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Is the American Dream Killing You?: How "the Market" Rules Our Lives

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During the six decades since my birth, I've been endlessly dismayed by the clearing, plowing under, paving over, malling, developing, polluting, trashing, McDonaldizing, and general destruction of every place I've ever cared about in this country. And I've lived in quite a few.

The earth's rich bounty of species are dying out one by one, human cultures and diversity are being lost, the poles are thawing, glaciers are melting, and the weather is growing more extreme.

This is to say nothing of the ways in which our institutions, morals and manners have degraded in the last fifty years.

For years, I've brooded on the question of why we're so rapaciously destroying the living systems of our planet, including our own. What's at the bottom of our seeming disregard for our very survival?

If you've yourself asked the same questions, then this book by Paul Stiles can provide you with answers.

To put it succinctly, our predicament can be blamed on "the market." Not that the market economy is inherently evil, but that we've allowed it to run away with us. We've displaced paramount considerations of spirit with the maximization of financial profit, thereby letting "market values" become our god.

The chapters of this book devote attention to a number of aspects of our lives impacted by our obeisance to the market god. These include family, esthetics, politics, education, religion, entertainment, work, environment, and possibly the most alarming, our fundamental sense of reality.

Unlike many books lamenting the present state of our culture, Stiles prescribes a deceptively simple solution. Namely, that we give values of spirit, such as love, beauty, and faith, equal or preferably superior status to the values of market economics and profit. In this reassignment of priorities lies the only hope for our striking a healthy cultural balance that will nudge us back toward a world where true human progress reigns, rather than the prevailing misery and suffering that afflicts so many in our time.

Harper Collins continues to work hard at increasing their market share in the business book segment. Under the "Collins" imprint, they have recently published a fascinating work by Paul Stiles that takes a long and hard look at the American Dream and what Stiles calls the "Hyper Market." I was initially tempted to dismiss Stiles out of hand as a curmudgeonly contrarian, but his breadth of experience and pedigree made me reconsider my early doubts about his worldview and sense of perspective. Stiles has served as an intelligence officer for the NSA, worked a Wall Street bond-trading desk, and has been CEO of an Internet start-up. A graduate of Roxbury Latin School and Harvard College, he is the author of an earlier expose of corruption within our financial markets: Riding the Bull: My Year in the Madness at Merrill Lynch."

I am a firm believer that an author's choice of epigraphs reveals a great deal about his values, character, intellect, frame of reference, priorities and agenda. In the case of "American Dream," Stile chooses to open his opus by citing Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"The gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that. And a man will worship something - have no doubts about that, either. He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart - but it will out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming."

These words serve as a cautionary tale and a perfect introduction to Stiles' major thesis: that we have allowed the forces of "The Market" to set the agenda for our lives and we have lost our grasp on humanity, proportionality and moral choice in the bargain. In his analysis, we have come to the point where we serve - often unwittingly - the Market and its insidious pressures, rather than utilizing the dynamics of the free market to increase quality of life and broaden opportunity. Emerson's words of warning echo the Old Testament patriarch, Joshua, who proclaimed: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15) The "prophet," Bob Dylan, struck a similar note with his 1985 song: Gotta Serve Somebody."

Stiles goes to great lengths to show the development of the freewheeling market economy in the U.S. and contrasts its growth with the concomitant devolution of quality of life, and steady increase personal debt, divorce and stress.

"In fact, the word stress, as applied to people, comes form the word stress as applied to metals. The result is physical, mental and spiritual breakdown. Stress is thus the critical missing link between the market economy and human health.

According to psychologists, stress is caused by `any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one's well-being and thereby tax one's coping abilities. The threat may be to one's immediate physical safety, long-range security, self-esteem, reputation, or peace of mind.' Such stress stems directly from all the market pressures we have just described. In effect, it is our response to the Market's efforts to make the economy more productive. And to some extent, that response is natural and healthy. It is only the hypermarket that pushes us over the edge." (Page 35)

Stiles makes a strong case for the amoral nature of the marketplace. He chronicles many examples of market pressures influencing us to make choice that encourage us to lay aside moral considerations. In a chapter entitled "The Modern God," he argues that the Market has effectively usurped the role that God and faith once played in the life of the community, family and individual.

