May 8

Blog #35 – Dangerous Age of Abundance

During the Socratic Seminars on Tuesday, we discussed a few pages of Henry Luce’s book, The Dangerous Age of Abundance. There were some issues that we were stuck on or could have dug deeper into, including:

1. His quotes like: “But we are rich – so now what?  Get richer – and then what?”

“Can we go on expanding and expanding to a GNP of a trillion dollars (beat that in 1960s, @ $14.5 trillion last year) and to a world population of 5-10 billion people (we’re at 7 billion)?  Can we go on getting bigger and bigger and still remain in any joyful sense human and free?”

“The charge now is that Free Enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases.”

“Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.”

“Science sets up an enormous threat to freedom because it has given us the power – and the obligation – to do things on a huge scale.  The conditions of the Atomic Age make possible – and require – vast organization.”

2. Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism – a. we make too much useless stuff; b. we’ve become slaves to the producer economy.

3. Luce’s recommendations for improving the American corporations (listed on the last page of the handout).

Pick one of the three topics and further expound on it (if you choose #1, do at least 3 quotes).

Due Friday before class, 5/11/12 (revised due date).  300 words minimum.  

 

  Wikipedia page on Henry Luce – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Luce

The Henry Luce Foundation – http://www.hluce.org/home.aspx

PBS article on Henry Luce  – http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/henry-luce/henry-r-luce-and-the-rise-of-the-american-news-media/650/

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Posted May 8, 2012 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

106 thoughts on “Blog #35 – Dangerous Age of Abundance

  1. Alexis Zerafa

    I totally agree with old lucy on this one. A HUGE culprit may be unending demand on our self-control, with all of the flashy commercials and enticing advertisements. People are surrounded by marketing, basically everywhere they go. And as Luce said, majority of it is pretty useless stuff. To be frank, the only things you really need are food, water shelter, and maybe clothes. But we see ourselves surrounded by things like laptops and sports cars and diamond necklaces, entities that we really don’t need (but are sure nice to have). And advertising for these products is everywhere; bus stations, buildings, billboards, television, radio, magazines, movies, people dressed up in hot dog suits, literally everywhere you look. And basically all for these promoting useless things. Have you ever seen a billboard that reads “modest food and clothes for sale at a decent price” I don’t think so. I also totally agree with his point that we have become slaves to this way of life. A prime example is apple products. Nearly every month apple is coming up with something new or advertising for the next big leap in technology. And that’s fine, except for the fact that all dedicated apple consumers MUST have the next new thing, immediately after it comes put. Its nuts!! So in that way we are slaves, shacked to our basic human desire to have the best of the best, to feel like were a part of something better. I cant blame people for feeling this way, I mean I feel like that all the time, I AM a teenage girl, its kind of what we do. Another good point is that when there are too many other new demands on your time–when you’re under stress, meeting deadlines at work, dealing with a difficult relationship-you’re going to be at risk for spending more. If you just got done with the most crappy day of your life, and your in the grocery store deciding between the Kroger brad soup or the fancy shmancy low fat one, chances are you’re just going to go for the better looking product, regardless of the price. So in conclusion, I think we all need to take a step back for a minute and listen to Gandhi

    “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”
    ― Mahatma Gandhi

    http://www.google.com/imgres?q=gandhi&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1060&bih=873&tbm=isch&tbnid=YuYh8B8uqjb3DM:&imgrefurl=http://www.nic-oliver.com/gandhi-greed-and-the-recession/gandhi/&docid=tkyv3YP_vPInnM&imgurl=http://www.nic-oliver.com/wp-content//Gandhi.gif&w=261&h=231&ei=IoexT5-4OYWS9gTUi7iMCQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=367&sig=116201722782047368706&page=2&tbnh=164&tbnw=178&start=24&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:24,i:237&tx=78&ty=77

    p.s im really proud of this one Mr. Wickersham

  2. Jesse Yaker

    2. I think Galbraith is very accurate when he talks about being slaves to the economy and we make too much useless stuff. Sure, that useless stuff may be very nice to have and help us with getting through the day, but it just isn’t necessary. With all the incredible technology being created at this time, everyone wanted to buy the new thing and this can be compared to today even. When something as groundbreaking, such as the iPad or Nintendo Wii, gets in the stores, everyone wants to buy it! But why do we want it? Do we need it? No we do not! The money being spent at this time could have gone to something actually helpful like helping the Europeans rebuild after World War II or helping fund the nuclear department so we can protect ourselves. But not only do we make all these inventions for our comfort, no we remake them and remake them and remake them forever! The first television set ever came out for purchase in 1929 and we still have new models today! First they make the remote control. then cable, then the flat screen, then the plasma screen, then HD all the way to even 3D TV’s now! This relates to America in the time during this event because it was a similar situation, a receding economy, at war, with thousands of incredible, mind-blowing inventions being thought of every month! Now, we can just say we won’t buy the products and help our country, but that will not work either. However they do it, the company’s have some amazing hypnosis technique to make us buy their products. This shows how we were, are, and will always be slaves to America’s economy. We may get less tied in at times and just get away from their grasp for a short time, but we can’t ignore all the products to be sold, it’s just never going to happen with the greed in America.

