8 /10 1 Votes8
Publication date 1960 ISBN 978-1935439370 Country United States of America | 4/5 Goodreads Pages 306 Originally published 1960 Page count 306 Subject Consumerism | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar The Status Seekers, The hidden persuaders, The Naked Society, Made to break, American social classes in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Waste Makers is a 1960 book on consumerism by Vance Packard. It was bestselling when it was released. The book argues that people in the United States consume a lot more than they should and are harmed by their consumption.
Contents
Summary
One reviewer summarized the book's thesis as follows:
Another reviewer described how marketers "force feed" people into buying things which are wasteful.
Vance Packard worked to change the meaning of the term "consumerism" from a positive word about consumer practices to a negative word meaning excessive materialism and waste. The ads for his book The Waste Makers prominently featured the word "consumerism" in a negative way.
Reviews
One reviewer said that the book is an examination of how economic growth became thought to be a virtue.
Another reviewer said that the book describes the manipulation of ordinary people by business interests. The reviewer for Commentary noted that Packard had made harsh attacks on businessmen.