An exposé of the systematic attempt of business to make us wasteful,
debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals, The Waste Makers is
Vance Packard's pioneering 1960 work on how the rapid growth of
disposable consumer goods was degrading the environmental, financial,
and spiritual character of American society.
The Waste Makers was the first book to probe the increasing
commercialization of American life--the development of consumption for
consumption's sake. Packard outlines the ways manufacturers and
advertisers persuade consumers to buy things they don't need and didn't
know they wanted, including the two-of-a-kind of everything
syndrome--two refrigerators in every home--and appeals to purchase
something because it is more expensive, or because it is painted in a
new color. The book also brought attention to the concept of planned
obsolescence, in which a death date is built into products so that they
wear out quickly and need to be replaced. By manipulating the public
into mindless consumerism, Packard believed that business was making us
more wasteful, imprudent, and carefree in our consuming habits, which
was using up our natural resources at an alarming rate.
A prescient book that predicted the rise of American consumer culture,
this all new edition of The Waste Makers features an introduction by
best-selling author Bill McKibben.
Vance Packard (1914-1996) was an American journalist, social critic,
and best-selling author. Among his other books were The Hidden
Persuaders, about how advertisers use psychological methods to get
people to buy the products they sell; The Status Seekers, which
describes American social stratification and behavior; and The Naked
Society, about the threats to privacy posed by new technologies.