  3. Marie Portes

    I do agree with Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism. I think that it’s plain to see that our country is mainly centered around the economy. It seems that everything has to do with production, with consumerism. I think it’s hard to even imagine that we might make “too much useless stuff” because of how used we are to the amount of said stuff. But when you really think about it, there is no need for the amazing amount of stuff that is produced. We need bags but we don’t need hundreds of brands that make hundreds of different types of bags. It’s not even something we think about but, in a country so driven by the idea of being able to have whatever you want, things lose their value. I think the amount of useless stuff we produce really is a problem because we have become slaves to this producer economy. Maybe if we focused less money, time, and attention on selling, america could develop itself more in productive ways, by putting more importance on developing maybe the more abstract things. However it is also important to keep in mind that this producer economy has led to many improvements, not only when it comes to quality of life but also technical and scientific development.

  4. Katie Q

    Galbraith is very right about Americans being slaves to our own economy. We do make much more stuff than we actually need. So many things that our nation puts out on the global market, are just useless wants. Many may argue that these wants are needs, such as clothes and television sets. But spending tons of money on producing and buying brand-name clothes and seven TVs per household is just unnecessary. Americans have been brainwashed into thinking that every new technological advancement is now a necessity. In our mindset, every new iPhone has something more than the last one that we as humans absolutely need. Why do we want it so bad? Why do we think we need it? The money being spent on useless upgrades or advertising could be spent on investments to better our country or better the world. Maybe instead of coming out with a new Apple Product every month, we could build a new machine to advance us in the medical field. Maybe instead of purchasing $150 jeans that may only cost $20 to make, we could be more frugal with our spending and use what is left to help someone besides ourselves. This relates to America in the time during this event because it was a similar situation. This was where the appeal of consumerism began, and it will take some major reprogramming to change our mindset from spend, spend, spend, to anything else. We could make a promise to only buy goods to help our country, but that won’t work for two reasons. One is, companies and advertising industries can make any product look appealing in almost any way. Also, we as humans just would not have the willpower to stop the spending. At the rate we are going, it looks like we will always be slaves to our own economy. It’s like a snowball; once it started, it’s nearly impossible to stop and will just keep getting larger and larger. I don’t see an end to this obsessive consumerism anytime soon in America’s future.

  5. Jabrielle Johnson

    2. I believe that Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism were right on the money. During that time the country was in the age of abundance; we had a lot of money, a lot of products, and a lot of nothing to do. We had everything we could have ever wanted. There were no wars, jobs, and we were no longer in a depression. Sometimes having everything shows you that you really have nothing. The people needed to keep busy at something so they began to work. They wanted to make new things and people wanted to spend their money so it was a win win. This kept Americans busy, but really just busy doing nothing. We had become slaves to the producer economy. It became a never ending cycle, people worked, they got paid, they spent their money, the money that was spent on products went to workers who spent money on more objects and so on. Something new appeared and people wanted it, because they could afford it and it was available to them. Like today, when something new is created, everyone wants to upgrade and make it apart of their daily life. We as a people like new technology and to have things that help to make life easier, I believe that is why people were buying any and everything. The producers of the products made the greed for products increase even more. They made their objects more appealing and gave the people what they wanted, sort of like a fantasy. People aspired to be a certain status and the only way they could do that would be from purchasing the products. This increased peoples payments and people thought they needed what was being projected on their new TV Screens. Americans had money and everything, and they just wanted more.

  6. Grant Bail

    Luce had some very thought provoking quotes on the success of capitalism in the American economy. I agree with him on his statement “Our problems are not one of failure but of success”. Because our economy is so successful, we have lifted so many people out of poverty. This creates a huge strain on our economy, because the people lifted out of poverty become the middle class, and want the lifestyle of a middle class American, increasing demand for everything to food, electricity, even shoes. Another one of his quotes I would like to extrapolate upon is “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?”. I believe that he’s saying that no country can continue getting richer and richer, there is a breaking point where no matter how much richer your country gets, there will be a lack of purpose to the wealth, creating a kind of moral gap in the country. The last statement from Luce that I found quite thought provoking was that “The charge now is that Free Enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases.” We see this today in America and all across the world; The richer China gets the more corruption is found inside the country, Money from very wealthy private corporations has pervaded and twisted the American political system to such a degree that we might as well be electing Exxon or Wal-Mart to the House, and Russia is plagued by massive amounts of corruption, funded by the kleptocracy in Moscow and it’s famed oligarchs. While, yes, it is true that corruption is also quite common in less developed nations, it is not on such of a massive scale as in more mature nations. Its hard to combat this kind of corruption, as it increases as your economy grows. While there may not be any long term solution to these questions posed by Luce, there is no doubt that America has to figure them out soon, or it might be too late.

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