How to stay productive when the world is ending

Friday June 2, 2023

In the conclusion (“Congrats, you completed a book!”) the authors clarify that this is “a satirical book of essays about how the double-bind of our need to work in order to have safety, security, and predictability is making us powerless in an increasingly unsafe, insecure, and unpredictable world.” They thank the Nap Bishop, Tricia Hersey.

The cover is a pretty good indication of the contents, especially if you notice it's from Reductress, which is a sort of like a feminist Onion satirizing women's magazines.

An illustrative piece is titled “What is emotional labor?” and includes this example:

When you have to ask for your salad dressing “light, medium, or heavy” even though you know these are subjective terms, and no answer guarantees you will receive your desired amount of salad dressing

This kind of poking fun at privilege is easy to laugh along with. The whole book is in turns funny and depressing, as they spend time with more serious challenges as well. The satire sneaks in as a coffee table book, and leaves the reader to fix modern capitalism.