Sharp, David. “Online Sales Fail to Slow Onslaught of Catalog Mailings,” Associated Press, December 25, 2004. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041225/ news_1b25catalogs.html.
Shenk, David. The End of Patience. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1999.
Shi, David. The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 2001.
Shorris, Earl. A Nation of Salesmen. New York: Avon, 1994.
Shrady, Nicholas. Sacred Roads. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1999.
Silverstein, Ken. “Trillion-Dollar Hideaway,” Mother Jones, November-December 2000. http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/11/offshore.html.
Simon, Stephanie. “Scientists Inspect Humdrum American Lives,” Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1999.
Slater, Philip. The Pursuit of Loneliness. Boston: Beacon Press, 1970.
Smith, J. W. The World’s Wasted Wealth. Part 2: The Causes and Cures of Poverty in Today’s World. Cambria, Calif.: Institute for Economic Democracy, 1994.
Sobel, David. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education. Great Barrington, Mass.: Orion Society, 1996.
St. James, Elaine. Simplify Your Life with Kids. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 1997.
Stauber, John C., and Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge Is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. Common Courage Press, Monroe, Me., 1995.
Steamer, James. Wealth on Minimal Wage. Chicago: Dearborn Financial, 1997.
Stein, Herbert, and Murray Foss. The New Illustrated Guide to the American Economy. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1995.
Steingraber, Sandra. Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1997.
Strasburger, Victor C. Adolescents and the Media. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1995.
Strasser, Susan. Satisfaction Guaranteed. New York: Pantheon, 1989.
Suzuki, David. Earth Time. Toronto: Stoddart Publishers, 1998.
Swenson, Richard. Margin. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Navpress, 1992.
———.The Overload Syndrome. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Navpress, 1998.
———.A Minute of Margin. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Navpress, 2003.
Theobald, Robert. Reworking Success. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society, 1997.
Thompson, William Irwin. The American Replacement of Nature. New York: Doubleday Currency, 1991.
Thurow, Lester. The Future of Capitalism. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Tischler, Linda. ‘What’s the Buzz?” Fast Company 82 (May 2004), 76. “Top 100,” Nation’s Restaurant News, June 24, 2002.
Twitchell, James. Adcult USA. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
———. “Two Cheers for Materialism.” In Utne Reader, November/December 2000. Also in The Consumer Society Reader, edited by Juliet B. Schor and Douglas B. Holt, 167-172. New York: The New Press, 2000.
“2003 Market Measure,” Do-It-Yourself Retailing, November 2002.
Urbanksa, Wanda, and Frank Levering. Nothing’s Too Small to Make a Difference. WinstonSalem, N.C.: John F. Blair, 2004.
U.S. Census Bureau. Statistical Abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999, 2004-5.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Information Collection and Data Development (Testing) Web site. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/index.htm.
“Video Stores Seek Class Action in Suit against Blockbuster,”The Home Town Advantage Bulletin, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, November 2000.
Wachtel, Paul. The Poverty of Affluence. New York: Free Press, 1983.
Walker, Bob. “Mall Mania,” Sacramento Bee, October 19, 1998.
Walker, Rob. “The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders,” New York Times Magazine, December 5, 2004. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20912FC3A5A0C768CDDAB0994DC404482&incamp=archive:search.
Wallis, Jim. The Soul of Politics. New York: New Press, 1994.
Walsh, David. Designer Kids. Minneapolis: Deaconess, 1990.
———.Selling Out America’s Children. Minneapolis: Fairview Press, 1995.
Wann, David. Biologic. Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Books, 1994.
———.Deep Design. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1996.
Warren, Elizabeth. “Bankruptcy Borne of Misfortune, Not Excess,”The New York Times, September 3, 2000.
Wattenberg, Ben. Values Matter Most. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1995.
Weil, Andrew. Eating Well for Optimum Health. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.
Weil, Michelle, and Larry Rosen. Technostress. New York: John Wiley, 1997.
Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge. New York: Vintage, 1991.
———.Leap. New York: Pantheon, 2000.
Willimon, William, and Thomas Naylor. The Abandoned Generation: Rethinking Higher Education. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995.
Wolf, Stewart. The Power of Clan: The Influence of Human Relationships on Heart Disease. Somerset, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1998.
Worldwatch Institute. State of the World. New York: W. W. Norton, published annually 1995-2000.
———.Vital Signs 1995-2000. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000.
———.Vital Signs 2003. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003.
Yalom, Irvin. Existential Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books, 1980.
Yearning for Balance: Views of Americans on Consumption, Materialism, and the Environment. A report prepared by the Harwood Group for the Merck Family Fund: Bethesda, Md., 1995.
Yeoman, Barry. “Steel Town Lockdown,” Mother Jones, May/June 2000. http://www.mother-jones.com/news/feature/2000/05/steeltown.html.
Zablocki, Benjamin. The Joyful Community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Zajonc, Donna. The Politics of Hope. Austin, Texas: Synergy Books, 2004.
