I suspect that if this book is still being read it has been assigned as part of a college course by a history professor of the 60s. That may be appropriate. but until the last of us baby boomers pass into the dark night, this is worth a read to dispel much of what we took for granted about ourselves. We were not really creating a new world. a new world was marketed to us and we bought into it. That may sound trivially jaded, but the research is here and worth looking at. And it would be wise to consider that message even now, some 50 years later.
All our ernest rejections of the conservative world around us in the 60s (to reject the old stuffy ways) were at bottom a convenient way to sell things, always new things, new and cool and hip. maybe that sounds like a bit of an overstatement, but read this and see what you think then.
And in today's world, where conservatives and liberals (whatever those things really mean) are at each other's throats, it may pay to reflect on the lessons here and ask whether any of the violently waged political battles today are actually real or just manipulated to sell things, beliefs, products, values, votes, all for manufactured causes. and I mean that as an observation regarding all sides. That isn't just Fox News, it is about the state of public debate in general. when you are down in the trenches, can you really tell to what extent someone is pulling the strings? This book gives you reason to pause and wonder.
If things don't appear to change, if we don't have cool and new to look forward to, then why would anyone want to buy anything new. that is the insight provided here. Where did that desire of the new and cool come from? The rush to the newest restaurant, the latest fashion, rejecting the out of date, these just allow someone to sell more junk to us. It is a scary thought. But when you look at the research here, it is not only plausible but it seems likely.
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