"At the same time, the Market's innate antipathy toward the soul, religion and God is by no means an exclusively American problem. The entire modern age has given birth to an increasingly efficient economic system. The well-known pathologies of modernity - meaningless, purposeless, loneliness, anxiety, depression, fear, heartlessness, boredom, alienation, indifference, desensitization - are all pathologies brought about by the hypermarket. They are the product of an imbalance between the spiritual and the material sides of life and the social fragmentation that results. The Industrial Revolution bred them en masse. Such pathologies can be politically dangerous, as they tend to radicalize those adversely affected by them, to the point where the think the Market is the problem. Well, the unbalanced hypermarket most assuredly is the problem. But a market restrained by Judeo-Christian values, as codified in law and represented in democratic institutions, most certainly is not. It is, rather, a recipe for social success, the very recipe that made America. But like the "postmodern family" we are now in the process of changing that long-standing recipe. With great irony, we are trying to do what the Soviet Union tried to do: replace the religious core of our civilization with a materialistic ideology. It doesn't work. Our approach to the spiritual side of life may need significant rethinking, it may be antiquated, it may be represented by flawed institutions, but the eradication of religion and its replacement with the market system will only breed social chaos. Without god, anything is permissible, which is just what they want to hear on Wall Street." (Page 216)

These are strong and passionately argued words. Many will feel that Stiles has overstated the case. Perhaps so, but we have all felt the gradual erosion of the spiritual from private and public discourse and from individual and family lifestyles.

The author summarizes his argument and his plea for moderation with these words:

Moderation is not a cause, but an effect. It arises from a spiritual awakening, an elevation of consciousness, an awareness of the way things truly are. This is the great missing piece of our social puzzle. After tremendous pain and suffering, on a global basis, mankind has finally crafted a universal economic solution (the free market) and a universal political solution (democracy). What we lack is a universal spiritual solution, a common understanding of the human interior, one rooted in the nature of reality, as we experience it. As a result, the modern world now sits on two legs of a three-legged stool - market democracy - and tilts accordingly. (Page 248)

Many readers will find much to take issue with in this book, but it is still worth wrestling with Stiles' rhetoric and strong beliefs. He speaks from experience and from the heart. He waves the caution flag at a time when life for me is racing out of control.

The author has identified money as the dominant value in American society at the start of the 21st century. Anything that stands in the way of increasing money or the exercise of its associated power is anathema to the now transcendent market, whether it be considerations of ethics, loyalty, community, family, health, morality, friendship, quality, the environment, and even legalities. In a society where the marketplace dominates, individuals become no more than economic entities: sellers, buyers, producers, commodities (disposable), etc. There is no end to the distortion of values and terminology. So-called market democracy has replaced political democracy as the fullest expression of freedom. In fact, political democracy is disdained because of its possible restraint on benign and free market forces.

The author correctly describes the hectic, dysfunctional, and even disastrous nature of modern life lived in accordance with market values, but he offers virtually no historical perspective. Marx over 150 years ago identified the ruthless shredding of traditional life under capitalism, a word barely used by the author. Yet we are now surprised and upset? In the early republic, corporations were chartered by states to perform one public works project and then dissolved. Gradually corporations "persuaded" the judiciary to give them permanent legal standing. But that development was hardly accepted with equanimity by the general public. The Knights of Labor, the Populists, the Wobblies, the Socialists, the CIO unions - all attempted to oppose the new power of corporations to adversely impact the lives of the working class. That historical context is an absolute must in dealing with the death grip that corporations now have on us all.

The author exhibits disingenuousness in his emphasis on the market as the active factor in our society. It is, in fact, huge multi-national corporations that have penetrated most areas of life and imposed their standards. He should have better heeded John Kenneth Galbraith, who suggested that emphasizing market forces or the market system conveniently hides the nature of power exercised by corporations in a capitalistic system. In addition, the author claims repeatedly that the market is mostly about production - not so. Corporations are concerned with profits regardless of how attained. Many corporations, in fact, produce nothing other than profits.

Instead of a hard-hitting approach, the author is inclined to combine concern with modern life with a heavy dose of nostalgia. The good old days for the author are based on the nuclear family with a male breadwinner and a female mother. He expresses dismay at the removal of the Ten Commandants from government buildings. He seems to give little weight to the fact that, while corporations have imposed their values on society, traditional societies and values can also be quite oppressive.

An all powerful marketplace is a huge contradiction in a democracy. Democracy requires, by definition, that the political system be dominant - certainly not subservient to private economic entities regardless of size or wealth. A political democracy requires that all citizens participate in social and economic decisions either directly or through representatives in both public and private spheres. That is exactly what earlier citizen movements were attempting. The suppression of citizens, be it from economic forces, male domination, religious authorities, or any other self-anointed authorities, kills democracy. Though far from perfect, the social democracies of Europe do exert control over the worst excesses of capitalism; of course, that is anathema to free market ideologues.

