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/
2. Expanding on Luce’s point that we have become slaves of our own production and that we produce too many useless things, I think it’s completely true. I see why we want to compete with other nations and produce lots of things, but we have to think of the effects. People’s lives aren’t getting that much better and we’re wasting a lot of money making and selling these useless things. We could be using our smarts and creativity to produce things that would actually help our nation in a way other than higher rankings in productivity. If we were to bring in the “manager vs. worker” debate, this is almost entirely the managers’ fault. We have outsourced many jobs so that we can produce for cheap labor, but that only benefits the company. We have gotten so deep into wanting to be the best that we’re no longer thinking about quality and the wellness of our workers. We have become slaves of our own productivity in the sense that we would do whatever just to have something to show the world. I wasn’t sure if Luce was disagreeing with Galbraith’s point that we are making too many useless things, but it we wasn’t, then he goes against everything he’d be trying to prove in the rest of Age of Abundance. He said that we need to make smaller the gap between managers and workers and that we need to work harder on making sure everyone has freedom and satisfaction. But if we continue to be greedy, the gap will only get bigger and sooner or later, we won’t have much freedom to yearn for. Looking at a quote from number one: “Our problems are problems not of failure, but of success”, I still question why we think that we have been successful..because we’re not as free as we say we want to be. We’ve only been successful in numbers.
2. Luces criticism of Galbraiths critiques of American capitalism. A. we make too much useless stuff; b. we’ve become slaves to the producer economy.
At that time period, I agree with Galbraith’s assessment of American business, we were just making things to show that we can make things, not because they are useful. Yes, many things that Americans make are very useful and help make life much better, but there are also many things that seem pointless, and just a thing to try to make money, like many infomercials that me have today. We have become slaves to the producer economy, just making random things, not really thinking about how they can improve our life style, but just to show people that America was on top, and that we were the best when it came to business. This is where I think Luce’s bye comes into play with his criticism. In this whole speech he was bragging about how great America is, and oh how amazing it is, he basically thinks America the best, no debate, is no questions asked. When he saw that some American had attacked American business, which he thought was going so well, must have made him mad, because he just thought we were so great. This is why I think he criticized Galbraith, not because of what he said, but that he attacked American business, and wasn’t saying that it was amazing, or perfect like Luce thought it was. But today in the modern day world, I think America has just gotten into improving everything we produce. After we make one model of something, we fix all the problems and make a new model, then fix the problem of the new model and make another model (Apple IPod/I phone is a prime example). We just produce new things because we think that fixing the glitches of the old product will fix everything, which is true, or false, depending how you look at it. Is making so many generations of iPods necessary? No I don’t think so, but it shows that we are always trying to improve, all those aren’t useless, just shows that apple is going to keep trying till the perfect iPod comes out.
Luce makes several interesting points in his book The Dangerous Age of Abundance. One point that I thought was intriguing was when he said, “Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.” This is thought-provoking because people usually associate our nations problems with poor people, when in fact it’s the rich people who create the problems for us. There are too many wealthy politicians with too much power and wealth that are corrupt and ruining our society. Another point he made was when he said “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” I think when he posed this he was hinting that if we keep up our spending habits we’ll get into another recession. This time period was a time of extravagant spending since we had just gotten out of a terrible war and finally could spend all of our savings from the war. One last point that I would like to elaborate on was when Luce said, “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.” People didn’t realize it at the time, but this atomic age that we were getting into was harming us just as much as it was helping us. We were now protected by this bomb but we were also a threat to other Countries as well. Not only did such a weapon start the cold war but we were now in constant danger. I think this is the point that Luce was trying to get at, that advancing in science is doing us more damage than it is protecting us. Over all Luce made some very bold statements throughout this book, many quotes that really made you think what America is turning in to.
Blog 35
1. “our problems are not of failure but success” it is true, our country was amazingly and astoundingly successful around the half century mark of the 20th century. Most people who were touched by that prosperity were white, and young, so it was massive success but not for all. That by definition is a problem of success not failure, for there was so much wealth that no person should have went for want if they made the right choices. We were the best at everything; almost, but why let that bother you when you are winning the war does it truly matter which battles are won or lost? Well as we are finding out today; while we were winning the military and economic battle we weren’t setting up a program to keep that going. There was no longer a culture of savings, education of the youth took a backseat (in the 70s 80s 90s 00s 10s). While we were ahead we should have used our soft power to devastating effect. If our use of soft power matched our use of military power, we wouldn’t be in the pickle we are dealing with now (Middle East conflict). For example while we had our CIA agents in Lebanon spending billions of dollars on resistance and surveillance of Hezbollah, Hezbollah spent about 24 million built a few schools and farms. Can you guess whether or not the government is democratic, or run by an officially recognized terrorist group? We had (have) the responsibility to use our wealth to keep these people neutral or in favor of the United States before we have to use bullets tanks and missiles.
In my opinion the only problem involved with capitalism is that it enables and glorifies greed and material consumption, or at least this modern American capitalism. “But we are rich, now what? Get richer – and then what?” Capitalism is great, it allows any with ambition and skill the chance to become successful to an unprecedented degree. While you as an individual are so unlikely to become a billionaire it is silly to hope for such a thing, but in our country it is not unreasonable to aspire (and have a good chance of achieving) to be a multi millionaire. It is possible and even probable if you are focused, devoted, and have a massive inner drive. A friend of my father came to this country about 30 years ago; he came on a boat from Spain with $500.00 in his pocket, now he owns a real estate empire worth dozens of millions of dollars. If you have a skill you are responsible to yourself to make yourself wealthy. But once you have achieved that success what comes next? Is there any happiness involved with that much money? Well after a certain point you can have more money than makes you happy. While it is said that money doesn’t buy happiness it can, it has been proven that trips and experiences make you happier. Those sorts of trips would of course require money. But material objects don’t give you happiness or comfort past a certain degree. I think once you have achieved substantial wealth spend time with friends new and old, as well as family. Take trips and see the world. Never be fearful to try new things. Experience foods and goods of different cultures. So don’t only buy things you must do things as well.
“The charge now is that Free Enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases” This quote is out of context clearly. Or the person that first said it was sadly misinformed. There are only two types of wealth, monetary and human, both of which capitalism generates and inspires. The end products of capitalism of older capitalism include wealth, as well as material products. Material products are not everything, we must remember that, they are only a part of what our wealth comes from. Most people seem to draw much of their identities from material objects and this is disappointing in my view, that is the true charge that this person should be saying (I speak of the accuser of capitalism, not the defender (luce) quoting this person)
2. About halfway through the article, Luce brings up The Affluent Society by Kenneth Galbraith and he starts criticizing his main points which are that a. we make too much useless stuff and b. we’ve become slaves to the producer economy. Luce says that Galbraith is wrong but he never really explains how he is wrong. Luce than says that “to propose radical changes in the American way of life and to ignore the problem of freedom is the most horrific example of intellectual irresponsibility I have encountered in many a year”. Luce is basically saying that Galbraith states that there are a bunch of problems with society and he offers some solutions but he never addresses the basic problem of human freedom and so his book lacks a huge issue that constantly contributes to society. Obviously Luce has a big problem with Galbraith but in my opinion, Luce’s dislike is kind of hypocritical. Luce talks about some problems that our society has and some solutions but many of the ideas and issues that Luce proposes are very obvious. In my opinion, I completely agree with Galbraith’s main two points and I don’t understand Luce’s problem with it. I must argue that we don’t exactly make too much useless stuff but we definitely take in too much of it. We don’t produce much anymore and the majority of our imports are just a bunch of crap. Back in the 50’s when this was written, we were definitely the biggest producer in the world after WW2 and we were producing lots or useless stuff just because we could and that is where Galbraith is coming from. Also, we were definitely the slaves to the producer economy because we realized we could make almost anything and so we did. Luce makes fun of Galbraith and that Galbraith’s attack that we as a country have an addiction to producing useless goods is an unheard of attack. Luce doesn’t think Galbraith visits the issue of human freedom but I think Galbraith still bring sup two very true and problematic points. Also, Luce doesn’t exactly explain all of his accusations he merely states them and then moves on. I think both authors have a lack of coverage of the topics and evidence but both still bring up very true points about our economy.
a. Luce criticizes Galbraith on that America is wasting time and resources making items that are not needed by the public. During this time period, it was a lot easier for people to find items that might be handy on their television. The television could have even been considered dangerous to some people if they did not know how to control themselves on what to buy. According to Campus Talk Magazine, some of the most useless items that were produced during the 1950s where the Venetian Blind Sunglasses, a Cigarette Pack Holder, and a Rainy Day Cigarette Holder (Frank). The Venetian Sunglasses were made so your vision wasn’t darkened by regular sunglasses and it would allow a user to see more freely. The cigarette pack holder was made so a smoker could smoke up to 20 cigarettes at once. A smoker was now able to smoke as much as they wanted to and very quickly, but more people probably started to suffer from different types of cancer and started to burn a hole in their pocket with all of the money they spent on cigarette packs. The Rainy Day Cigarette Holder is exactly what the title says. This was created so a person could smoke outside on a rainy day and the cigarette wouldn’t lose its flame due to the rain. America was suffering from some useless inventions being made, but there wasn’t a perfect way to control it and it continued on until it was made clear of what needed to be made and was going to benefit the human society. It is obvious why Luce could’ve criticized Galbraith about this topic and what Luce said about it was completely fair of him.
b. Luce criticized Galbraith that America has become the slaves to the producer economy and this means that People are worker very hard and doing so much to create products. America was now having people work late nights and this was proof that America really was becoming a slave because, the people how worked late or came in early probably weren’t paid with more money or anything really. Luce had a good reason to criticize Galbraith and he took his chance; Luce was able to outwit Galbraith that America’s people where actually turning into slaves and working for companies that hardly paid them for all of the work that they might be doing. In Professor Galbraith’s book, he forgot to discuss one of the most important topics at the time; American Freedom. The idea to change life and to ignore the problem was out of the question and Luce all in all just wanted to point out to Luce that he had one faulty error in his book. Luce criticized Galbraith in a way, but in a way he also was able to help Galbraith and write out that he had missed an important topic. Luce also thought that Calvin Coolidge’s quote of “The business of America is business.” was partially incorrect because, Luce thought that the best way to think of it was “The business of America is freedom.”.
