Things are not going well for the President of the United States. He wants Americans to be adored by freedom-loving people everywhere. Instead, half the planet seems to be in permanent insurrection against US power. What's more, there's a growing environmental crisis that even he can't ignore. At a secret meeting in the Oval Office, the President is persuaded of one simple fact—there are too many people in the world. Only radical action, his advisers say, can deal with the problem. The solution they propose is frighteningly audacious and breathtakingly ruthless. Soon, the President has embarked upon a plan that will guarantee American supremacy for generations to come—or so he believes.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Dr. Strangelove for the Eco generation. -- Mail on Sunday
About the Author
Alistair Beaton is one of the country's leading satirical writers, and makes frequent appearances on Radio 4. His hit comedy Feelgood won the Evening Standard Award in 2001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than just an hilarious political satire,
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This review is from: A Planet for the President: The Political Satire to End All Political Satrires (Paperback)
This is one screamingly funny book. My wife complained, regularly, that she could not get to sleep because the bed wasshaking so much! A fictional American president - Fletcher J Fletcher - with a strong resemblance to someone you might know, is getting tired of being told "something must be done" about the environment. The book opens in the White House with a policy wonk called Boyd telling the meeting that if everyone had the same standard of living as the Vice President "We would need 15.2 planet Earths to support everyone". Told that not everyone could have the VP's lifestyle, Boyd then tells the meeting that if everyone on the planet were to have the lifestyle of the average American, the world would need 5.6 acres per person. Boyd then tries to alert all and sundry to the facts on sustainability, and makes the mistake of using them to point out that the world population has reached 6.2 billion, and that the President should " take measures to reduce the eco-footprint of the average American citizen." Not surprisingly, the President is unimprssed with this line of policy, and tries to close the meeting. However, the Defence Secretary dares to argue with Fletcher,and persuades everyone that they DO want to explore this policy a bit further, indeed he has a quick solution to the world's problems: "Getting rid of a lot of people very quickly." To cut a very long story short, events persuade President Fletcher to buy into this policy. To implement it they have to do three things: first off, they get a Brit scientist who knows how to re-create the Spanish flu virus (1918) which is to be delivered round the globe by the US Air Force. Second, they have to persuade the rest of the world that the visiting American jets are doing a world-wide pollution survey for the UN. Third, they need a vaccine so that no American gets the flu. Naturally, there are problems along the way. The Prime Minister of Canada gets a document headed "Elliminating Canada" which he claims must have come from President Fletcher because of the spelling mistake! At the end of a short phone call, Fletcher decides that Canada is not going to be an exception after all. Worse, Vince - whose job is to brief the President on questions such as: what's the capital of Nigeria? - has decided to become the whistleblower. And, having met Brit Prime Minister James Halstead, he decides to go to England and brief the PM on what's about to take place. The idea is that Halstead will use his influence with the President to stop the whole show. Bad move. Halstead thinks its all a good idea, as long as the Brits can have the vaccine as well. He should get so lucky! The plan goes ahead as scheduled, but there's a problem with the vaccine. ... ...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
hilarious,sad but true,
This review is from: A Planet for the President: The Political Satire to End All Political Satrires (Paperback)
i couldnt put this political satire down, so consequently my partner also suffered from the-bed-shook-too-much-from-uncontrollable-laughs, unfortunately it was my turn when it was his turn to read it.the way mr beaton threaded together different character's pov on the same event was brilliant, but when i looked deeper into what he had written it was frightening to realise those events derived from the truth. They were what i heard and watched everyday on the news, and what's worse is i still hear and see them on tv/internet on a hourly basis. the events were too true that it was sad to see what the consequences might be if the world continues in the way the book had suggested or actually how we live already . maybe all governments that were mentioned in the book should get a copy?!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Side-splittingly funny, and terrifying at the same time. In other words: great satire.,
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This review is from: A Planet for the President: The Political Satire to End All Political Satrires (Paperback)
