Manufacturing discontent : the trap of individualism in a corporate society

If you're an average citizen without ownership alignment with a corporation, you're playing at a serious disadvantage. You're playing poker, and the rules heavily favor the corporations. The odds are stacked against you. This book was written before the BP Gulf Oil Spill, and the Federal bailout of the banks. The banks are still in existence. Why aren't they bankrupt? Many of the workers who were laid off are bankrupt? But the owners and shareholders weren't held accountable for all the risk they took. Citbank had a debt/equity ration of 30-1! No bank will give you a loan with that kind of leverage. And what happened? You, the taxpayer, had to pay them through the federal reserve. BP's equipment caused the worst oil spill in history. Millions of people from LA are economically devastated. Will BP be held accountable for the problems they caused? No. Compare that to a citizen. If a citizen is driving on a rainy street, loses control of the car, and hits a traffic light, the city will send them a bill to fix the traffic light. Will BP have to pay for the FULL cost of the cleanup? on June 4th, 2010, 30+ days into this oil disaster, the owners of BP still distributed cash to all stock owners. This book describes what's going on accurately. - I also just watched Michael Moore's Capitalism. That movie can't compare to this book. That movie is half truths and one sided opinions. This book gives a much truer picture of the problems in our capitalistic economy. In my opinion, the problem isn't capitalism. The problem is the laws of the US that favor the owners of corporations over the individual citizens. This book is based on that very premise. Corporate Power Has A Huge Impact On The Rights And Privileges Of Individuals -- As Workers, Consumers, And Citizens. This Book Explores How The Myth Of Individualism Reinforces Corporate Power By Making People Perceive Themselves As Having Choices, When In Fact Most Peoples' Options Are Very Limited. Perelman Describes The Manufacture Of Unhappiness - The Continual Generation Of Dissatisfaction With Products People Are Encouraged To Purchase And Quickly Discard - And The Complex Techniques Corporations Employ To Avoid Responsibility And Accountability To Their Workers, Consumers And The Environment. He Outlines Ways In Which Individuals Can Surpass Individualism And Instead Work Together To Check The Growing Power Of Corporations. While Other Books Have Surveyed The Corporate Landscape, Or Decried Modern Consumerism, Perelman, A Professor Of Economics, Places These Ideas Within A Proper Economic And Historical Context. He Explores The Limits Of Corporate Accountability And Responsibility, And Investigates The Relation Between A Wide Range Of Phenomena Such As Food, Fear And Terrorism. Highly Readable, Manufacturing Discontent Will Appeal To Anyone With An Interest In The Way Society Works - And What Really Determines The Rights Of Individuals In A Corporate Society. The Individual Subsumed In The Corporate Economy -- People As Consumers -- What Corporate Society Does To Workers -- Corporate Accountability -- Accountability Vs. Responsibility -- The Role Of Risk -- Food, Fear, And Terrorism -- Individuals As Citizens. Michael Perelman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 183-202) And Index. Corporate power has a huge impact on the rights and privileges of individuals -– as workers, consumers, and citizens. This book explores how the myth of individualism reinforces corporate power by making people perceive themselves as having choices, when in fact most peoples' options are very limited.

Perelman describes the manufacture of unhappiness - the continual generation of dissatisfaction with products people are encouraged to purchase and quickly discard - and the complex techniques corporations employ to avoid responsibility and accountability to their workers, consumers and the environment. He outlines ways in which individuals can surpass individualism and instead work together to check the growing power of corporations.

While other books have surveyed the corporate landscape, or decried modern consumerism, Perelman, a professor of economics, places these ideas within a proper economic and historical context. He explores the limits of corporate accountability and responsibility, and investigates the relation between a wide range of phenomena such as food, fear and terrorism.

Highly readable, Manufacturing Discontent will appeal to anyone with an interest in the way society works - and what really determines the rights of individuals in a corporate society. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction The Individual Subsumed in the Corporate Economy People as Consumers What Corporate Society Does to Workers Corporate Accountability Accountability vs. Responsibility The Role of Risk Food, Fear, and Terrorism Individuals as Citizens Concluding Remark References Index Although the United States is a massively corporate culture, individualism remains such a core value in the United States that it has become a force in itself.

A critical guide to the corporatisation of modern life that shows what we can do to surpass individualism.