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"AFFLUENT SOCIETY, THE" (JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH).   Term Paper ID:26847 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Reviews work on economic theory behind the negative aspects of post-WWII Amer. affluence.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Reviews work on economic theory behind the negative aspects of post-WWII Amer. affluence. Paper Introduction: On the first page of his 1958 bestseller, The Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that "wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" (1). What he tried to point out was that, although getting gain had been a primary pursuit of Americans long before 1958, endless increases in production--even with an increasing ability to take a guiding hand in manufacturing demand--had become the key to contemporary affluence. And, while this had been producing ever-greater gain for some, it was also engendering severe want and other social problems at a correspondingly rapid rate. Those whose primary goal is the getting of gain had been proceeding without regard for the way this shaped society. And, wrapped up in increasing gain, these Americans seemed incapable of appreciating that want in others would eventually reach critical mass and prove to work Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Other, more pertinent,aspects of Keynes' thought had been set aside in its favor and theconventional wisdom had become "faith in the general curative powers ofincreased production" (Affluent xx). The bookwas widely read yet, as he noted in the third edition in 1978, it was solittle heeded in practical terms that it came to seem that the primaryproblem with the first edition was its understatement. To free-marketcapitalists it was just the way things were, and there was no call tochange the system. And so, forty years later, he could still say,rather sadly, that we now have "wonderfully expensive television and deeplyinadequate schools[,] clean houses and filthy streets," and, in general,the "problems and anomalies that I then identified still persist"(Galbraith, "More" 21).Galbraith's Central Argument Galbraith constructed his argument in four stages. 1999: 2.Whyte, William H. 1998: 21.Gitlin, Todd. Galbraith was intent on demonstratinghow this approach produced grave social ills.Keynes and State Spending In place of this faith in constant increases in production, Galbraithpromoted a version of Keynes' idea that when economic growth is inadequate,"state expenditure for useful purposes" (including a certain amount ofdeficit spending) was the prop the economy needed (Affluent xviii). As the son of a "cattlebreeder and county official" his initial interest was in agriculturaleconomics, which eventually led to his Ph.D. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976.---. Unfortunately immediategain has been given the preeminent position in people's considerations andthere is not even any desire to think about the long run. Works CitedDwyer, Victor. Third,he examined how the pessimistic assumption that poverty was inevitable,"which stemmed from a world where nearly all were poor," wasinstitutionalized in affluent America (Affluent 3). . Finally, he attemptedto show how, once one escaped the grip of the conventional wisdom thatinequality and economic insecurity are inevitable, it was possible toimagine alternative courses of action.Pessimism of the Central Tradition In the liberal economic society, as understood since Ricardo,"economic life was regulated by the market and not by the state," and thismeant that competition was its inevitable characteristic (Affluent 27).This, in turn, seemed to mean that those who were capable of only low ornegligible marginal productivity would have little chance of rising, eventhrough their best efforts, out of near-poverty or escaping a permanentcondition of economic insecurity. ed. But Whyte's apology forcorporations essentially supported the notion that endless productionincreases would serve the interests of society and he saw the currentaffluence as permanent and problems as minimal, arguing that "if we have tohave problems, after all, the adversities of good times are as worthy asany to have to worry about" (395).Keynes' Notion of Increasing Production But it was Galbraith's contention in 1958, and still is, thatwidespread confidence in the Keynesian notion that "an adequate level ofoutput and employment [will] solve nearly all economic and most socialproblems," was terribly mistaken (Affluent xvii). Those whose primary goal is the getting of gain had beenproceeding without regard for the way this shaped society. The same may even be true for later versions, up tothe 4 -yr. Having been warned so often, ofcourse, the present economy is safe from any backlash when production canno longer, at least temporarily, be increased. And, wrapped upin increasing gain, these Americans seemed incapable of appreciating thatwant in others would eventually reach critical mass and prove to workcounter to the continued getting of gain. Galbraith's talent for writing considerably widened theaudience for his work and, especially after becoming a key advisor toPresident Kennedy and ambassador to India, Galbraith was the most famouseconomist in the world. And evenin liberal thought, prior to the Great Depression, it was assumed that anyidea of reform under capitalism was "a façade, a trap or an illusion"(Affluent 47).Accommodating Inequality and Insecurity Galbraith then pointed out that the system dependent on constantincreases in production accommodated concerns with inequality and economicinsecurity. "More than Vague Dinner Conversation." New Statesman 6 Nov. "What It Means to Be an American." Nation 6 May 1996: 28- 33.Keegan, William. Keegan notes, for example, that Galbraith'sideas were "not just about avoiding depression," but, especially inconsidering his forty-year-old text, they were "also about trying to ensurethat booms do not get out of hand" (2). The Organization Man. 3rd ed. First hedemonstrated that postwar thought about the economy depended on theessential pessimism inherited from the central tradition in economicsstretching back to Ricardo in the early nineteenth century. To Marx it was the reason capitalism was doomed--ratherthan the starting point for corrective action within the system. He resumed his academic career at Harvard in 1949 and continued thereuntil 1975. And, while this had been producing ever-greater gain for some, it was alsoengendering severe want and other social problems at a correspondinglyrapid rate. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.NOTE TO CLIENTSince the 1978 revised edition was selected it was somewhat difficult totalk about Galbraith's original ideas. His principal subject has been, directly orindirectly, the role of corporations in the twentieth century economy.From the publication of The Affluent Society in 1958 through such works asThe Culture of Contentment in 1992, he has been equally well-known as acritic of the conventional wisdom that great economic inequity is thenatural condition of societies.History of the Book The Affluent Society was the book that made Galbraith famous and, ashe recently noted while discussing the fortieth-anniversary edition, thatits widespread acceptance was the event that had allowed him to "become amember" of the affluent society himself (Galbraith, "More" 21). Around this time other authorities, such asWilliam Whyte, believed that the corollary of the Protestant ethic, thateveryone "seeking his self-interest automatically improves the lot of all,"was being set aside in favor of a new "social ethic" which considered theimpact of business on society (Whyte 15). in economics at the Universityof California at Berkeley in 1934 (Dwyer 62). Instead, it had become a tenet of economic faith thatincreased production and economic security were mutually dependent.Making Increased Production the Only Economic Good Having satisfied any lingering doubts about inequality or economicinsecurity Americans in 1958, thrilled by the way increasing productionseemed likely to increase gain indefinitely, made the ultimate test of anycourse of action the way it answered one question, was "production aided orretarded?" (Affluent 218). At times it is very difficult to say whether he is talkingabout 1958 or 1978. This also meant that selected original emphases, such asthe Cold War (warmed up by 1978) and the notion of wage and price controls(employed by Nixon, one strange 'Keynesian'), were viewed very differentlyafter 2 years. Second heshowed how an implicit accommodation to affluence was constructed. The "tensions associated with inequality" were kept undercontrol by increased production which, while it did little to narrow thegap, at least benefited workers by increasing wage earnings and thisrelaxation of tensions helped move the question of redistribution out ofthe spotlight and this, of course, benefited the rich as well--at leasttemporarily (Affluent 8 ). Even the revisionsto his text, pointing out the predictive power of some of his conclusions,failed to have much effect. In 1958 Galbraith spotted problems inAmerican society that were caused not by the drive that accompanies thedesire to escape from need, but by the blindness that results fromexcessive gain. Instead, asGitlin says (sounding much like Galbraith himself), when the economist "forthe thousandth (but indispensable) time notes and decries the juxtapositionof 'private affluence and public squalor' . such sense is, of course,not nearly common enough (29). He changed much in post-1958editions, always updating the information, while also modifying hisoriginal ideas a little; although, as he claimed, little had changed ingeneral terms. He taught at Harvard andPrinceton until taking up a variety of government posts during World WarII. Twenty years laterhe could say, for example, that anyone who "had foreseen and described thedisaster that lay ahead for our urban communities, would have beendismissed as a professional alarmist" (Affluent xxii). What he tried to point out was that, although gettinggain had been a primary pursuit of Americans long before 1958, endlessincreases in production--even with an increasing ability to take a guidinghand in manufacturing demand--had become the key to contemporary affluence. Furthermore, economic insecurity, onceconsidered "essential for efficiency" in the competitive economic model andfor increased production, had been definitively shown to work against them(Affluent 94). Most Americans,however, were caught up in their own prosperity and were unable to see whatwas happening to the country. Suchexpenditure would, Keynes held, stabilize the economy temporarily withouteither changing the extent of government or requiring greater taxation.Galbraith has now been reiterating a modified approach to Keynes' insightfor forty years, but few people seem to be listening to him--or, at least,are unwilling to act on his suggestions.Biography Galbraith was born in Ontario in 19 8. Few people demurred from this idea. And since gain was dependent on production (orat least so it was believed), the ultimate question was whether gains wereaffected. Instead,as Victor Dwyer notes, "loath to see their money spent on the lessadvantaged[,] they band together to elect those who promise lower taxes"(62). Other critics have commented on the continued applicability of theideas in The Affluent Society. Since demand on the part of thesovereign consumer was paramount there was no way that inequality andeconomic insecurity and, perhaps, even poverty could be anything butinevitable. The affluence of postwar American society resulted in a generalstandard of living far beyond anything the world had ever seen, yet,Galbraith noted, poverty persisted in the United States and public services--ranging from basic education through maintenance of the infrastructure andthe environment--were being systematically starved. "In My View: Sitting Out the Party with Galbraith." Observer 4 Jul. . Galbraith believed, for example,that gain can only be consistent when it is taxed sufficiently to educatethose who do the producing and consuming on which it depends. On the first page of his 1958 bestseller, The Affluent Society, JohnKenneth Galbraith wrote that "wealth is the relentless enemy ofunderstanding" (1). The Affluent Society. But, as critics now point out in agreement with Galbraith, no onewith a vested interest in increased production has cared to answer thesequestions--even though they have been given forty years to do so. But what Galbraith asked repeatedlywas how the possessors of these immense amounts of gain planned to dealwith roads that were unusable, airports that were disintegrating, researchlabs that could not find educated personnel, offices that needed peoplewith basic English skills, and water or soil that was contaminated. Thus, when it is suggested that the progressive income taxshould be even more steeply scaled, proponents of unfettered growth andlimitless gain argue that this under-taxed income is the source of futureinvestment (and increased production) and it is, therefore,counterproductive to overtax the rich. "The Unjust Society: A Prominent Liberal Slams America's Elite." Maclean's 25 May 1992: 61-62.Galbraith, John Kenneth. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.