Neha Patil (Editor)

The Waste Makers

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Publication date
  
1960

ISBN
  
978-1935439370

Author
  
Vance Packard

Publisher
  
David McKay

Country
  
United States of America


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.

References

The Waste Makers Wikipedia