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The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification
Five years after the Great Recession, we must confront an unhappy truth: a high-tech, high-speed, consumer economy engineered to provide maximum power to individuals is destroying our capacity to move forward as a society. Even as rapidly advancing personal technologies let consumers gratify an ever-broader array of desires, a similar pattern of instant gratification in the worlds of business and politics is splitting our economy and undermining our most important social institutions—family, community, collective action. The result is a massive and ongoing fragmentation. Corporate executives now maximize returns without regard for social consequences. Political leaders score quick points while destroying common ground. Consumers cover their growing economic insecurity by retreating into personalized world that render collective social action all but impossible.The consequences: financial volatility, health epidemics, environmental degradation, and political paralysis, to say nothing of a deep and growing dissatisfaction. All reflect a society whose pursuit of self-interest grows more intense and less enlightened every year.
More than thirty years ago, Christopher Lasch published his landmark book, The Culture of Narcissism. Since then, the conditions he described have only gotten worse. And while Lasch’s analysis was largely cultural, the real story has always been an economic one. Paul Roberts digs down to the economic roots of the problem, showing how it has metastasized over the last three decades. In clear, cogent prose that mixes vibrant reporting and illuminating analysis, Roberts tells the fascinating story of how the impulse society came to be—and shows how, perhaps, a healthier society may still be possible.
More than thirty years ago, Christopher Lasch published his landmark book, The Culture of Narcissism. Since then, the conditions he described have only gotten worse. And while Lasch’s analysis was largely cultural, the real story has always been an economic one. Paul Roberts digs down to the economic roots of the problem, showing how it has metastasized over the last three decades. In clear, cogent prose that mixes vibrant reporting and illuminating analysis, Roberts tells the fascinating story of how the impulse society came to be—and shows how, perhaps, a healthier society may still be possible.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2014
61 people are currently reading
1450 people want to read
About the author
Paul Roberts
3 books29 followersI'm a journalist and author of three books, most recently, The Impulse Society: America in an Age of Instant Gratification. My work focuses on the evolving relationship between the marketplace and the Self and touches on issues ranging from technology obsessions to the politics of narcissism. Earlier works have explored the energy economy and the food industry. I live with my family in Washington State.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
November 18, 2014
This was a great intellectual read that forewarns the reader of the perils found in entertainment based technology along the lines of books such as: “Amusing ourselves to death” by Postman and “The Assault on Reason” by Gore and “The Age of American Unreason” by Jacoby. There are books throughout the recent decades that’ run through the wilderness’ like John the Baptist decrying out society’s fall into mindless decadency driven primarily by the advancement in entertainment based technology. I agree with several points in this book. Below is a list of summarized points:
1.Increased dependency on computers for social interaction detracts from our ability to limit selfish motivators and support larger social goals. We move away from the social norms that are required for a strong developing society toward stagnate, anti-social, society because we don’t need to work together for survival and security.
2.Our focus on immediate gratification eliminates our ability to pursue long-term improvements and significant technological advances. We begin to settle for simple cosmetic improvements over truly innovative changes that impact serious issues like fuel alternatives or declining educational systems.
3.Finally, the very motives that created a highly competitive economic driven market set the course for a product centered management that consistently eliminate worker rights.
These are problems present in every society and require pragmatic intellectuals/politicians that have the drive needed to redirect our citizens toward social reforms.
Overall the book was very informative and provides some interesting solutions to the problems it presents. There are times where the author shows a little political bias explaining the emotionally focused conservative right over the very pragmatic liberal left. Outside of this slight slant, the book shows a fair critical thinking process and very enjoyable format.
1.Increased dependency on computers for social interaction detracts from our ability to limit selfish motivators and support larger social goals. We move away from the social norms that are required for a strong developing society toward stagnate, anti-social, society because we don’t need to work together for survival and security.
2.Our focus on immediate gratification eliminates our ability to pursue long-term improvements and significant technological advances. We begin to settle for simple cosmetic improvements over truly innovative changes that impact serious issues like fuel alternatives or declining educational systems.