Henry R. Luce, publisher, made some very interesting and bold statements on how America should have changed back in the 1950s. He first mentions how management should be as efficient as possible; anyone who did a bad job should be fired. In fact, he thinks that the United States’ economy is the key to the future of the world by saying, “The American Business Corporation, just about the most efficient institution that was ever devised for human welfare, must become even more efficient to meet the challenge of the future” (Luce 318). Let it be noted that not a single foreign country is named. Furthermore, he said that management had been slacking off, which may have been a cause of a recession that had hit post-war America. Finally, the management must be “fixed”, but he doesn’t give a detail on how to do that.
Secondly, Luce suggests that the “Corporation” increase the pay of those in management, especially those that are just below the top management positions. Luce believes that there is too much equality in the wages people earn on an annual basis, which would then create a system where only the top are paid an absolutely absurd amount of money and the lowest are paid practically slave wages; in other words, going back to the time before TR. That’s taking what he says to an extreme; what Luce more probably wants is an incentive for people to work harder for more money, which would make the country very efficient only if the plan worked out properly. He goes on to recommend that someone should hand out incentives from 1% of the GNP to someone in every single profession with the most skill. What is both good and bad about that is that people will be more competitive to get that bonus, which has the potential of increasing productivity across the board, but that also has the very likely possibility of people murdering to be the best like no one ever was.
What Luce next addresses is the question of is America producing too much junk. He proceeds to say that yes, Americans are producing poor quality goods and even worse services. At the time, people were manufacturing bad goods, and according to Luce, everyone was seeing that, especially the media that focused on how the economy was doing. He says, “…the trade press of Business itself is loaded with alarming accounts of the prevalence of shoddiness in consumer goods, and…service” (318). As one way to do the aforementioned task, Luce says that the businessman should try in every way he can to better the quality of his goods. Again, Luce neglects to add an ideal method, but he does suggest the number one object that people want: a house. People should be offered a better quality house at a better price, Luce says, and also wishes that everyone understood the value of a house. As a last remark on shoddiness, Luce says that sellers need a special sort of creative statesmanship about them in order to sell good.
The last subject that Luce addresses is that of the goods and services provided by the government. He believes and quite clearly says that the large businesses should take over some of these tasks. Nuclear power, the use of seawater, and the building of roads should be in the hands of the private sector. The immense downside is the fact that doing that takes power out of the government’s hands to regulate any of these, for if control of any one of those services is put into the hands of a big business, they can make the monopoly out of it, become stronger and richer, and finally take over the other services. In theory, that could lead to a giant company owning everything if it weren’t for TR’s regulations and changes in government policy towards trusts.
Galbraith, making rather valid points in his famous novel The Affluent Society, noted that their were two primary issues with the American society. The first point made by Galbraith, states that American production consists of too many things that are either useless, or bad for people. His second point says that we have made ourselves into slaves of production, simply for the sake of production. Galbraith goes on to inform his readers that we produce not because we need it, but because we need it to keep the economic machine turning. He blames society’s malfunctions on the private sector, and even says that in his opinion it is necessary for the Government to take over production in order to make it more “healthy”, doing so by limiting “bad” production, and increasing “good” production. Luce, discrediting Galbraith’s argument, preaches to his listeners the evil in Galbraith’s statement. Luce himself says that he will attempt to demolish Galbraith as an economist. The route that Luce takes when attacking Galbraith’s argument, is actually a well-planned and well-executed one. A lot of his arguments foundation comes from the idea that in the past it was impossible to raise living standards through economic growth, but as technology gets better, so does its ability to help people’s lives. He then goes on to relate past economic failures with people in Europe turning to Communism, Socialism and Fascism, and he says that by restricting business, Europe essentially became a place of economic ruin, where people relied on the political powers to save them. He later adds that it is preposterous to claim that free enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth, while also corrupting the debases of people. His counter to this is that Galbraith never addresses the effect that mass economic change could have on the Freedom of American. This, Luce really exploits and goes on to say that business of America is freedom. All in all, Galbraith does a tremendous job in pointing out the flaws of Galbraith’s novel, especially ones concerning freedom.
2. Galbraith’s first point , which is the problem of American’s overproducing things we don’t necessarily need, is very true. We can look at it in many ways. First, we can look at the massive amount of food Americans produce compared to other countries, and then we can look at the problem of Obesity in America. Why is this is a problem solely in America? Because we over produce. Does this not prove that we are slaves of production? I think that Galbraith was correct when he says that people produce more and more things just to keep the economic process of the status quo continuing, not because it does the people any good. Luce insults Galbraith’s opinion of the state/government being able to fix the problems of our society’s dependence on private corporations, but I agree with Galbraith. Government should take over mass production so we can focus on “goods” like education. Post-World War II, America was very rich in the private sector, but not so much in the public sector. This is why it was easier for Luce to have more faith in the private sector, because it was what was good at the time. I feel like this is where “The 1%” comes in because Galbraith talks a lot about income disparities in The Affluent Society. I think Luce largely overlooks the economic inequality in the private vs. public sectors. Not only did the public sector have less money, but lacked somewhat of a social infrastructure. At this time, production was based on luxury and wants, not needs. I think the very fact that our production service at this time was based upon that proves that we produce more than we need. If we did turn production over to the government, things could have a simple infrastructure as well as less of a gap between different “classes.” New demands in society are created by advertises, which was easily seen coming out of WWII. Galbraith makes a great point when saying GDP isn’t the way to measure the US’s well being. I think other, more important things, like education can determine the well being of the country.
1. “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?”
It’s like he does not even understand the point of being rich! The idea is to get enough money that money is never a problem. Both for people, and for countries. Everyone strives to become very wealthy so that they can help the less fortunate and do extravagant things. For people, it’s to donate to charities and/or retire and then go on vacations and do expensive things that are not necessary. For countries, it is to do things like us helping developing countries and/or democracies in areas such as the Middle East and Central America, or making very big expensive things that we do not need. And for the record, this is not sarcastic in any way, this is completely genuine (and so was that sentence, it is so hard to convey tone through written (typed) word alone).
“The charge now is that Free Enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases.”
This is completely true, it spreads wealth in the wrong way and it does bad things in the process. It makes people greedy, as means always has a tendency to do so, and it helps those who have less to remain so. It keeps the poor poor and the middle-class right in the middle because the rich spread the wealth around mostly to each other, and they spread around less. Most of the spread-out money is the money of those who could use some of the wealthy’s money. Also, it helps people forget where they came from. The “big people” tend to forget “the little people” who helped them get where they are, but, as is human nature.
“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?”
Yes, we can with such a large population. Heck, we are much bigger than just 1 trillion now, and the world only hit 7 billion relatively recently. But no, we cannot remain joyfully free when we become so big. But for that matter, can we joyfully free when we are small either? No, we cannot. We have to rely on big countries like France or Germany or The United Kingdom to help get us big, and then when we become big, we have to help people because it is an obligation to not let other people fail. If we let other’s fail, there would be no little people to help the big people with the little things. As said in “The Incredibles,” “when everyone’s super, no one will be.”
