American Mania When More is Not Enough

by Whybrow, Peter C.

• ISBN13: 9780393059946
• ISBN10: 0393059944
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Despite an astonishing appetite for life, more and more Americans are feeling overworked and dissatisfied. In the world's most affluent nation, epidemic rates of stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, and time urgency are now grudgingly accepted as part of everyday existence—they signal the American Dream gone awry. Peter C. Whybrow, director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, grounds the extraordinary achievements and excessive consumption of the American nation in an understanding of the biology of the brain's reward system—offering for the first time a comprehensive and physical explanation for the addictive mania of consumerism. American Mania presents a clear and novel vantage point from which to understand the most pressing social issues of our time, while offering an informed approach to refocusing our pursuit of happiness.

Author Biography

Peter C. Whybrow is the Judson Braun Professor of Psychiatry and Bio-behavioral Science and the director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction THE MANIC SOCIETY	1	(20)
Part I THE AMERICAN TEMPERAMENT: A MANIA FOR PROSPERITY
Chapter One ADAMS SMITH'S AMERICAN DREAM: OF DESIRE AND DEBT	21	(28)
Chapter Two CURIOSITY AND THE PROMISED LAND: OF ORIGINS AND OPPORTUNISM	49	(26)
Chapter Three THE FREEDOM TO STRIVE: OF RISK AND REWARD	75	(30)
Part II OVER THE TOP: PROSPERITY'S PARADOX
Chapter Four AMERICA BUBBLES OVER: OF GLOBALIZATION AND GREED	105	(26)
Chapter Five A GROWING BURDEN: OF APPETITE AND ABUNDANCE	131	(26)
Chapter Six THE TIME TRADE: OF CLOCKS AND COMPETITION	157	(28)
Part III MORE IS NOT ENOUGH: PROSPERITY RECONSIDERED
Chapter Seven DREAMS FOR SALE: OF CULTURE AND COMMERCE	185	(26)
Chapter Eight THE ROOTS OF HAPPINESS: OF COMPASSION AND COMMUNITY	211	(24)
Chapter Nine FINDING BALANCE IN THE AGE OF THE MERCHANT: OF SELF AND SOCIETY	235	(50)
Notes	285	(38)
Index	323