3.Finally, the very motives that created a highly competitive economic driven market set the course for a product centered management that consistently eliminate worker rights.
These are problems present in every society and require pragmatic intellectuals/politicians that have the drive needed to redirect our citizens toward social reforms.
Overall the book was very informative and provides some interesting solutions to the problems it presents. There are times where the author shows a little political bias explaining the emotionally focused conservative right over the very pragmatic liberal left. Outside of this slight slant, the book shows a fair critical thinking process and very enjoyable format.
October 8, 2016
Some years ago, TIME Magazine declared its Person Of The Year to be YOU. A mirror laminated to its most eagerly-awaited front cover of the year reflected back the image of the individual reader and proclaimed he or she to be the most significant person on the planet that year. One wit famously secured a job after listing under personal achievements on his CV that he had been named TIME's Person Of The Year. TIME's intention, as it laboriously explained in its editorial, was to celebrate the empowerment of the individual and laude our unimpeachable march towards fulfilling our own individual potentials, unimpeded by anything or anyone, and enabled by the liberating power of technology. What it instead celebrated was narcissism run amok in the age of Facebook (or Faeces book as I prefer to call it) and social media, a twisted realization of the doctrine of Ayn Rand.
Paul Roberts labels this narcissism, and the related self-absorption, self-centeredness and self-indulgence as the "Impulse Society", and explores in his book of this title how our society has become hyper-impulsive, with individuals demanding instant self-gratification regardless of the consequences and impact. In a nutshell, we are all about "consume now, pay later". Unsustainable resource consumption and depletion are are obvious consequences of this, but Roberts delves into several others, one of which he hypothesizes was the 2008 Financial crisis, a central cause of which was the explosion of credit to fuel rabid overconsumption. But other consequences are many, including psychological consequences to the individual such as anxiety, withdrawal and alienation from community.
The Impusle Society is also linked to the wider economy and business World, as the behavior of organizations takes on similar characteristics. Companies become detached from their employees in the same way as individuals become detached from community. Investment into innovation is directed towards incremental product"upgrades" to generate short-term returns instead of long-term basic research; money previously spent on skills training & development is channeled into data-mining IT, automation, outsourcing programs and robotics; profits are "invested" into share buybacks instead of R&D, and a jobless recovery ensues as corporate profits soar.
Roberts also explores how The Impulse Society manifests itself in the political system where short-sighted Partisanship creates a disfunctional toxic blend of Politics producing dire consequences for public infrastructure, healthcare and education.
Roberts, whose 2 earlier books, The End Of Oil and The End Of Food, were splendid revelations of impending disasters from unfettered and unsustainable consumption, is a skilled undercover economist who here adds elements of neuropsychology and sociology into the mix; regardless of whether you view him as a left-wing doomsayer or sage to be heeded, his argumentation is empassioned and well argued. Roberts' concludes with a carefully thought out, but ultimately unconvincing, set of remedies to temper the worst excesses of the Impulse Society.
One branch the author could have explored but chose not to in this book, is the degree to which technology has played a central role in the creation of the Impulse Society. We are all slaves now to our World of interconnected smartphones and other mobile devices and various screens, with the consequent loss of individual creativity, concentration and communication skills. Most people under 30 years old today couldn't sustain a 2-hour dinner party conversation without referencing Google on the subjects being discussed; for most of the same people experiences like travel or attending a rock concert are not about absorbing the experience of being there, but about letting all your "friends" know instantly that you are there. Devices and gagets are not a means to an end, they are the end itself; a friend marvels and demonstrates at how you can download & watch the latest movies in high definition on his iPhone 7, but he will never ever have the concentration span to actually watch one of those movies. What liberates us enslaves us; perhaps that cover of TIME reflecting back the all-empowered self should have had bars drawn across the surface of the mirror.
