The Human Race

As Miss Piggy so sagely observed: "Less is not more. More is more." It's a notion not at all foreign to the newly developing market economies in India, China, and the so-called Third World countries. Through television and other advertising means (such as an ornately decorated elephant parading through villages in India as part of a campaign to sell soap), former ‘villagers' are ready, willing, and eager to make the transition to becoming full-fledged consumers. The potential consequences, as host/writer Gwynne Dyer points out in the opening episode The Bomb Under the World, may be devastating. While the industrialized countries are able to dump both goods and waste on developing nations, the fact remains that the Earth is a closed system: what happens in one part of the world often affects other areas (as Chernobyl chillingly illustrated). Exploring the question of how India will survive the shift to the global (consumer) village, one woman comments that the embrace of Western consumerism will devastate India both culturally and economically, and indeed traditional ideas are losing their grip (including the notion of caste, which is not such a bad thing to lose). As for the death of Mother Earth scenarios, Dyer says--with his accustomed acerbic wit--that we give ourselves too much credit by thinking we will destroy the Earth; the more likely outcome is that we shall destroy ourselves, and become one more footnote on the evolutionary timetable. An outstanding effort, sure to inspire both serious thinking and fruitful debate. The other titles in the series are: The Tribal Mind, The Gods of Our Fathers, and Escaping From History. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)