Overview:A political satire concerning the fictional U.S. President, Fletcher J. Fletcher and his administration's decision to wipe out all non-Americans in the world in order to stave off an impending ecological disaster and preserve the American way of life. Points of Interest: First of all, let me say this book is hilarious. I mean laugh out loud, slap your knee, snot flying out of your nose funny. It is a scathing political satire mixed with a heavy dose of black humor. The idea is that the American President, Fletcher J. Fletcher is warned of a coming ecological disaster by a political advisor. He is told that if every human being on Earth lived a lifestyle similar to the average American, we would need over 15 Earths to provide for the current population. The President is also told that it is only a matter of time before the Earth's reserves are run through and chaos and famine ensues. He is warned that if he does nothing, he will be remembered as the President that ruined the world, which would not look good in history books. In order to circumvent the disaster President Fletcher is advised to find a way to lower the environmental strain American's place on the environment. President Fletcher dismisses the idea as preposterous. Telling Americans to consume less would kill his approval rating. His administration composed of imbeciles, incompetents, and self-serving opportunists propose the idea of killing off the rest of the world, allowing for more elbow room for Americans. The monstrous idea is rationalized as being the only viable solution to the coming crisis while maintaining the American way of life. It is also suggested that the President and his cabinet could use the incident to win a third term in office. The book then rolls out the details of how this genocide will be accomplished, and somehow makes the entire thing hilarious as good satire does. That is why satire is so effective. It makes terrible topics palatable by coating them in humor. This book does just that as it brings the reader to the books horrifying but outrageously funny conclusion. Fletcher J. Fletcher is a thinly veiled George W. Bush. His fictional cabinet represents neocon ideals in their aggressive policies, imperialism, need for fear to unify the country and its America first agenda, which in the case of the book is taken to an extreme. A few gems in this comparison are incidents such as President Fletcher taking time to "be with his God" when he actually drinks bourbon and then prays for a third term in office. Another occurs when the President asks his born again Christian Secretary of Defense if they should invade a small, possibly terrorist state and the Secretary responds, WWJD (what would Jesus do)? The President asks what Jesus would do and the Secretary replies, "Jesus would go in hard!" which is a criticism of the obvious hypocrisy of Bush's administration that appeals to the religious right, claiming to be inspired by and modeled after Jesus' life and yet initiates pre-emptive War and violence. The administration decides to infect the world with a modified super bird flu, which will wipe out 100% of the people infected with it and will spread to every person around the world who is not protected with an inoculation. This will be administered on the pretense of an eminent terrorist attack which in actuality does not exist. The inoculation contract, which is obviously huge and highly lucrative, is promised to whomever can get it done the fastest as the operation needs to be carried out before the elections if the President is going to have a chance at his third term. The corporations vying for the contract take short cuts to increase their profit, as they do, which are allowed by the Fletcher administrations loosening of regulations in the Pharmaceuticals industries. This results in disaster later in the book and is the author showing his reader the underbelly of capitalism and some of the possible repercussions of a bottom line culture. The only voice of reason in the insane asylum of the white house is the President's personal advisor. Unfortunately, he is powerless to stop the juggernaut once it gets moving. He is also a man of compromised values as he has sacrificed much of what he believes in in order to gain the President's ear. A vegetarian, he regularly eats hamburgers with the President so as not to look like a wimp which is only one of his many personal compromises. The only time he does come close to blowing the whistle on the entire operation is when he takes proof of the conspiracy to the Prime Minister of England who instead of publically condemning the United States, ask to receive the inoculation that all Americans are being given for his country as well. The author is Scottish and this would be a criticism of his country's implicitly with America's foreign policy actions, such as joining in on the War on Terror. The book is extremely well written and in my opinion deserves a read by every student in the country not so much because it mirrors many of my own beliefs but because it encourages people to turn a critical eye on those in power and to question motivations. It inspires healthy and constructive criticism. The novel is ruthless in its condemnations, world governments, military, corporations, media agencies, the lust for power; everyone gets egg on their face in this book. Every page has an insight worth exploring and is delivered humorously. The reason the book stays with the reader though, is because it is plausible. The actions of the book mirror many real world events and the fact that it feels like it could possibly happen lend a lot of weight behind the vicious left hook it throws at society. As many other critics have said, this is the Dr. Strangelove of our generation.
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