Paul Roberts labels this narcissism, and the related self-absorption, self-centeredness and self-indulgence as the "Impulse Society", and explores in his book of this title how our society has become hyper-impulsive, with individuals demanding instant self-gratification regardless of the consequences and impact. In a nutshell, we are all about "consume now, pay later". Unsustainable resource consumption and depletion are are obvious consequences of this, but Roberts delves into several others, one of which he hypothesizes was the 2008 Financial crisis, a central cause of which was the explosion of credit to fuel rabid overconsumption. But other consequences are many, including psychological consequences to the individual such as anxiety, withdrawal and alienation from community.
The Impusle Society is also linked to the wider economy and business World, as the behavior of organizations takes on similar characteristics. Companies become detached from their employees in the same way as individuals become detached from community. Investment into innovation is directed towards incremental product"upgrades" to generate short-term returns instead of long-term basic research; money previously spent on skills training & development is channeled into data-mining IT, automation, outsourcing programs and robotics; profits are "invested" into share buybacks instead of R&D, and a jobless recovery ensues as corporate profits soar.
Roberts also explores how The Impulse Society manifests itself in the political system where short-sighted Partisanship creates a disfunctional toxic blend of Politics producing dire consequences for public infrastructure, healthcare and education.
Roberts, whose 2 earlier books, The End Of Oil and The End Of Food, were splendid revelations of impending disasters from unfettered and unsustainable consumption, is a skilled undercover economist who here adds elements of neuropsychology and sociology into the mix; regardless of whether you view him as a left-wing doomsayer or sage to be heeded, his argumentation is empassioned and well argued. Roberts' concludes with a carefully thought out, but ultimately unconvincing, set of remedies to temper the worst excesses of the Impulse Society.
One branch the author could have explored but chose not to in this book, is the degree to which technology has played a central role in the creation of the Impulse Society. We are all slaves now to our World of interconnected smartphones and other mobile devices and various screens, with the consequent loss of individual creativity, concentration and communication skills. Most people under 30 years old today couldn't sustain a 2-hour dinner party conversation without referencing Google on the subjects being discussed; for most of the same people experiences like travel or attending a rock concert are not about absorbing the experience of being there, but about letting all your "friends" know instantly that you are there. Devices and gagets are not a means to an end, they are the end itself; a friend marvels and demonstrates at how you can download & watch the latest movies in high definition on his iPhone 7, but he will never ever have the concentration span to actually watch one of those movies. What liberates us enslaves us; perhaps that cover of TIME reflecting back the all-empowered self should have had bars drawn across the surface of the mirror.
September 14, 2016
Menceritakan bagaimana masyarakat hari ini jauh tercampak dalam dunia yang dicipta sendiri akibat perkembangan media sosial. Masyarakat hari ini menurut penulis tidak lagi mempunyai empati sebaliknya menuju masyarakat yang mementingkan diri sendiri dan obses terhadap diri sendiri.
October 17, 2016
Buku ini mengenai sifat ke'aku'an (narcissism) dalam sosiobudaya Amerika.
Dibicarakan tentang kemahuan sementara (short-term gain) sama dalam individu dalam konsumerisma; institusi kewangan dalam merangka kewangan atau pekerja yang hanya mahu mengaut untung atau tidak berani merobah sistem & sistem politik bi-partisan yang hanya mencari laba yang sementara, yang sememangnya biasa dalam politik opportunis.
Updated with computer :
Hanya setelah selepas pertengahan buku, baru nampak ke mana arah penulisan penulis. Disebabkan diktomi politik Amerika yang terbahagi kepada dua sangat signifikan; penulis membicarakan masyarakat yang tidak mahu berhadapan (engage) dengan yang lain (the other), kerana ke'aku'an yang tinggi dan tidak mempedulikan yang lain.
Hal ini, menurut penulis, jelas dalam perkara lain juga; yang saya ingat adalah corak migrasi dan polisi kesihatan.