2. The Disney/Pixar animated film, WALL-E begins with a montage of pictures of Earth in hundreds of years while the classic song, “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” (from Hello, Dolly) spills that silence of anticipating movie-watching. This Earth, however, looks almost nothing like our land does today. No more lush grasslands where the gazelles frolic and drink from a sparkling oasis–buying “Big N’ Large” has turned our lush orb into a deadly dump. No more do skyscrapers stand alone in the sunny blue sky; towers of trash accompany them on a hazy landscape. Mr. Henry Luce, an influential publisher of the 20th century, seemed to anticipate this, and to be honest, he had some pretty good points to do so. In the 1950s and 60s, a new age of consumerism had flushed into the Levittown homes of America. Couples drove to the new outdoor movie theaters in their teal Ford Thunderbirds, sipping bottles of Coca Cola on the way. Did we and do we really need all of this new “stuff” though? Well… not all of it. Why have both an iPod touch or MP3 player and a smart phone when they could be combined into one? Our increasing consumerism is having heavy impacts of the environment: deforestation, global warming, overflowing garbage dumps, you name it. Things like water bottles are quickly produced, then almost tossed right back out of the hands of consumers. Active consumers may help stimulate economies, but in the end, all of the stuff comes to a standstill polluting the Earth. Next, Luce claims that Americans have become slaves to the producer economy. Considering our massive consumerism and therefore need for maximum production, this does make sense. Workers give up their afternoons to work overtime some nights for what? To get everything done so everyone gets their pay check–a pay check reliant on the making of lots of goods/services which are to be bought. I mean, we really do work our hardest not just to increase our individual profits, but to improve society as a whole–to provide and produce. Now, with things like child-labor laws, unions, anti-trust acts etc… the worker is better protected, however, never will we reach a stalemate. Automotive companies release newer and more advanced cars and models each year; imagine if they didn’t. Cars would be less technologically advanced, less safe, and overall, the automotive sector of society would just be worse compared to what it could be. Now making these cars are the humans–our society will never stop moving forward in my mind, and humans will always be those grinding gears, pushing the car of success towards the finish line (which does not exist). Now being slaves for the producer economy is good for increasing the quality of living as long as workers are protected; when their liberties are hindered… well, that’s where the ‘slave’ part comes in.
topic 2:
Luce first criticizes inconsistent criticisms about Free enterprise by foreign critics. He expressed how earlier in the century America was being criticized for stepping on the little guy; how the working classes’ the standard of living was low and almost impossible for them to help themselves. And then in the middle of the 20th century American capitalism started being criticized for raising the standard of living so much that critics believed it was unnecessary and a waste. Henry Luce then counters Galbraith in saying that Free Enterprise obviously provides for its citizens better than Socialism, Communism, and Fascism not only in its standards of living but also in its freedom and justice for all, all the while keeping the economic wheel turning faster than anything else. I agree with Henry Luce in what he is saying about Free enterprise, although I also agree with Kenneth Galbraith’s charge against American Capitalism, what I wonder is if that’s really a bad thing. I agree that we as American’s are always buying and producing material things that are unnecessary, and that we are slaves to wanting that next best thing, but my question is that really a bad thing? I mean what defines a material thing, or something that is unnecessary? I think its just human nature that we are always trying to achieve that greater goal or get the latest and greatest thing. If we didn’t where would we be now? We would still be in the dark ages if we weren’t constantly looking forward; I think that is just the process of progress. Even if Galbraith can argue that American’s are producing too much useless stuff, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of new discoveries are made by accident; when someone is looking for something else and just happens to stumble upon something great. Galbraith’s charges against American capitalism are true in some ways but that doesn’t mean we need to change the way free enterprise works.
1. In our Socratic seminar, we began with this quote: “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” but didn’t analyze it enough, in my opinion. One good point made was America has always been a rich country, never really experiencing what it is like to be in poverty. What we think ‘poverty’ is in America is a completely different scenario than countries that truly are in poverty and have been for quite a while. So, since we have never experienced true poverty in America, we strive to never experience it. But how much farther can we go? Success came quickly after the war and we were at the top, but how much higher could we go until things came crashing down? Being a rich country/ person and having much success can only keep you satisfied for so long until you just want more success, so when Luce wrote “Can we go on expanding and expanding to a GNP of a trillion dollars and to a world population of 5-10 billion people? Can we go on getting bigger and bigger and still remain in any joyful sense human and free?” it shows that this is exactly what is happening. We have exceeded his prediction for a trillion dollar GNP by a lot and the world population is at 7 billion now, so do we still remain joyful, human and free? In my opinion, not at all. All the concerns of today relate to money, money, and more money. It is what the world revolves around (in a sense) and it is what we define success by. For example, if someone has a lot of wealth, we automatically think of them as successful. But to me, money doesn’t always indicate success. I think that just having a good, fulfilling life is considered successful, not matter how much money you have. This ties into Luce saying: “Our problems are problems not of failure but of success”. As I said before, being ‘successful’ is all anybody cares about anymore and we have forgotten the problems that these ways have led us before. Going back to the 20s, before the crash people were showing off their wealth to everyone and trying to look the best by using their money to get them there. I’m not saying that this caused the crash, but it is a contributing factor. We need to learn the lessons that ‘success’ has taught us and try not to show off too much because it could come crumbling down any second.
2a. When it is said that we make too much stuff I can see what the author means. Although a couple of years ago we were in a recession some people are still very successful. At one point in history just to have a car was a blessing, but then it became you had to have two cars. Today some people buy cars and just fix them up so they can sit there for the sake of it. Then next to that they also have three Mustang convertibles. If that wasn’t enough this person has an enormous house with eight televisions. America is producing more goods than American consumers needs. Our economy has become buy what you want not what is necessary. Through advertisements also consumers are buying more goods than necessary. They see a commercial for some fancy new gadget and they buy the product, but then they also buy the “free” gift that comes with the product that they just wasted another $20 on shipping fees.
2b. Americans have become slaves to the producer economy. As I was stated in the previous question above Americans are being hypnotized into buying any product they see on television. As soon as one scam gets them all of the other advertisements out there attract the consumer. They feel the need to buy every product they see. It has become so bad in our society some people do not realize when they have a problem. Some hoarders probably were crazy only line shoppers. This type of consumer was busy buying so many products from producers that the minute they saw another one they already had their credit card whipped out. This type of consumer probably did not open most of its packages, and can’t even get back into their own home. It is maddening what producers have done to America, but if that was not bad enough it is insane the traps Americans have fallen into where they have dug themselves into a hole.
Brian Jelinek
Apush/3rd
5/9/12
Blog 35
3) Luce’s recommendations for improving the American corporations (listed in the handouts)
Luce has many great ideas for improving American corporations and four of them are continuous battle must be waged against bad management, Corporations and all forms of business must make a fight to increase the take home pay of able men, Private industry produces way too much “useless” stuff that people don’t need in their everyday lives and finally What and where are all the goods and services produced by the government. When Luce talks about battles need to be fought against bad management is that management of these corporations are very sloppy, carless, and soft. I mean he is right; we are in a time that is fifteen years after the worst recession in American History to date. Management of these massive corporations should have a short leash on their companies and not slack off. We are living in a country where everyone should be equal, but let’s not get carried away because that will turn into communism, but we want all able working men and women to go home with the same amount of pay so they can provide for their families. This is also why communism looks so good on paper, you want everyone to be equal but that won’t happen in terms of pay. If I was a CEO of a company I would like to get paid a lot more than someone who is running the front desk. His third point is that these private industries in the United States are making way too much “crap” that Americans don’t need. Luce says it perfectly, “I think every business man has the duty to himself and to his country to raise the quality of his goods –goods and services of all sorts-. It takes one example of a good a man can buy, a house. This is an awesome example, Lots of Americans need homes for their families but we are making houses was too fast and they are crappy quality. Finally, whatever happened to government goods and services? Roads, atomic power, and the use of sea water, why don’t these private corporations get off their butts and take on these challenges so they can make money and produce products and goods that Americans actually need.
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. I agree with this because I agree with Luce that back then a lot of products that we produce that are so useless and not a lot of people use or will ever use and it is a waste of our time and money. Also I don’t agree with this I think there are products that we re make so people will buy a cooler version of something like an “Ipod” or a computer and other things like that, that people will continue to be interested in buying. America does produce a lot of different types of cars which people are always interested in buying newer versions, We mainly just try to improve all of our products to get people to buy buy and buy! from us. But unnecessary products that are just useless. A lot of things that we sell today are pointless and we just sell them to try and make money we have become slaves of buying and selling and it is one of our top priorities I would say. Back then and a little in today’s times and seeing all these commercials for new products being made I see them and think to myself yeah some of these products we can use and are needed and others are just pointless and I wonder why do we need this? Americans at this point in time were trying to make a say for our country that we were the best and could make anything! I also think he criticized Galbraith because he thought American business isn’t as good as what Luce thought it was.
In Henry Luce’s book, ” The Dangerous age of Abundance,” he states very boldy, “But we are rich- so now what? Get richer- and then what?” Luce shares his concern for many topics during the course of his book. He covers issues like the world population, free enterprise and political freedom. The world population is ever growing and expanding, and Luce is worried that if we keep on increasing in size the way we are, that we will become unhappy and unsatisfied with our lives. I personally believe that we will not have to worry about the growing population, but the fact that so many new medicines and vaccines are being created that will keep people alive for a very ling time. This could be a problem for our society because we might not be able to support all the senior citizens and incoming infants. I think that this, however, does not affect our happiness. I think as a population we will remain content with our numbers and not be affected by our expanding population. Luce also discusses in his book the issue of free enterprise. He claims that “free enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases.” This opinion of his I do not agree with. I think that how wealth distributes itself should not be a concern, as long as it distributes itself. I think this would be an issue if the wealth accumulates to free enterprise owners. But, I do not think that free enterprise will in any way corrupt or debase wealth. Another thing that Luce was single-minded about was political freedom. This point, I happened to strongly agree with. Political freedom is hindered by sciences and religion, because any association to a group could be used against you. During the 1960s specifically, people had to be very careful with sharing their opinions and beliefs because others could falsely accuse them for things such as communism. Science also proposes a large threat to our society because it gives us the power to do things in a huge scale, like atomic weapons. The country’s with the most military power were somewhat obligated to use that strength to patrol the world and maintain peace. Luce had many strong things to say about the age of abundance, and to me, his opinions were either rational or a little bit extreme.
