THE PETER PLAN: A Proposal for Survival

by Laurence J. Peter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 1975

The third installment in the trilogy that began so auspiciously with the Peter Principle (1969) and deteriorated rapidly with The Peter Prescription (1972). Peter has taken the quantum leap from the individual to society, from satire to pontification, from the clever to the banal. The Peter Plan (which breaks down into The Peter Proliferation, The Peter Planet, The Peter Program and The Peter Person) is nothing less than a study of planetary incompetence. The escalation of technology--which we confuse with progress--has brought us to the edge of disaster. Sound familiar? Peter denounces everything from pesticides to public schools before producing his master plan to save the world through systems analysis, social engineering, common sense and ecology. By 1990 Peter envisions Excelsior City--a pollution-free, beautiful and bustling metropolis. Solar energy will provide all the fuel we need without depleting natural resources; ""people pods"" will transport citizens ""along the sides of buildings"" while ""automated guideways"" will direct automobiles which run on liquid hydrogen to their destinations. The curriculum of the schools will be ""relevant,"" neither too rigid nor too permissive, and children will dispose of their apple cores by feeding them into the mouths of smiling ""garbage-eating critters."" As futurology it's quite derivative, combining the preachments of Planned Parenthood, Bucky Fuller, Barry Commoner and Ralph Nader--all of them Peterized. Can it be that Peter has become Pollyanna?

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION