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Chargement... Free Time: The Forgotten American Dreampar Benjamin Hunnicutt
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Has the "American Dream" become an unrealistic utopian fantasy, or have we simply forgotten what we are working for? In his topical book, "Free Time," Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt examines the way that progress, once defined as more of the good things in life as well as more free time to enjoy them, has come to be understood only as economic growth and more work, forevermore. Hunnicutt provides an incisive intellectual, cultural, and political history of the original "American Dream" from the colonial days to the present. Taking his cue from Walt Whitman's "higher progress," he follows the traces of that dream, cataloging the myriad voices that prepared for and lived in an opening "realm of freedom." "Free Time" reminds Americans of the forgotten, best part of the "American Dream"-that more and more of our lives might be lived freely, with an enriching family life, with more time to enjoy nature, friendship, and the adventures of the mind and of the spirit. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)331.25Social sciences Economics Labor economics Compensation and other conditions of employment Pensions; InsuranceClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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This is so obvious that I don't understand how the author could fail to see it. His heart is in the right place, certainly. We would all be much better off if we could learn to be happy with less, to realize happiness doesn't come from material things. Yet Hunnicutt seems to think that it was FDR that duped us, and ad men who misled us, and we just need to get back on the right path. He writes:
"Scarcity has not always seemed to be eternal—it was not always understood as the everlasting human condition or the foundation of our nation’s economy. For the most part, perpetual scarcity is a twentieth-century invention. Before then, most Americans assumed that it would be possible for reasonable people to eventually satisfy their needs as the economy and technology improved and the nation advanced. Traditionally, too much wealth, too much materialism, was understood to impede human progress, leading to greed and envy (twin sins that fed on each other), luxury, indolence, and the slavery of selfishness."
At a time when wealth becomes ever more concentrated and greed grows ever stronger, it's hard not to agree with that last statement. America has become much too selfish, and has lost its way, no question. But as I write this, America has just gone through yet another Black Friday weekend, and the consumer feeding frenzy that is the "Holiday Season" is in full swing. It is somehow fitting that the time of year once reserved for reverencing the Christian values of humility, charity, and love is now the time when we give full vent to our insatiable consuming hunger. Americans work more now than they have since the 1920's, six weeks more per year than their European counterparts. And why do we work 40, 50, 60 hours a week? To make more money, of course. To buy things.
"Free Time" is an odd book, in that it contains a very detailed history of an idea, which is followed by a completely mistaken interpretation of the data. I have to think the author was letting his own desire for things to be different color his thinking. This does not detract much, however, from a valuable addition to research into the labor movement and the history of ideas in America. Worth your time, if you've got some to spare. ( )