Henry Luce’s quotes are very easy to start a discussion or debate about, but for some reason, people were confused in the socratic seminar or just kept getting off topic because they did not really understand the prompt. Henry Luce’s quote, “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” to me this means that, like Luce might have ment, there is nowhere to go but up, but what is up? What are we working towards if we are already so advanced? If we have already achieved so many great things in our society, then how can we possibly get better from that and if we do, what is the point? Henry Luce believed in free market, and limited government control over companies. In his quote, “The charge now is that Free Enterprise spreads too much of the wrong kind of wealth and thereby corrupts and debases,” I think that he means that as I said in the seminar, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Corruption in these enterprises is leading the system that he is in favor of to put the wrong money with the wrong or undeserving people, so if he is saying that this corruption is going on, then why is he in favor of limiting the government’s limiting powers over the enterprises? Luce later is quoted saying, “Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.” This quote is an overall view of his intro beliefs; if we were poor, then at least we would have something to work for and jobs to be done, but since we are advanced, how can we improve from here? We are successful so we aren’t always sure what needs to be done. Maybe it was the words used or that people did not read or understand, but this seminar was not as successful as the past ones, although the words of Luce were very characteristically predictable of him.
“But we are rich – so now what? Get Richer – and then what?” – When Luce said this, I believe he meant that because our country is so wealthy compared to other countries, it is like our duty to say rich. Countries needed someone to be on top to help out, and they looked at us for that help and support. Also being rich was part of the American Dream. Own a crap load of land and have a lot of money. The only thing left to do is get richer and own more possessions. Also I believe this can be referred back to Manifest Destiny.
“Can we go on expanding and expanding to a GNP of a trillion dollars, and to a world population of 5-10 billion people? Can we go on getting bigger and bigger and still remain in any joyful sense human and free?” – I believe Luce was trying to say something around the lines of if our GNP goes up can we still expand and then if expanding would be a good idea. I personally think that expanding would be a horrible idea because we wouldn’t like the American people be happy. So we would have more land but have you seen how many wars we have started or be a part of because of expansion? It isn’t needed and I think that we were okay where we were in the beginning (just the United States).
“Our problems are problems not of failures, but of success” – I think Luce meant that the countries problems are not about us failing and getting upset, but about how if we have so much success, what is doing to really happen to our country? Although doing stuff correctly is amazing and a good feeling, people and even countries make mistakes and we need those to i guess balance everything out.
2. Expanding on Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism, Galbraith’s point on us producing too many useless things is totally valid and can easily be seen and supported by our clear excess production in things such as food. Galbraith’s next point on us becoming slaves of our producer economy I also think is completely logical. Many people in America produce things with customer desire in mind for the sake of money and the sake of producing. Instead of producing more forms of food, TV, liquor, etc… America could be spending its money and its smarts on things that may be less immediately desirable to America but much needed things to help continuously improve America while having nice production rates. Money could be spent on products geared toward American needs versus American wants. This can connect to Galbraith’s next point about America becoming slaves to our own producer economy because the workers who produce the desires of the American people know that production rates will increase with desirables. The workers and managers of these production companies focus too much on the matter of production all because they want to be powerful and because they think the higher the production rates, the better, but what about quality, not quantity? Isn’t producing better goods generally what would be considered the right thing to do versus products we could call useless, but Americans are more prone to buying? All this production is to show that America is number one. The government should control these means of productions and curb them toward things that would better America. America has become slaves to its producer economy because there is a fine line between buying things to help boost up your country and buying unless desirables because conniving managers and companies know the items America will pick because they want them over things that America would benefit from.
Let me start off by saying that I completely agree with Luce’s attack on Galbraith’s critiques. I think that Galbraith took the facts of our capitalist economy and twisted it, forming inaccurate conclusions. I also feel that Luce may have missed the mark when it comes to discrediting what Galbraith said, and that he could have benefited from playing the devil’s advocate and considering different viewpoints.
Galbraith accused that the United States, with its large corporations and capitalist economy, of producing too much useless stuff. Granted, we do make a lot of stuff. In almost any sector of the market, both back then and today, there is always a ton of stuff to choose from. There are hundreds of different car choices, cell phone choices, even bread choices; and the choice of which to buy is left to the consumer. That is the point. The entire idea of capitalism is based on the power of the consumer to drive the producers into giving us what we want. Because of this, companies produce all kinds of different products with different features and add-ons to try and get the consumers attention. As one Greek philosopher said, you must have darkness in order to have light (or something to that effect). In this case, you have to have the darkness of many lesser products in order to have the very best. This idea is at the heart of American Capitalism.
Now there is the accusation that us darned American’s have become slaves to the producer economy. Well, us Americans need to work, don’t we? We all want jobs right? We all want to have money in order to buy the best product on the market, right? Right. It is simple cause and effect. The cause being that the purpose of capitalism is to produce a lot, and the effect is that we all work a lot to make it.
1. I think if we would continue to get richer we +can start helping countries that aren’t so rich. For example, there are lots of countries in Africa that are struggling with starving people with little wealth and if we were to help them out we could save human life and gain a new ally in the region. I also don’t think we were be able to remain as free and real as human as we use to because the growing population and new science. The new population makes it so there are more people that the government has to watch over allowing the people less freedoms. Also, with all the new science there is new horrible ways to hurt people so the government has to ban more things based on the fact that they can be used for evil. I also think free enterprise doesn’t spread the wrong kind of wealth. This is because the customers decide what kind of business get and what material wealth they get. It is not like all customers are forced to buy a jet ski this is because not everyone needs or wants one . But if every customer had to buy a certain product then it would be a massive waste of resources and would spread wrong kind of wealth.
2. I think Galbraith’s comment of we make too much useless stuff doesn’t make sense in a Capitalistic society. This is because if it is useless no one would buy it. If no one is buying it then it will not be produced. This shows we are not making useless goods because if they were actually useless no one would buy them and then they won’t be produced. I also think his comment that we are slaves to production is false because all nations are slaves of production not just the U.S. If a country wants to be strong it will have to produce goods to gain wealth and power. Saying just the U.S. is a slave to production is totally wrong because all societies are.
3. In the article, Luce gives many recommendations for what he thinks will improve American corporations. First, Luce believes that we must question and fight bad management- management that gets sloppy, careless, and soft. Luce believes that with better management The American Business Corporation, though already the most efficient institution devised for human welfare, will become even more efficient to meet the challenges that the future brings. I completely agree with this statement, with bad management a company or business can’t operate to its full potential. The first thing you should do when a business is failing is to check the management to see if they’re performing adequately.
Second, Luce thinks that the Corporation and all forms of business must increase the wages of their able men. Luce goes on about American equality- equality in opportunities and in equality for the law but then says that we have too much equality in the work place. Luce believed that the gap of pay between the workingmen and the manager was much too small- he thought that if the workers got $4,000 then the manager should get $40,000, after taxes. He thought that if they had a position with great responsibility then they should get paid more, and if less then it is breaking the “doctrine of equality of opportunity.” This recommendation, on the other hand, seems a little too demanding. Yes, it makes sense that management should get paid more than their workers but to increase that gap of pay even more is pushing it. It’s not fair that the workers get paid so little while the higher-ups get paid so handsomely. I also didn’t like how Luce said that higher-ups not getting paid even more was breaking the “doctrine of equality in opportunity,” and also how “a really good man is worth at least ten times a man of no special ability,” he just kind of sounded selfish and snobbish to me.
Third, Luce goes on to talk about Galbraith and his criticism that Private Industry produces relatively too much and doesn’t do people any good. Luce seems to agree with what Galbraith said; he says that Business itself is loaded with frequent shoddiness in service and consumer goods. Luce’s third recommendation is that businessmen everywhere has a duty to himself and to his Country to raise the quality of his goods and services meaning we should get more for what we pay in quality, attractiveness, and efficiency. I also agree wholeheartedly with this recommendation, too many consumer products these days are of poor quality and if consumers buy these products then they deserve the best quality and efficiency possible. Businessman should realize that they have a duty to themselves to make sure that their consumers are satisfied.
Fourthly and last, Luce urges Private Enterprise’s to find ways to take on more of the tasks that the government usually did for the people such as roads, atomic power, urban renewal, and the use of sea water. Luce thought that in such a complicated society, much of what had to be done was done by the government so if more Private Enterprise’s figured out to do some of those things then they could work with the government while also stopping the government from unnecessary expansion. This is also another one of Luce’s recommendations that I agree with, if we learn to do certain things on our own then we can stop the government from becoming too involved with our lives and stop the government from becoming too big.
3. Expanding on Luces ideas for change in corporations, I believe that some of his ideas would be positive, and some unnecessary. I think he is right about bad management. If companies aren’t being managed well, the workers are in a bad position and may be treated unfair. Also productivity can below, and also quality of product can be bad. I agree 100% that tightening up operations would be good. It would make the company much better and less wasteful. Companies are sloppy, with too much waste and unnecessary overproduction. Luce thought they needed to become more efficient for the future, and I completely agree. Also, Luce says take home pay of workers should increase, which is also good. He says that people in higher positions should be paid accordingly. A manager should be payed more than a worker, which I also agree with. These were good criticisms and ideas, but they were hard to actually make happen. Luce wanted to upgrade quality of American life by handing out 1% of our GDP and reward it to people for ability in life. I think its a descent concept, but dont agree. The people already get paid for what they do, and the extra money is a sort of unfair concept, and a bit of a waste. Luce also says that all businessman should have a duty to put good effort in their worked to increase the quality of their product or service. This is a good idea to live by. Put effort into everything you do, especially your work. A main point Luce offers, is that Private enterprises should provide more services that the government normally provides, and we should not have to be so connected to the government. I disagree, because things like roads would be hard to plan, and very expensive. The government is very important in doing certain things that the U.S. Needs, and they need to keep doing so.
2. Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism
a. Luce’s first criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism was that we make too much useless stuff. Even though this might be true, in the 1950’s the most useless items that were created were the items that were sold the most. People in the 50’s were intrigued by the new idea that you could purchase things in the economy to use. Even though much of the items they bought were useless, it was still fascinating that you can purchase products like these. But this whole process of buying products, even though they are useless, it was is keeping the economy going at this time. I think that this relates back to our economy right now because there are many items that are being produced that are not needed in order to live. For example I think people would get by without the new IPhone 4S or a brand new car, however this is what keeps people interested in buying products. Everyone wants the “new” thing.
b. Luce’s second point was that we’ve become slaves to the producer economy. I would have to agree with this statement because the economy is now running on what is being produced in the market. Everyone’s lives are being affected by the new technology that is being created, which can be a good and bad thing. It is great for new medicine that could not be created without. It is also great for various jobs that need to communicate from large distances. Yet it is taking a toll on Americans because now we are so dependent on the Internet and cell phones in order to communicate with one another. People will wait outside of the stores for days in order to purchase a brand new product, and the producers know they have the economy in the palm of their hands.
2. Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism:
A. We make to much useless stuff
B. We’ve become slaves of the producer economy
I totally agree with the fact that Americans buy so many useless items and that
companies continue to make it. So many companies are out their to make a quick buck and expand their profit margin. For years companies made things that people needed but as time went on they tried to make it cheaper so they could make more money. Eventually those companies decided that we don’t have to waist our time improving things that already exist, and Americans were board with the standard. They decided they wanted luxuries; things that they would like to spend their money on and things that were fun. So companies saw this opportunity and took it. They started making things for the consumer that they could make a profit on. All this time and money spent on useless things is wasted. I understand that people are entitiled to luxuries and things that make life worth living and I’m not criticizing that I am talking about useless things like Pajama Jeans or the Snuggie. That money could be spent on quality healthy food considering that 1 in 3 Americans are obese or feeding a child in an orphanage that who knows with the right help could grow up to be the next great scientist or at the very least keep him or her of the streets. My point is companies have the American consumer eating out of the palm of their hand wasting money on things they don’t really need.
#2 Expanding on Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American Capitalism. In American we do make too much useless stuff and a large portion of it goes to waste. Americans want to compete with other nations and prove that this country is the post powerful. Power and wealth are associated with each other in many people’s minds, so they believe that by making more stuff we will appear wealthier. A large majority of the stuff made is things that no one really needs. People’s lives aren’t improving from this and the money should be put to better uses. Instead of putting energy and money into things that society doesn’t need, we should be focusing on making things that help improve the lives of the people in this country and other countries. In our attempt to make all of this stuff, many have forgotten to take in consideration the well being of the workers. The most important thing to managers and owners is how they can make the most products while spending the least amount of money. We have become slaves to the producer economy in a sense that people will do whatever it takes to have material objects to show the world. People like the idea of wealth and power. They want to be the wealthiest country and they want to have the latest stuff. It doesn’t matter if their old version on the phone works fine, they will want the new one as soon as it come s out. People are willing to work and work to become wealthier and wealthier when really it’s not improving their life in anyway. There is a difference between making and buying things because you need them, and making and buying them because you can. In our attempt to make all these products we’re not focusing on quality or necessity, only quantity. The country isn’t proving to anyone that they are the strongest and wealthiest by doing this. The only thing that is happening is that we are wasting money and material to produce unless stuff; this is also taking away from the lives of people by turning so many into slaves of the produced economy.
“But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?”
I find this quote especially interesting because it brings up the “now what?” issue. Once someone fulfills their life’s goal of becoming wealthy or powerful, where do they go from there? The same may apply for a country; once they achieve great wealth and international power- unless that power is put to good use-there’s really no other influence they can have. This exposes wealth alone as a relatively pointless goal. Therefore, the ultimate goal should not be to simply get richer, but to use that wealth in a productive way.
“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.”
I couldn’t agree with this quote more; great power requires great responsibility and-if left unchecked- can lead to a disaster. With more and more international powers striving to possess these weapons of great destruction, a third world war would surely bring about a nuclear holocaust. The pressure to preserve the balance of the world was higher than ever before. The fear of a nuclear war may have contributed to the desire to have nuclear weapons; the more a country had, the less likely they were to be attacked. Obviously, it was a vicious cycle.
“Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.”
Many people already know that there can be too much of a good thing, and success is no exception. If someone becomes very successful in life, they must not let it go to their head, or they risk losing everything they worked for. A nation that has risen to power has to be careful not to waste any resources they have, or success may turn to ruin.
3) Luce had four ideas on how to improve the American corporations. These included making management more efficient, creating a larger gap between management and employees in regards to salary, raising the quality of goods, and having private enterprises take over the some of the things that the government does. I agree with some of these ideas. Making management more efficient and increasing the quality of goods is never a bad thing. Without proper management a business cannot thrive. If managed correctly, a business has the opportunity to reach its full potential. If the quality of goods is bad, people will be wary of buying more products from that company, thus lowering business. If corporations actively work to keep the quality of goods high, people will continue to buy things from the company, as well as others. Their confidence will raise and make them want to buy more products. However, I disagree with making a larger salary gap and having private enterprises take control. Managers and workers usually do completely different work. Just because someone is a manager doesn’t mean they are much more talented than a regular employee. Sometimes they are just better at managing people, or maybe they’ve just worked there longer than their employees. I do think managers should be payed more than employees, but I think 10 times as much is getting a bit extreme. I don’t think government jobs like roads, atomic power, and the use of seawater should be left to private enterprises. Roads could be run by businesses, but because they are such public property, it doesn’t seem right. Atomic power is a huge responsibility that should not be left to individuals. Seawater is public domain and how we use it should be determined by the government which is run by the people. 3) Luce had four ideas on how to improve the American corporations. These included making management more efficient, creating a larger gap between management and employees in regards to salary, raising the quality of goods, and having private enterprises take over the some of the things that the government does. I agree with some of these ideas. Making management more efficient and increasing the quality of goods is never a bad thing. Without proper management a business cannot thrive. If managed correctly, a business has the opportunity to reach its full potential. If the quality of goods is bad, people will be wary of buying more products from that company, thus lowering business. If corporations actively work to keep the quality of goods high, people will continue to buy things from the company, as well as others. Their confidence will raise and make them want to buy more products. However, I disagree with making a larger salary gap and having private enterprises take control. Managers and workers usually do completely different work. Just because someone is a manager doesn’t mean they are much more talented than a regular employee. Sometimes they are just better at managing people, or maybe they’ve just worked there longer than their employees. I do think managers should be payed more than employees, but I think 10 times as much is getting a bit extreme. I don’t think government jobs like roads, atomic power, and the use of seawater should be left to private enterprises. Roads could be run by businesses, but because they are such public property, it doesn’t seem right. Atomic power is a huge responsibility that should not be left to individuals. Seawater is public domain and how we use it should be determined by the government which is run by the people.
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.
America’s economy reached its highest peak during the late 1950’s and continued to prosper throughout the 1960’s. The sudden and rapid economic growth was all thanks to WW2 and even the Cold War. Both during and after WW2 many Americans were employed as nurses or in the assembly line used for manufacturing the weapons to be used in the war. Soon, more and more Americans had more and their income was growing; so much that they no longer knew what to spend it on. Businesses started to grow, and more and more luxury items began hitting the market, these items included tvs, washing and drying machines, refrigerators, etc. With the help of the tv, businesses were able to better advertise their products.The media took advantage of the sudden growing income of the majority of the American families and so commercials began airing on tv. These commercials helped convince people that after all that has happened to them and their families, they deserved these special products that were never available to the middle-class before. In The Dangerous Age of Abundance (1959) written by Henry R. Luce, Luce criticises Professor kenneth Galbraith’s two main points about American capitalism. His first point was that “…American production consists of too many things that are useless or even bad for people” and his second point was “…we have made ourselves into slaves of production for the sake of production”. Both Professor Galbraith and Luce took the American economic state very seriously at the time; however, their opinions were completely opposite. Unlike Galbraith who believed in the state intervention of businesses and government run jobs (capitalism), Luce believed in Private Business or in other words a semi Laissez-Faire type of government (socialism). Luce almost takes offense to what Galbraith had stated in his book, The Affluent Society. He immediately defended himself and all of the other Americans who worked night and day trying to create Free Enterprise and American Business, trying to once again create a freed and wealthy America. He then goes into how Galbraith never discussed the basic problem of human freedom, which Luce ties together with socialism. Luce harshly states “To propose radical changes in the American way of life and to ignore the problem of freedom is the most horrifying example of intellectual irresponsibility I have encountered in many a year”. So obviously, the two men prioritise completely different things.