INDEX
A
Adams, Cindy and Keaton, 20, 48–49
Adbusters, 215–19
addiction, xii–xiii, 14–15, 39, 109–13
advertising
Adbusters, 215–19
brand name, 155–56
high cost of, 154–55
hypercommercialism, 157, 159
limits on, 157, 231
purpose of, 154
violence in, 58
See also marketing; PR
Affluent Society (Galbraith), 151
“affluenza,” xvi, xviii, 2
Affluenza Self-Diagnosis Test, 174–76
Affluenza (show), ix–x, 14–15
Age of Missing Information (McKibben), 191
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 36
American Wind Energy Association, 204
ancient Greece, 131
Andrews, Cecile, 183–84
Aristotle, 131
Atwater, Lee, 74
automobiles
disassembly tax on, 230
environmental impact of, 94–95, 167
expectations and, 25–27, 148–49
freeways and, 32–34, 149
fuel efficient, 200, 203
PR and, 165
suburbia and, 147
SUVs, xii, 26–27, 200–201
time-sharing of, 212
Autowraps, 156
B
Balter, David, 162
bankruptcy, 4, 20–21, 22
Barber, Benjamin, 207
Barbie Get Real (Gailus & Martin) [play], 62
Battle Creek (MI), 144–45
Beal, John, 73
Beder, Sharon, 163, 165
Bernath, Jim, 36
Bernays, Edward, 164–65
Beyond Ecophobia (Sobel), 192
Beyond the Limits (Meadows), 116
Bioregion Quiz, 190
Blackfoot Indians, 117
Blakely, Edward, 69
Blanchard, Chuck and Joy, 145
Boe, Vivia, xv, xvi, 173–74
Boyte, Ha
rry, 73
Broder, David, 84–85
Brower, Michael, 200–201
Brown, Fred, 178
Bush, George W., xix, xi, 85, 226, 229
Bushmen of Kalahari, 88
Buy Nothing Day, 217–19
BzzAgent, 162
C
Canada, 215, 228
cars. See automobiles
Carson, Rachel, 102
Carter, Jimmy, 152, 153
Carver, Thomas Nixon, 142–43
Cashman, Kate, 61
causes
1920s, 142–43
advertising, 154–59, 215–20, 231
The Consumption Spike, 158
early American history, 132–35
Industrial Revolution, 134–38, 167
late 1800s, 139–40
Patient Zero, 128–29
postwar boom, 148–51, 224
PR, 161–66, 168
World War II, 146–47
worldwide historical overview, 129–32
See also advertising; marketing; PR; work
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), 73, 74
CCCS (Consumer Credit Counseling Services), 19–20, 48
Celente, Gerald, 6, 86, 183, 220
Center for a New American Dream, 6, 181, 244
chain stores, 66–68
Channel One, 61, 231
Chappell, Tom, 204
children
“Childhood Influenza,” 55
commercialization of schools and, 59–61, 155
as economic force, 11–13
lifestyle behavior and, 36, 58–59
marketing to, 55–59, 231
media literacy, 219–20
mental health of, 61–62, 70
See also family
China, 122
Circle of Simplicity (Andrews), 184
clutter, 32–37
Clutter Workshop, 32
co-housing, 209–12
Colburn, Theo, 106
Colombia (South America), 95–96
Coming Back to Life (Macy), 243
Communist Manifesto (Marx), 135
community
advisory panels, 161–62
civic life and, 207–9
co-housing, 209–12
expendability and, 52–53
isolation and, 63–66, 68–71
retail chains and, 66–68
security and, 68–70
shopping mall as centerpiece, 14
sustainability and, 237–39
true wealth and, 117, 118–19
voluntary simplicity and, 184–85
Consumer Credit Counseling Services, 19–20, 48
Consumer Jungle (website), 219–20
Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices (Brower and Leon), 200
corporations, 161–66, 168–69, 186, 202–3, 230
Cover Concepts, 61
credit cards, 19–20
crime, 58, 68–70, 76, 86–87
cultural differences
Blackfoot Indians, 117
China, 121, 122
Japan, 117, 121
Lakota Sioux, 132
Machiguenga, 129–30
Pacific Islander, 122
Spain, 123
See also international impact; international practices
cultural norms. See social norms
Curing Affluenza (video), 185
D
dead zones, 105–6
debt, 18–21
DeWitt, Calvin, 132, 195–96
discontent
advertising and, 42, 157, 159
dietary, 120–21
malls, 13, 14
market values and, 52–53
material wealth and, 24, 39, 115–17
self-esteem and, 123–24
sex, 121–22
social isolation and, 64–66, 68–71
throw-away society and, 49–50
See also fulfillment
Doherty, William, 47–48
Dominguez, Joe, 179–81
Donovan, Webster, 107–8
Don’t Buy It (website), 219–20
Douglas, Tommy, 228
Dowie, Mark, 164–65
downshifters, 181, 185–86
Dungan, Nathan, 219–20
Dunning, David, 124
Durning, Alan, 95–96, 204
E
Earth in Balance (Gore), 2
Earth Institutes, 186
