they're typical of a common theme and a common attitude towards his reader. He blithely insists people have choices and should leave abusive relationships sooner rather than later; it is a long time after that that he first acknowledges that many people (sorry, Gavin: women) are killed because they leave. Even then, he does a pretty shoddy job of explaining how that plays into the bigger picture of abusive dynamics, and why people shouldn't (as he promotes) be afraid to leave.

In closing: dude's a pillock and rather less of a polymath than he likes to think; spend your time reading something less infuriating.

Disclaimer: this isn't actually my field; I'm specialising in - essentially - how water (and carbon dioxide and other volatile components) affect melting processes, and magma & eruptive processes. Having said which, I shall continue.

( Earthquakes, loss of life. )