I totally agree with Galbraith’s two points, because they are completely true. However, if it wasn’t for all of the creating of useless stuff America’s economy would not be able to prosper as much as it did. As for his second point stating that “…we have made ourselves into slaves of production for the sake of production”, there is no doubt about it. There was nothing better to do, and many jobs were created in this process, but at the time we did get out of hand.
I definitely agree with Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism. His first statement, we make too much useless stuff, is very true. Like Galbraith said, America produces things not because we necessarily need them, but because we can. Although many predicted a post-war depression after World War 2, the war created many jobs and there was enough to go around after the veterans came home. The war ended years of being afraid to spend money because of the Great Depression and the U.S. came out of the war as the number one producer in the world. Consumerism increased because many people began to buy things like T.V’s, liquor, and cigarettes. The televisions provided a plethora of advertisements which greatly increased production. Galbraith’s made an important point by saying that America needs to invest in education rather than the goods mentioned above. Currently, the U.S. ranks fourteenth in education in the world. If America invested more money into education, we could improve our ranking.
His second statement, we’ve become slaves to the producer economy, is also very true. This further relates to his first statement because so many people work so hard to produce things that are essentially useless and not of good quality. I get the feeling that Luce almost agreed with Galbraith when Luce said that Americans needed to raise the level of housing for example. Also, the corporations have sold us, as consumers that we need to have the newest, greatest thing. Basically, the American economy survives because of this- it keeps the economic machine turning. For example, nowadays, Apple products are very popular among American consumers. Take the iPhone- it seems as though a new model comes out every year. We feel the need to buy the newest version of the iPhone because it’s “trendy” and of better quality, even though it is just a little more advanced than the previous version.
Mitchell August
5/10/12
Idea #2
As Americans we consume, than consume and after we consume more. However this does not give us just reasoning to make unnecessary amounts of goods or services. I am not against competition and I do believe capitalism is the best form of economic system but this competition and capitalism promote over manufacturing. Still to this day there are items that never come off the shelves, but are yet still produced in mass quantities. There do not need to be millions of kitchen appliances or hundreds of brands of cereal. As Americans our freedom is a blessing but some how it also gives us the mind set that we have to produce until we reach our maximum capacity and that is not a good system. If we were to stop over producing and allow for our money to go else where America may find ourselves in a more prospers state.
For America’s economy to function we as consumers must give and spend our money on goods and services. Without spending (especially on luxuries/useless thing) America’s economy and companies fail. A modern day example is Detroit’s economy. The automotive industry lived and died by the consumer purchasing there product. When sales stopped it brought down not only the automotive industry but Detroit’s economy as a whole. Now every day we see “great deals on cars” and other products. Without spending there is no earning. This is the downfall of our economic system. Is it selfish to save? Or is it smart? Now as Americans we have become prisoner to the concept that it is our job to stimulate the economy. Without consumers constantly purchasing goods America cannot survive and that has become very clear as of late. This is an error in the way America’s foundation was laid and it has become evident that the market can not survive without the mass purchasing of useless and unnecessary goods. Not everyone needs a brand new “Ford Focus” but, until our economic policies change (never) we are = imprisoned by a ending cycle of buying and selling useless goods!
2.
a. If you look at the kind of products we make here in the U.S.A, such as tools, food, drinks, guns tobacco, car parts, lumber, and many more, they are products that we have been making here in America for a long time. Some of these products, though, are useless; mostly tobacco, but the rest of them are good consumer products. Most of the useless products come from china, because they are cheaper to make there, so they do not have to sell as much. Not only are we making useless products, but the products we make are of far less quality them they used to be. Part of that comes from our expectation for things to not last long or not keeping it long and getting the newest model next year any ways, such as with cars and phones, there for we should expect the same from the other products such as water bottles or beach chairs.
b. We, as the consumer, have fallen into an illusion created by advertising that we need to by the newest phone or computer, the newest car, the coolest cloths, the best facial creams, the list could go on and on, but the reason why we produce and buy so much stuff is because we think we need to. One example you can see is here in Michigan, people used to buy new cars every year, even though there old one was still working and probably still new, they would by the newest model. Or when the new iPhones come out, almost everybody with an old iPhone gets the new one. If we lost the idea of “need” things, and got in the habit of getting what we really need, and actionably what we want, the products on our shelves would look a lot different than they do now
“But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” This was an interesting quote because us being rich we are vulnerable to wanting to spend it. I believe we had a healthy balance of consuming and producing but at this time I believe we started to spend and doing less producing and yes we made Tvs and such but I’m talking about the products that we exported like in the old days when we exported a lot of cotton. During this dangerous time of abundance we changed we became consumers and now even with the products that are made they aren’t made in the USA. So I believe the “and then what?” part was have America become lazy become consumers and then go into debt. “ Can we go on getting bigger and bigger and still remain in any joyful sense human and free? Obviously not. I believe that is human nature to have a leader to look up to when seeking a leader you will eventually get a leader and as a leader that person will have certain power with a large population either the majority is for or against that leader. With a growing population that big there is no possible way a person could remain free and human because with the few leaders over a large population come a sense of power and with that power comes the ability to like it and when you like that power you will do much to keep the power. With the position as the leader and all that power some people might not like it so when they don’t want you and you want you in your going to use your power to make sure that your in power and with that comes oppression or loss of freedom. This is why dictatorships don’t work because power over a large population of people you like it you want to stay and you oppress to stay.
2. Expanding on Luce’s point that we have become slaves of our own production and that we produce too many useless things, I think it’s completely true. I see why we want to compete with other nations and produce lots of things, but we have to think of the effects. People’s lives aren’t getting that much better and we’re wasting a lot of money making and selling these useless things. We could be using our smarts and creativity to produce things that would actually help our nation in a way other than higher rankings in productivity. If we were to bring in the “manager vs. worker” debate, this is almost entirely the managers’ fault. We have outsourced many jobs so that we can produce for cheap labor, but that only benefits the company. We have gotten so deep into wanting to be the best that we’re no longer thinking about quality and the wellness of our workers. Also I agree with Henry Luce in what he is saying about Free enterprise, although I also agree with Kenneth Galbraith’s charge against American Capitalism, what I wonder is if that’s really a bad thing. I agree that we as American’s are always buying and producing material things that are unnecessary, and that we are slaves to wanting that next best thing, but my question is that really a bad thing? I mean what defines a material thing, or something that is unnecessary? I think it’s just human nature that we are always trying to achieve that greater goal or get the latest and greatest thing. If we didn’t where would we be now? We would still be in the dark ages if we weren’t constantly looking forward; I think that is just the process of progress. Even if Galbraith can argue that American’s are producing too much useless stuff, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of new discoveries are made by accident; when someone is looking for something else and just happens to stumble upon something great. Galbraith’s charges against American capitalism are true in some ways but that doesn’t mean we need to change the way free enterprise works.
2. Luce’s points about how we have become slaves to the producer economy and how we produce a lot of useless stuff are very true. It has now become a culture of producing things to make money even if they are not necessities. Things such as Snuggies and Sham Wows are just useless versions of blankets and rags which have been around for hundreds of years. We produce so much useless stuff because we are slaves to the producer economy. People spend life savings on things that might never have a real use. The idea of a producer economy has spread and it is now a normal way of life. For example if we were a communist country we would not have such goods as a Snuggie or Sham Wow. The inventions/break thru’s that would be made would be for the benefit of the government rather than a monetary benefit for the person who created the invention. Slavery to the producer economy and the production of useless crap came about in the 1950’s which is when Galbraith made these comments and Luce commented on Galbraith’s ideas. This was all brought about due to the increased prosperity in America. No longer did people fear losing their money in banks and the American people did not have to ration things because the boy’s across the pond needed them either. Galbraith’s comments on American consumerism in the 1950’s were completely true and are still true today. We spend money on gadgets and other things we don’t necessarily need because we can and we want to exercise our freedoms that we have as Americans. The capitalist economy is perfect for t he production of useless stuff because the concept of capitalism is that there is an unequal distribution of wealth and every man can be a millionaire. This idea that anybody can make money encourages people to try and sell their product so that they too can have millions. In reality very few inventers actually make millions but inventors do produce a tone of useless crap. The production of useless goods comes from the pursuit of wealth. Galbraith was right, America has become a slave to the producer economy and has a need for useless stuff and I don’t see these two habits’s going anywhere any time soon.
After reading The Dangerous Age of Abundance, I find myself disagreeing with a lot of things that was said in the book. Henry Luce stated a lot of his opinions and thoughts throughout the book and some of my opinions differ from his.
“But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?”
Henry Luce feels like there is no point in getting richer, because he feels like there is no point in getting any better if you are already the best. I really disagree with this, I think perfection is unattainable so I think we should keep going to try and reach perfection even though we will never attain it. I feel like there is a point in getting richer you can never be prepared for a disaster that might come along and destroy everything. If we think of some of the best sport teams, they still compete every year even though they just won the championships. So I think if we are rich, then the next is to continue getting richer.
“Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.”
Henry Luce said that our troubles were of those of success and wealth rather than poverty and failure. I don’t necessarily agree with this, I think most of our problems are from failure instead of success. I agree that there are some troubles with those of success, but I feel like there are even more from poverty and failure. I think success comes from failure. Before you were failing with all of your troubles making you want to overcome them, leading to your success. So I think that the problems when you were failing were greater than the ones now after you have reached 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.”