The book is tedious with its long cataloging of the dysfunctions of the modern world operating solely under market principles. And it is simplistic. Markets, per se, are not the problem, nor are market values, at least directly. Running businesses profitably is essential. However, huge corporations running roughshod over the globe are a problem - the destruction that they leave in their wake hardly needs listing here. And a sham political system that is run by the rich for the rich is a problem. The author does get it right in that the media purposely dumbs us down, jolting us with the sensational, bombarding us with advertising to create voracious wants, and substituting a fantasy world of celebrity over realistic analysis. The author offers no prescriptions for change. And it is just as well. Frankly, it seems that a majority of Americans are hooked on market values and eschew thoughtful participation in a culture free of domination.

I just finished the book today. It is a gripping read. Paul Stiles' analysis of The Market is so penetrating, incisive, devastating, and powerful there can be no comeback to it. He tore away the veils for me.

I also enjoyed his book because it is so carefully written. His sentences are well-crafted, You know you are reading a work of art as well as book on economics and social science.

To get specific for a moment, even though the passage was short, there is passage in the book about what happens to the turkey on Thanksgiving, and it's just great. The laissez-faire people DO only look at the production-side and overlook the integrity, the courage and honesty, and the compassion for others that's also involved and perhaps quite taken for granted.

I wish Paul Stiles had more punch as a philosopher, however, when he writes of the interior world or spirituality. His arguments are philosophically weak and naive, especially in the context of "moral absolutes," where he writes about the Ten Commandments. The last third of the book is just pure religious mush. He gives short shrift to atheists, equating them only with materialists, and he fails utterly even to mention the ancient Greeks who had much to contribute to the development of the Founding Fathers' ideas for the United States.

Still, his analysis of the Market is a genuine tour de force, and it is worth the price of the book.

Paul Stiles wrote a book that has made me really think about how the market rules our lives. His book combines urban planning concepts with some sage advice on what makes a "quality of life" or lack of. Local, State, and National politicians would be wise to explore the concepts in Paul's book.

Work is not everything and families lives are deeply affected by "the Market". Many parents, exhausted from long commutes because of market "planned" communities, causing horrible traffic gridlock, do not get to spend enough time with their families on a day-to-day basis. Streets that don't cut through to other roads cause massive traffic jams. Yes, it is nice to have your own suburban oasis with dead-end streets and courts, but getting out of typical neighborhoods in the morning commute can be hell because of the ridiculous urban planning, planned largely by developers maximizing their income.

Because of the expense of living in the U.S. - wildly inflated housing prices, out of control medical insurance and health care costs, the market has made it nearly impossible in many areas for a Mom to stay at home with her kids. This is important in the first years of a child's life, of course.

Part of the expense is artificial with prices being jacked up due to the "encouragement" and self-fulfilling prophecy of the market getting Mothers to work.

Many mothers have to work - leaving little kids raised by day-care or neglect, if they can't afford adequate day-care.
Even when kids get older, it is nice to have a parent around when they get home from school and today's artificial price inflation in "making a living" has made it impossible for most families to have a "stay at home" parent.

From visiting Europe and Israel, I can see how citizens there have national health insurance and private physicians to supplement their insurance, if they have the money. In the U.S., we have mainly private health insurance and if you lose your job you won't have health insurance and even some jobs cannot give their employees health insurance due to rising costs.

In U.S., we have expensive fresh baked bread with no preservatives or chemicals, and for much of the U.S., the
fruits, vegetables, cheese are fairly expensive, for the best quality. But, we have
cheap meat, chicken, pork in the U.S. In Europe and Israel it is the opposite - cheap top quality bread, fruit, vegetables, and dairly products are usually easily available to the typical consumer. The citizens overseas don't have to spend $4.00+ for a decent loaf of freshly baked bread.

I have enjoyed the pedestrian-friendly very interesting towns
in Europe and Israel.
We have our comparable planned communities in the D.C. area and U.S. that attempt to emulate European towns, which were what old U.S. towns were like before suburban hell!

But, one has to fight traffic way too much and some of the areas are hopeless with endless homes, too few roads, boring blandness.

The list of market ruling our lives in the U.S. goes on and on -
overseas there is a more efficient and cheap bus and train network to get around. In the U.S., not so in many areas. The car is king in the U.S. and of course, that is what gives us a big advantage over Europe and Israel with the freedom personal automobiles give us in the U.S. But, for daily urban and suburban commuting, more and efficient public transportation
would increase the quality of life for the typical worker, quite a bit.

