Vance Packard - The Wastemakers (1960)

Info

An exposé of "the systematic attempt of business to make us wasteful, debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals," The Waste Makers is Vance Packard's pioneering 1960 work on how the rapid growth of disposable consumer goods was degrading the environmental, financial, and spiritual character of American society.

The Waste Makers was the first book to probe the increasing commercialization of American life—the development of consumption for consumption's sake. Packard outlines the ways manufacturers and advertisers persuade consumers to buy things they don't need and didn't know they wanted, including the two-of-a-kind of everything syndrome—"two refrigerators in every home"—and appeals to purchase something because it is more expensive, or because it is painted in a new color. The book also brought attention to the concept of planned obsolescence, in which a "death date" is built into products so that they wear out quickly and need to be replaced. By manipulating the public into mindless consumerism, Packard believed that business was making us "more wasteful, imprudent, and carefree in our consuming habits," which was using up our natural resources at an alarming rate.

A prescient book that predicted the rise of American consumer culture, this all new edition of The Waste Makers features an introduction by best-selling author Bill McKibben.

Vance Packard (1914-1996) was an American journalist, social critic, and best-selling author. Among his other books were The Hidden Persuaders, about how advertisers use psychological methods to get people to buy the products they sell; The Status Seekers, which describes American social stratification and behavior; and The Naked Society, about the threats to privacy posed by new technologies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jonas Salk - The World we Will Live In (date unknown)

Introduction

Every sentient human being is aware of the dangers as well as of the opportunities that now confront man. He is also aware of the pressure of forces within himself and the pressure of forces around him. Caught between his inner world and the outer world, he feels dissonant more often than consonant. He feels stress, longing, and frustration. His soul feels weary, and he yearns to find, and to express, the meaning of his life. Some among the most “successful,’’ and many in the midst of “great riches,” appear to hope for something else. Science and technology are indicted by some as the cause of this malaise, and some even recommend antiscience and antitechnology remedies. However, in the absence of a true understanding of the current syndrome, it is unwise to ascribe the causative role to something that may not be the cause or to prescribe as a remedy the elimination of something that could even help in the development of remedies. Although science and technology are unlikely as a cause they are, nevertheless, a force with which man must cope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gerald Leach - The Biocrats (1970)