Henry Luce stated that the central problem of our age is how to reconcile vast and ever vaster organization with human freedom. I agree with Henry that science sets up an enormous threat to freedom. With science, there are obligations to do things on a large scale threatening our freedom. Like with the Atomic Age since everyone is making bombs I think it absolutely threatens our freedom, no one feels safe anymore. The more science that we discover ad learn the less freedom I think we will have. Science sets up a threat to freedom because it gives us a lot of power.
#1. “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.” I agree completely that by developing the atomic bomb our successes in science have worked against us. This creates a problem because the atomic age is filled with tension, insecurity, and responsibility. These things all require organization and threaten our freedom. As Luce says, it gives the power and obligation to do things on a huge scale, there is no going back to pre-nuclear weapon security. Moving science forward to the nuclear level was a success that, in my opinion, we would have been better to have never achieved.
“But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” Americans are always trying to improve their quality of living, no matter how well off they are. Instead of constantly trying to help ourselves we should put our wealth to better use. We could pay off some of our national debt, or try to end hunger in our own country, or provide additional disaster relief to our own or other countries. Henry Luce is trying to tell us that using our wealth, our power, and our success wisely is not only our ability but also our responsibility.
“‘The business of America is business.’ This, of course is not right; the business of America is freedom.” (I don’t have the article right now so I hope I quoted that right) Henry Luce believes that the business of America is freedom. It should be. Long, long ago, perhaps it was. And while we still support freedom for ourselves and others, for the most part, America is really about business. The whole country relies on and revolves around business, even if we were based, and created on freedom. America is where businesses come to blossom. Where stands on the side of the street can become multi-million dollar corporations if they work hard and are good at what they do. Where government interference is limited on businesses can compete with, or support each other. in some ways business and freedom go hand in hand. While we all would like to say that that the business of America is freedom, I believe that the business of America truly is business.
In our most recent Socratic seminar, we discussed Henry R. Luce’s The Age of Abundance. In this excerpt, Luce states, “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” he says this because he wonders what us as Americans can do next. He asks this question with a thought in mind, if we were a poor country there might be some bitterness between people, but at least we would know what we had to do—we would have to get rich. But he wonders how we can continue to go forward and up if we are already at the top. But for most people this is not something that they look at with concern. I mean really who doesn’t want to be rich? Most people probably wish that their only worry was can we go even higher? Luce also brings up another concern of his, “Can we go on expanding and expanding to a GNP of a trillion dollars and to a world population of 5-10 billion people? Can we go on getting bigger and bigger and still remain in any joyful sense human and free?” this might have seemed impossible to reach these heights back when he gave this speech, but now we can say yes, because we have surpassed them already. We now have a world population of about 7 billion people, and we have also exceeded a GNP of over a trillion dollars (in 1960s, @ $14.5 trillion last year). But maybe it wasn’t that he thought that it was impossible for us to reach those numbers, but that it would be hard for us to reach them and still have a joyful sense human and free. Because it is hard to have joy when there is too much, but in the other hand it is also very complicated to have joy when there is too little. “Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.” This was also one of Luce’s points that he made in his speech. The problem with always being successful is how can we learn from it? You have to learn from your mistakes, but if the U.S. is so successful that they are not making any mistakes then it is hard for us to learn new things. Also the problem with success is that it can be measured in so many ways. It all depends on the kind of person you are and how you look at the situation. For instance, some people may base the level of success by how much money you make, whereas another person would measure it based on how much effort and hard work you put into the task and this is why there is a problem with success.
2. I think that Luce’s point that we have become slaves of our own production is very true up to a point. We are not improving anything by making all of this useless stuff that we don’t need. I think America would be much better off if we used our creativity and brains to improve our country instead of making all of this useless stuff. Luce is right when he says that at this point we are just producing for the sake of producing. It is true that we have become slaves to the producer economy. America is just making things just to show that we can make things. But I also think Luce is overlooking the fact that Americans have made many things that are useful and improve life. When you think about it, we have made countless more useful items than useless items. This is why I think that Luce’s point is only true to a certain extent. We definitely are slaves of our producer economy, but that is partly because Americans have produced so many great things. Things however were different back when Luce said this back in the 50s. At this point after WW2, we were easily the biggest producer in the world and we wanted to keep showing it by making useless stuff to make money. Today it is much different. We are by no means a huge producer like we were in the 50s. We outsource most of our production to China to make even more money. So to say that America has become a slave of their own production is wrong. It is more that we are slaves of the production of other countries. But nonetheless, America is still wasting money on things that we are producing just to show that we can produce.
I completely agree with Luce’s point that we have become slaves of our own production and we produce things “for the sake of production,” which pretty much means that we produce things because we can. We have become slaves of our own production in that we run our workforce off the basis of quantity, not quality, quality not only signifying the value of the things we produce but also the wellbeing of our workforce. I don’t think the consequences of mass production are considered in our effort to out-produce every other country. We sacrifice countless amounts of dollars to sell some seemingly pointless items. Striving to achieve the highest rankings of producing is senseless; there are other ways that Americans could bind their resourcefulness with the workforce’s work ethic to benefit the United States in different ways. In my opinion, I see industrial dominance in the quality of items that are produced, not how many roll out of the factory every day.
We also need to examine the workforce’s health and quality of life. Pushing to produce, produce, produce may cause the wellbeing of workers to be overlooked. This contributes to the gap between managers and workers that was talked about in the article, saying that we need to work harder on making sure that everyone has freedom and satisfaction. This, however, are unachievable if we continue to look to surpass the world in figures of production. Our desire to win this manufacturing race will overcome any past desire to close the gap, and eventually, the freedom that Luce says is necessary for everyone will fall deep into the crevasse of the world of production. As to Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s analysis of American capitalism, saying that we make too much useless stuff, I think not everything made is worthless, but there is definitely a significant amount of overproduced items that aren’t worth the effort.
2) I think that Galbraith’s first point about America’s issue with overproduction is very true. If you think about how much food we produce a day, compared to how much we actually eat it’s ridiculous. We waste so much food that could be used to help feed the other third world countries that are struggling just to produce 1 meal a day. Also, a huge indicator of our overproduction is obesity. This idea goes along with Galbraith’s second statement that we are slaves of production. People continue to produce more and more things just to keep products going, not really to help the company. I agree with Galbraith and think that the government should step in and help take on more or our mass production so that we can help improve things like education. When Luce brings up the Affluent Society by Galbraith he criticizes these points, basically saying that Galbraith is wrong but he never goes into why he thinks he’s wrong. Luce basically says that Gailbraith is complaining about all these problems, but never truly offers ideas of a solution to these problems. I think Luce is being a hypocrite. I think he is basically trying to attack Galbraith’s ideas when he says, “Now I am not going to attempt tonight to demolish Professor Galbraith as an economist. I will leave that to economists.” I truly think Galbraith is correct in his opinions, but I can see from the other side how people may think that producing more and selling more will make us the top “country” or top company but really it’s just screwing us up. It is making heads of businesses want to create as much as they can in as little time as needed. This has become a main issue and we are forgetting about how this affects the people in the country, such as the workers. Were too obsessed with showing off and being the best, to realize what harsh affects this has on our country.
Luce’s recommendations for improving the American corporations included “fixing” bad management, increasing take-home pay, raising the quality of goods and services, and the privatization of businesses. To start on the problem of “bad management,” I think, at the time the idea would not be doable. Starting with the fact that although WWII ended in 1945 and soldiers were coming home, those already at home weren’t fretting to lose their job because the GI Bill was passed (allowed veterans to purchase home loans, go back to school, etc). So, if the old boss threatened to fire you with the reason: “if you don’t work harder, you’ll lose your job to someone who will work harder,” wouldn’t apply. In the website attached, you can see that 1945 (and around that time) had the lowest unemployment rate of that period, meaning that much of society was employed and they were already working hard enough to keep their jobs. Luce’s second point, about the increase in take-home pay would also be implausible. If society increased the income of every single middle-class and lower-class American, not only would our society suffer from the friction between the upper and lower classes, but also inflation would occur since the price of the American dollar would rise. Just because they would take home more money, doesn’t mean the workers would spend it (although they probably would because that time was a materialistic and conservative time were everyone had to conform by buying the same products). Luce’s third point, having to do with raising the quality of goods and services, I think, is an excellent idea. Today, nearly all our products’ tags are labeled from India, China, or Taiwan. By localizing businesses, it would create jobs for the unemployed and incoming soldiers, and fuel our economy more (even though we were chugging strongly ahead of many other war-stricken countries). Lastly, Luce pushes for the privatization of businesses, by pulling services away from government action. I’m not exactly sure how I feel on this idea. After pondering for about a half an hour while staring at this document, I came to the conclusion that although it would help fuel more jobs, it would create a more relaxed government. If the government loosened the grip on the actions it takes to improve society, I would be worried that the government would feel it could relax more systems and privatize more branches. The last time we had a relaxed government, it led to a depression (cough-HOOVER-cough). In my personal opinion, I think Luce’s solutions are up-in-the-air. Some of them would be implausible not only in that time period but also today’s society and economy, but others would provide more stabilization and structure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Unemployment_1910-1960.gif
#2 I fully agree with luce’s view on how we make too much useless products, and how we have become a country enslaved by a mass producer economy. After the depression America began to rebuild its economy and with an abundance of goods, jobs, and money, we began to grow and produce more then we had ever before. From then to the 21st century America has continued to gain power, resources, and money. But we have failed to see that with this overflow of wealth we have become consumed with spending it, and spending it on things we don’t necessarily need. This is were our enslavement by mass producers comes in. Advertising plays a huge roll in keeping society hooked on spending. We are constantly surrounded by adds on tv, radio, billboards,and newspaper.They glorify our wildest dreams to persuade us into believing that with this one specific object or product, we will feel a sense of fulfillment, or we will be sexy,strong,or confident. As long as these influences exists we will forever be under the control of corporations. A reason for our production of nonessential goods is the American Dream. The image of America has always been a place where people can come to settle down, relax, and live in comfort. our strive for this image, this luxury, is why we are constantly coming out with new electronics and things that will make life easier and stress free. By living in a society were stress levels are higher then ever before and with work ethic declining, these products do seem necessary. Until Americans can change their entire lifestyles, cut back on spending, and decide for themselves on what products will enrich their lives, society will stay under the influence of advertising and large corporations.
