Last week, the latest book from Jon Stewart and the writing team of The Daily Show hit the stands (or, for many of us, hit the “download” list). The book is an instant classic called Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race. It’s contextualized as the “everything you would need to know” book for aliens who discover the planet long after the human race is extinct. It’s also a must-read for anybody who either calls themselves or wants to call themselves a postconsumer, because it takes a refreshing but also truthful look at the habits of consumerism and the way our lives are dictated by the media.
We’re going to warn you, however, before you consider purchasing this book, that if you believe in creationism and you don’t have a sense of humor about the topics of creationism and evolution, then you might not enjoy the read! However, Stewart’s book covers everything from the creation of the planet to its eventual demise. A demise that’s attributed to a killer bee/great white shark hybrid that “sounded like a good idea at the time.”
But what Stewart focuses on the most is the decline of civilization, which he attributes to no small degree to consumerism and consumer messages in the media. This is one of our favorite segments from the book: “We went from being exposed to one or two ads a day (1900) to 5000 a day (2010). It wasn’t easy for the human brain to process this quantity of information, but we found a space for it in the cranial regions formerly occupied by our capacity for introspection, wonder and joy.”
So what did we just learn? Jon Stewart and the writing team of The Daily Show must be postconsumers! After all, that quote essentially sums up so much of what the postconsumer movement is about!
Have you read the book and want to tell us what you think? Friend us on Facebook and share!
