The Independence Journal
Jack Lessinger's vision of America's future
Schizomania
Lessinger, now professor emeritus of business and history from the University of Washington is no newcomer to the writing game. His book Penturbia, published a dozen years ago has been a classic text that accurately forecast the rise of the land beyond suburbia. Driven by the Internet, UPS, and the whole notion of ubiquitous data access embodied in wireless communications, along with Bill Gate’s vision of .NET™, it’s now possible for businesses to exist almost anywhere.
But let’s not get ahead of the story. Lessinger begins the first couple of chapters of Schizomania by describing what he classifies as two paradigms – or ruling manias – that run our world today.
The existing paradigm, the dominant one, had its roots in the big cities that resulted from industrialization and led to mass consumption. Mass consumption, in turn, spawned the modern suburbs. But in Lessinger’s view, the suburb is in serious trouble. So much so that we should not be surprised to see suburban housing prices fall 50% or more, in real terms, within the next 10 years.
The new paradigm, emerging since the Haight-Ashbury days of the 1960’s, is the opposite of mass consumerism. The new paradigm is worried about environmental issues, long-term sustainable economics, paring down debt, and most important of all, it’s casting off the yoke of consumerism.
He predicts a decade long showdown between consumerism on the one hand – promoting the old mass consumption paradigm – and the Responsible Villager paradigm of thrift and debt free living on the other.
We may be overstating things a bit labeling this as a watershed book. But it goes a long way toward explaining the forces that will place boundaries around our personal freedoms, especially those related to consumer choice, in years ahead.
As far as we know, the book is not available from major booksellers yet, perhaps because of its almost subversively simple approach. It can be ordered from Lessinger’s web site, www.schizomania.com.
As we relate in another article, "We finally bought the farm" Lessinger's ideas about growth fit in nicely with our views of the economy which we've written about on our companion economics site, www.urbansurvival.com.
If you think you might someday like to escape from the big city and try your hand at a more relaxed pace of life, then Lessinger's vision - not to mention his book - are worthy of serious study.
Contact Information:
Publisher: george@ure.net
Editor: elaine@ure.net
All contents © 2004 George A. Ure