3. On the last page of the article, Luce gives recommendations for how America could improve their corporations. Luce was dead-on on how America should improve its corporations. One of Luce’s recommendations for improving American corporations is to get rid of bad management. I strongly agree with this position due to the simple fact that the management of a company reflects the company itself. It is too important for any company to look over it- if a company can’t get the essentials done from a day to day basis, it shouldn’t even be in existence. Management keeps that foundation and also corrects any errors that go on (from a worker error to malfunctions etc.) It’s like an eagle watching over its nest; you have to make sure that the nest is suitable enough to hold the eggs and family. Even in the article, Luce states that in the recession there was widespread poor management. Management was tightened up, and that led to the higher rate of success of American Corporations. “Secondly, the Corporation and all forms of business must make a fight to increase the take-home pay of able men.” This basically means that every worker should get paid based on how hard they have worked; an average worker should not get paid around the same of a manager. Because a manager is the base of the company and productivity largely relies on him/her, they should get the big bucks if they perform their duties well. It will also encourage the middle-men of every company to work hard and bust the butt in order to get to that higher position, so the Corporation’s productivity will increase. Thirdly, it does us no good if our Private Industries do not produce quality goods. What is the point of having a good with low quality? Having a cheap home or any product should be unacceptable to the consumer and especially to the businessman whom produced it. Raising the quality of goods in our country will improve our country to better prosperity. It cannot be that much more expensive to create a little quality, therefore its unacceptable not to. Fourthly, Private Enterprise should find ways to control certain stuff the government controls in order to produce more jobs and companies.
Option #1
1. The future from getting richer is getting poorer. Our wealth makes us hard and unkind, our cleverness strong and our compassion weak. We lose the ideals that make us humans, we no longer accept failure or defeat. Once we get richer, we set standards that we cannot meet. They collapse in on themselves and we fail ourselves until we’ve lost all that made us rich in the first place. We gain money at the expense of our humanity. Our success affects our country, our success cripples us as a nation, it forces us to not accept failure as an option, not as a thing of pride but because then it means we cannot afford failure. Our designs become too extreme; we lose the ability to accept our failures just because of the cost that it would take. We are no longer a small operations country, everything we do is on a massive scale, and therefore, the price is much higher when we fail. The regulations that have been put in place by the sheer eminence of failure has crippled us, the things we set out to protect ourselves from have now shown to us that they are not the enemy, and that in all our preparation, and our fears, were justified, yet unnecessary, for the regulations and limitations are where the problem truly exists, not just merely in the actions themselves. Free Enterprise supports the dedicated man, the man who works hard, and earns an honest pay. Yet, Free Enterprise also supports the man who knows the system, who can work it to his advantage and does on many occasions. Therefore the honest man is at a disadvantage through equality, he can work as hard as he wants but he will never make as much as the honest man, and in turn, it is hard for him to keep his honesty when the dishonest are rewarded for it.
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. I think that Luce was criticizing Galbraith’s critiques of American Capitalism because Luce was so fond and passionate about his country that he believed whatever America was doing was the best way. I think that this is because Luce lived through 2 world wars and because he went through these ages he built up a strong sense of nationalism towards his country. This is because he had to support his country a lot during its roughest times (The Great Depression) and the wars. I agree with some of the critiques that Galbraith made regarding the fact that we were a country that was producing quantity and not necessarily quality products. Luce was being defensive of America because he was a passionate anti-communist during a time when it seemed as though America was competing with the Soviet Union on whose system of economy worked better and provided a better quality of life to their citizens. I believe that this had a lot to do with the Cold War, which was a war that seemed as if at any moment could erupt into a deadly nuclear war and become dangerous for the world. But for the most part the war remained a non-hostile war in which we were competing economically and the United States was winning especially after it’s large age of abundance during the 50s after WW2. This abundance and prosperity launched us to the top in which we would lead the world into the 21st century and continue to lead. This was because we got used to the fact that the world was changing and made improvements to the products we were creating rather than design more useless junk. The overproduction of useless products mostly ended after America go used to it’s new found incredible amount of prosperity. We continued to improve key products such as the automobile and the computer. The technological improvement s would start to exponentially improve in the 90s and lead us in the 2000s where apple would release improved product after improved product every year (iPod, iPhone, iPad).
Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism.
a. Luce says we make to much useless stuff which is true. Yes America does produce some good consumer products that truly so help our nation but the amount of low quality products produced or at least transported and sold in the United States is outrageous. It seems as though America was producing so many useless things in such big numbers, not because it is something that helps or benefits the economy but just because America wants to show that they can, that they are capable of making them. The producing of useless things could be seen a way of making more money not actually as a way of improving the lives of the people buying the products.
b. America has become more like slaves the producer economy because we have starting just making things to make them to show America is a head of everything. America just makes what ever the people on top tell them too and as time progresses more and more pointless things are being created and sold, like the snuggie, America produces these things and they don’t even really seem to have a purpose it seems as though the only answer could be that they are being pushed to just cheaply produce and sell things with the pure expectation of making money off of them. Not only is America being slaves on the production side of things but also the consumer side because Americas are being tricked into buying all of these products as well, which goes into the section above saying that useless products are being made, Americans are being tricked into buying them, Americans have fallen into this trap of buying whatever they see it has made them slaves to the traps the producers put out.
NUMBAA ONE (what is NUMBAA?): Henry Luce was a highly influential publisher and supervised some of the most powerful magazines/newspapers of all time. He also spoke very critically of the American future in his novel The Dangerous Age of Abundance. One of the excerpts from this novel was “Our problems are problems not of failure but of success.” This could not ring more true in today’s life. Usually, right before people fail they make the best decision, the decision that essentially makes them the metaphorical phoenix rising from the ashes. America loves a rags-to-riches story, and these paupers turned princesses usually make better decision because they cherish their material items. It’s the people that come from success, the people with the constant taste of wealth sitting on their tongues, that fall from grace and create problems. Right on Luce. Right on.
I quite frankly find Luce to be rather insightful with his eerily correct assumptions of the future. Another quote from his book is “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.” I believe this statement is quite correct because with new technological advancements, the more potential there was, more fear was injected into people. If you think about it, our liberties were not in question during the early establishment of the country, but when the red scare comes about and nuclear war comes into question we are robbed of our essential liberties that were stated in the Bill of Rights. Science does slowly chip away at the basis of our existence. After all, with scientific progress comes moral regression.
Finally, and by far the best takeaway from the slightly negative novel is the quote “But we are rich – so now what? Get richer – and then what?” I think Luce felt kind of disillusioned with society’s infatuation of material goods. Being a man of education and ideals he obviously sought out more meaning in life than the ownership of the latest gizmo; however, he brings about an interesting perspective, what happens when you keep prospering? Exactly how long can people thrive? People always say money can’t buy happiness, but weren’t the people of the 50’s and 60’s thrilled? But, if you keep prospering do you really improve? Is there anything rewarding in the same old thing everyday? As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”, which I think is exactly what Luce thought the people of his time were. Foolish.
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.
I agree with Luce’s criticism of Galbraith’s critiques of American capitalism. In the 60’s we simply believed that since we were on a high note after the war we would always be. We didn’t plan for the future-we just got what we wanted when we wanted it. It was dismal planning on our part, and if we had all tightened up our business and funds instead of throwing caution to the wind, we may not be in the situation we are now. We attempt, even now, to make our products bigger, better, and more costly than before. For example, the iPhone phenomenon. We don’t need a new iPhone every other year that can search the internet 3x faster and Photoshop our pictures as soon as we take them. We waste money simply so we can be the biggest and the best in the production fields. If we can’t tell the future, we would do better buying more moderately priced and modest things and save the rest in case something happens. In our minds, we are always in need of keeping up with the latest trends and always have to be on top of products. In schools a new trend is to get iPads, flat screens, and smart boards for all the teachers. The money used here could have been used for better purposes, like giving money to underprivileged clubs or new textbooks. To the question if we have become slaves of our own producer economy, the answer is yes. Americans follow production trends very closely and will do anything to be in the loop to look cool in front of others. We believe that only our materialistic items can define us and have become the slaves of mass companies so they will always have a captive buying circle if they always come out with new things for them to believe they must buy. The companies can now always take our money for cheap items(usually made by impoverished workers) and expect us back soon because a)they never last and b) there’s always something new coming out