There is an old adage about the boiling frog, which claimed that if you dropped a frog into a pot of boiling water, it would immediately jump out. But if you placed it in cool water and gradually raised the temperature to a boil, the frog would slowly cook without realizing it. True or not, the adage does describe well how we have arrived at this critical juncture, and how crucial it is that we jump out of the water.

The ‘boiling frog’ is a metaphor for a society that has been lulled to sleep while perilous forces and corrupt leaders have endangered the world. We stand at an unprecedented crossroads in human history, where the choices and actions we take regarding climate change, income inequality, and technological innovations can either save or sink us as a species.

But widespread societal ignorance and complacency have resulted in few demands for leadership accountability and action. Expanding income inequality has created a plutocracy-the 0.1%, whose entrenched self-interests stubbornly protect the status quo, despite the impending disaster it portends. We ignore this at our peril.

We are in deep trouble. The time to act is NOW, and this book will tell readers WHY and HOW.