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Affluence and Discontent: The Anatomy of Consumer Societies
Affluence and Discontent The Anatomy of Consumer Societies Author:Eugene Linden The convergence of pop sociology with undigested sociobiology is a terrifying thought, but its realization in this little book is only mildly ridiculous. Linden, author of Apes, Men and Language, argues--well, asserts--that the consumer orientation of western society is a result of transformations in the species' adaptive behavior for surviv... more »al. Puny little things that we are, our ancestors were smiled upon by nature and provided with the ability to employ reason to adjust the world and our behavior in it. But, according to Linden (and a cast of thousands), the suppressed irrational drives that result keep coming back in odd ways--including, he thinks, in the form of irrational acquisitive urges. The dialectic now becomes apparent: reason allows us to rationalize the world to increase production, and irrational drives give us something to produce for. Linden spices tip this mishmash of Freud, Weber, and Marvin Harris with his own experiences as an encyclopedia salesman, the history of rock music, and his expertise on the language skills of apes. He also finds time to explain the Reformation, inflation, Jonestown, and cargoe cults in New Guinea, all within his evolutionary paradigm. Whatever is sensible here was stated long ago by others; Linden is still hawking encyclopedias.« less