Is the American Dream Killing You?: How

319 Pages·2005·10.37 MB·English

by  Paul Stiles

Paul Stiles
IS THE

AMERICAN

DREAM

KILLING

YOU?

How “t he Marke t” Rules Our Live s
To My Parents
Curtis and Marilyn Stiles
The gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that. And a man
will worship something—have no doubt about that, either. He may think that
his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart—but it will
out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore
it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping,
we are becoming.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

viii
CONTENTS
Epigraph iii
PROLOGUE: The Sound of the Alarm 1
INTRODUCTION: The Economic Beast 13
Rethinking the Market
ONE: Burnout 29
The Market vs. Human Health
TW O : Meltdown 55
The Market vs. the Nuclear Family
THREE: The Bubble 81
The Market vs. Reality
FO UR: Flatland 105
The Market vs. the Good
FIVE: Jolts Per Minute 123
The Market vs. Culture
S I X: Borrowed Time 141
The Market vs. the Environment
SEVEN: The Ozone Hole 173
The Market vs. Business
vi C o nt ents
EIGHT: The Modern God 207
The Market vs. God
NINE: The Market Curve 239
The Market vs. America
EPILOGUE: The Market Cross 251
APPENDIX A: The American Hypermarket, 1950–2000 263
APPENDIX B: Society in the Balance 265
APPENDIX C: A Market Lexicon 267
APPENDIX D: Market Metaphysics 271
Note s 273
List of Illustra tions 283
Acknowledgments 287
Index 289
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher