The Greening of America

And the void below the meritocracy is far worse than

Loss of self. Of all of the forms of impoverishment that can be seen or felt in America, loss of self, or death in life, is surely the most devastating. Beginning with school, if not before, we are systematically stripped of imagination, creativity, heritage, dreams and personal uniqueness in order to style us into productive units for a mass, tech

free choice

fundamentally different

the realities of private power created by industrialism.

But our economic progress has profoundly altered the position of the individual acting alone. We can no longer take care of our own needs. We have all become dependent on many others

This consciousness, which grew out of reform, is Consciousness II.

was the final stage — consciousness was primary.

Worst of all, perhaps, they could be sold artificial pleasures and artificial dreams to replace the high human and spiritual adventure that had once been America.