Radio stations used to be more community-oriented, featuring music and programming geared towards the taste of local residents. Now, most radio stations in the U.S. have been taken over by large companies and the market has ruined most radio programming with bland, cookie-cutter radio shows and top-40 music. Switch from one station to another and there is a depressing dullness and sameness. Innovative musicians and bands are rarely heard. The same music is played over and over again for years on end. Experimentation in music and radio programming, in general, is discouraged because of the need to maximize profits. I thought that radio stations were supposed to be for the "good of the people". This is another example of the "the Market" taking over something that was previously for the public benefit - radio stations.
The Market has made it necessary for radio listeners to purchase private radio station broadcasting, such as XM, to get the satisfaction they used to have for free. Many things in the U.S. are becoming slaves to "the Market".

The U.S. is such a wealthy nation, that the above problems could be easily solved if the will of the people, politicians, and urban planners were enlightened. "Is the American Dream Killing You?" is an excellent education towards this goal.

As a 31 year old mother living in a suburban wasteland, I frequently ponder the destruction of American society. In my crackerbox quality townhouse, freezing in the winter and cooking in the sun (no trees in this tract, cookiecutter development) in the summer, I watch the wind blasting through, blowing litter into our postage stamp sized yards. No mothers are home--instead, they are shuttled via SUV to huge corporate chain day care centers, where they are cared for by bitter, swarthy immigrants. My son and I feel utterly alone.

I drive through the ugly, wide roads littered with McDonalds, generic chains and gas stations. Something feels so...empty. Modern life is alienating, lonely, boring, and sick.

There is no community. Women are competitive even about mothering. Money rules all.

No wonder I dream of buying some wooded acres and starting an organic farm/commune!

Paul Stiles is a deeply sensitive and intelligent man, a great writer, and someone with a lot to say about why we are all popping Prozac and junk food these days. I enjoyed the narrative at the beginning--while I didn't agree with every single point, I also live in the DC area suburban wasteland, so I could relate to his points about sprawl, angry commuters, and McMansions.

The look at corporate greed and corruption in recent years was eye-opening. Everyone seems to have their fingers in the till, and the result, I predict, will be a 30's scale depression within the next 20 years. I consider moving to New Zealand to escape the coming hard times.

Paul Stiles has written a book that needed to be written years ago and in many versions and perspectives. In my modest opinion it is the MOST IMPORTANT book of the past 10 years in addressing the culture in which we live and will die. It should be required reading in our homes, schools, churches, governments and councils generally. Paul Stiles needs to become a household name as a spokesman for Humanity.

I just finished reading "Is The American Dream Killing You?" and learned a lot seeing things through Paul Stiles' eyes. Short term solutions can not and will not work. Even now we see our Administration leadership using terms like "Long War" and have read that the Pentagon has new long war plans. But I think they are missing the point because their strategy still remains war-focused. No one speaks about causing fundamental change to move America away from what we are, the hypermarket environment, and towards a power-benefit maximum that could change the way we are perceived. I wondered how to go about re-inventing America in such a way that we would not be such a threat to the Islamic world yet remain competitive in the global community and found several promising strategies. Should we undertake such a sea change? I believe the answer is yes and the best place be to start is strengthening moral values.

"Is The American Dream Killing You?" should be mandatory reading for upcoming presidential candidates. Rather than having them tackle the problem piecemeal, I would feel better if they had a well thought out path to success.

Thank you Paul for writing such a significant work at the right time. Lets hope our leadership takes heed.

Does the Constitution create the framework for the American dream which is contributing to a faster-paced modern world? CEO/former military man Stiles consulted the Constitution and discovered, to his surprise, that aside from authorizing Congress to regulate commerce and mint money, there was no reference to capitalism, corporations, or business at all. So the free market considered a cornerstone of democracy is actually not even mentioned in the key founding documents of our nation! With this information in hand, Stiles discusses the free market's history, how it's remade the American life, and how it may be eroding some of our most beloved human values. From the creation of market-driven culture to the ironies of economics, Is The American Dream Killing You? How 'the Market' Rules Our Lives provides some hard-hitting analysis.

Paul Stiles has written a truly wonderful book. It is chilling to read about how the market manipulates us for it's needs. You get the sense of the market as this "Matrix" like entity controlling our lives. I have recommended this book to everyone I know.