Consumption Mania

The general impression I have of the typical American of the late 20th century is of a slightly addled scion of an arriviste industrialist, ignorant of how he got here, where he is, where he's going, and especially of the aspects of life not immediately apparent to his physical perceptions, but who is at the same time charmingly obsessed with his pseudo-pragmatic toys: phones, guns, televisions, and most especially cars and trucks. I think the world has room enough for one such retarded child. I think 200 million is more than we should be forced to take. If the disease spreads, as it looks likely to, then four to five billion will surely spell the end of the human experiment, so far.