ecological footprint, 96–97, 241
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (Marx), 135–36
economics
dissatisfaction and, 120
and the environment, 170
the G.I. Bill, 147, 149
globalization, 87–88
income inequality, 82–84
poverty, 82–83, 84–87
progress and, 3–4, 7
saving money and, 21–22
of scale, 66–67
single-payer health care, 228
sustainability and, 246, 247
taxes, 229–30
voluntary simplicity and, 232–33
workweek reduction and, 227
See also social class
ecophobia, 192
education commercialization, 59–61, 231
Edwards, Felicia, 86
Ehrenreich, Barbara, 50, 85
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 149
Electronic Gaming Monthly (magazine), 58
Elgin, Duane, 183, 187
employment. See work
emptiness. See discontent
End of Patience (Schenk), 41
Engels, Friedrich, 135, 136
English-Leuck, Jan, 36
environmental impact
of automobiles, 94–95, 167
chemical toxicity, 101–4
consumerism, 3, 6, 14, 152
dead zones, 105–6
ecological footprint, 96–97, 241
energy supply, 204
global warming, 166–68
housing toxins, 104
on the lower classes, 85–86
overview, 90–91
personal choice and, 93–94, 198–202, 204–5
policy, 199–200, 229, 245
products, 91–93, 202–4, 245, 246
sustainability and, 237, 245
voluntary simplicity and, 186–87
on wildlife, 97–99, 105–6
See also industrial toxicity; nature; sustainability
Escape from Affluenza (documentary), 219
EU (European Union), 44, 230
Europe, 224, 228, 229, 230, 232
expectations
automobiles, 25–27, 148–49
food, 27–28, 120–21, 247
housing, 24–25
luxuries, 27, 28–29, 30
standard of living, 23–24, 29–30
Expedia.com, 43–44
extended producer responsibility laws, 202–3, 230
F
Faber, Ronald, 112–13
Faludi, Susan, 157, 159
family
conservative values and, 52–53
free time and, 225–27
market values, 47–48, 50–52, 57–58
money stress and, 48–50
shopping and, 14
throw-away society and, 49–50
See also children
Fever Index, 235
FOF (Focus on the Family), 51–52
food, 27–28, 107–8, 120–21, 247
Ford, Gerald R., 152
Ford, Henry, 148
Fortress America (Blakely), 69
Frank, Robert, 229
free time, 39–41, 43–45, 140–42, 225–27
Friedman, Meyer, 45–46
front groups, 163–64
fulfillment
addiction and, 113
de-individualization, 79–80
depression and, 77–78
giving and, 73–74
leisure time and, 39–41, 43–45, 140–42
Marxist thought, 136–37
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, 118–20
materialism, 76–79, 115–17, 235–37
non-material gain and, 151
right livelihood, 74–76, 236–37
See also discontent
Furlong, Edward, 105
G
Gailus, Jennifer, 62
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 24, 151, 158
GDP (gross domestic product)
in the EU, 44
as outmoded measure, 7, 217
and social health, 70, 234, 239–41
Geller, Howard, 199, 204
Gelobter, Michel, 240
Geography of Nowhere (Kuntsler), 65
giving, 62, 73–74
Global Spin (Beder), 163
global warming, 166–68
globalization, 87–88
Goodman, Ellen, 36
Gore, Al, 2, 229
GPI (genuine progress indicator), 7, 239–41
Graham, Malory, 220
green tax system, 229–30
Green, William, 141, 143
Greenbrier High School (GA), 59
Greening Earth Society, 166, 168
Greening the Planet Earth (video), 166, 168
Greenway, Robert, 193–94
H
Hagg, Ernest van den, 79–80
Haggard, Ted, 50
Hamm Creek, 73–74
happiness. See fulfillment
Happiness (Layard), 224, 232
Harmony Village (CO), 209–12
Harwood, Richard, 2–3
Hatcher, Lee, 237, 238–39
Hawken, Paul, 90, 198, 230, 246–47
Hayden, Tom, 77, 78
health concerns
depression, 77–78
employee benefits, 225, 226, 228
industrial toxicity, 101–5, 107
obesity, 35, 56, 88, 121
ranking of US, 44
social isolation and, 64, 70
sustainability and, 247
Type A personality, 45–46
See also industrial toxicity; stress
High Tech/High Touch (Naisbitt), 37
history. See causes
housing, 24–25, 90, 104, 147, 209–12
Humane Economy (Ropke), 79
Hunnicutt, Benjamin, 142, 144, 145
I
Industrial Revolution, 134–38, 167
industrial toxicity
dead zones, 105–6
food, 100–101
health and, 102–4, 107
housing and, 104
statistics, 101
international impact, xvii–xviii, 4, 81–82, 87–88, 121–23
international practices extended producer responsibility laws, 202–3, 230