Awakening from the American Dream

Fülszöveg

AWAKENING FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM
The Social and Political Limits to Growth
Rufus E. Miles, Jr.
"An important book." —Robert L. Heilbroner
"I urge every thoughful person to read it—Marquis Childs
"Required reading for anyone who is working to develop
constructive alternatives to the current delusions that pass
for long-term agricultural, energy, and social policy
—Dennis L. Meadows
awakening from the american dream establishes and SUppOrtS
the thesis that social and political limits to growth will bring
Americans to the end of the era of growing affluence much sooner
than physical factors; that, in fact, the social and political limits
are now being strongly felt.
Rufus Miles analyzes twenty-two determinants that have brought
American society to its present state and examines their probable
future directions. He concludes that the much-discussed accelera-
tive thrust has now ended and will probably never again be
revived. He sees American society as highly... Tovább

Fülszöveg

AWAKENING FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM
The Social and Political Limits to Growth
Rufus E. Miles, Jr.
"An important book." —Robert L. Heilbroner
"I urge every thoughful person to read it—Marquis Childs
"Required reading for anyone who is working to develop
constructive alternatives to the current delusions that pass
for long-term agricultural, energy, and social policy
—Dennis L. Meadows
awakening from the american dream establishes and SUppOrtS
the thesis that social and political limits to growth will bring
Americans to the end of the era of growing affluence much sooner
than physical factors; that, in fact, the social and political limits
are now being strongly felt.
Rufus Miles analyzes twenty-two determinants that have brought
American society to its present state and examines their probable
future directions. He concludes that the much-discussed accelera-
tive thrust has now ended and will probably never again be
revived. He sees American society as highly vulnerable to further
social deterioration, sabotage, and breakdown. Central to this is
his thesis that high energy consumption has a centrifugal effect
on the two most basic institutions—the family and the community.
j J
After analyzing both the physical dynamics and various ethical
considerations involved in energy, population, and food, Mr.
Miles assesses the human limits to the management of economic
and political systems that are now so complex as to exceed the
comprehension and management capability of political leaders.
It is his conviction, conveyed with both passion and tough-minded
realism, that America and the developed world must "kick" their
addiction to enormous consumption of energy, reject the nuclear
option, and turn toward energy conservation, new life-styles, and
economical conversion of solar energy. We must now develop a
changed set of values, he concludes, and a new sense of direc-
tion. The search for a different destiny can be a deeply satisfying
and self-renewing experience.
the author: Formerly the top career official of HEW and presi-
dent of the Population Reference Bureau, Rufus E. Miles, Jr., is
a senior fellow and lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School of
Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.
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