Dalam corak migrasi, diberi contoh Portland, yang hidup 'vibrant' dengan pelbagai ideologi berbeza (in liberal sense). Hal ini sebelumnya berbeza, kerana penduduk pindah ke situ kerana kebimbangan penerimaan masyarakat terhadap pandangannnya seperti kahwin sejenis (gay marriages), kitar semula sisa pembuangan dsb yang sedikit sebanyak berkisar selari dengan manisfesto dan SOP Republikan-Demokrat di Amerika. Maka, mereka ingin lebih selesa duduk dalam masyarakat yang berfikiran sama (comformity) berbanding untuk lebih berhadapan dengan masyarakat yang mempunyai idea berbeza atau bertentangan.
Hal yang sama dalam masalah polisi kesihatan, yang turut sama dibelenggu dengan kitaran ganas kapitalisma, apabila contohnya dibawa masuk teknologi MRI dan CT scan ke hospital, pakar-pakar kesihatan terpaksa menggunakannya walaupun tidak perlu untuk mengabsahkan pembiayaan yang telah dibuat, tidak termasuk lagi rawatan-rawatan yang tidak perlu keatas pesakit yang hanya dijalankan untuk menaikkan keuntungan.
Salah satu solusi penulis adalah dengan percambahan semangat kekitaan (egalitarianism) dalam masyarakat. Mulanya saya kurang sedar mengapa penulis sangat menyanjung idea radikal kiri dalam demonstrasi dan protes, akhirnya baru beliau berhujah bahawa dengan adanya golongan ini, mereka memberi impak sebagai 'check and balance' terhadap polisi-polisi yang dijalankan parti pemerintah, kerana selepas ke'mandom'an gerakan kiri di Amerika, polisi yang dijalankan banyak berkompromi dengan pasaran yang tidak mengambil kira kepentingan awam dan hanya mementingkan kantung syarikat-syarikat besar.
Dibicarakan tentang kemahuan sementara (short-term gain) sama dalam individu dalam konsumerisma; institusi kewangan dalam merangka kewangan atau pekerja yang hanya mahu mengaut untung atau tidak berani merobah sistem & sistem politik bi-partisan yang hanya mencari laba yang sementara, yang sememangnya biasa dalam politik opportunis.
Updated with computer :
Hanya setelah selepas pertengahan buku, baru nampak ke mana arah penulisan penulis. Disebabkan diktomi politik Amerika yang terbahagi kepada dua sangat signifikan; penulis membicarakan masyarakat yang tidak mahu berhadapan (engage) dengan yang lain (the other), kerana ke'aku'an yang tinggi dan tidak mempedulikan yang lain.
Hal ini, menurut penulis, jelas dalam perkara lain juga; yang saya ingat adalah corak migrasi dan polisi kesihatan.
Dalam corak migrasi, diberi contoh Portland, yang hidup 'vibrant' dengan pelbagai ideologi berbeza (in liberal sense). Hal ini sebelumnya berbeza, kerana penduduk pindah ke situ kerana kebimbangan penerimaan masyarakat terhadap pandangannnya seperti kahwin sejenis (gay marriages), kitar semula sisa pembuangan dsb yang sedikit sebanyak berkisar selari dengan manisfesto dan SOP Republikan-Demokrat di Amerika. Maka, mereka ingin lebih selesa duduk dalam masyarakat yang berfikiran sama (comformity) berbanding untuk lebih berhadapan dengan masyarakat yang mempunyai idea berbeza atau bertentangan.
Hal yang sama dalam masalah polisi kesihatan, yang turut sama dibelenggu dengan kitaran ganas kapitalisma, apabila contohnya dibawa masuk teknologi MRI dan CT scan ke hospital, pakar-pakar kesihatan terpaksa menggunakannya walaupun tidak perlu untuk mengabsahkan pembiayaan yang telah dibuat, tidak termasuk lagi rawatan-rawatan yang tidak perlu keatas pesakit yang hanya dijalankan untuk menaikkan keuntungan.
Salah satu solusi penulis adalah dengan percambahan semangat kekitaan (egalitarianism) dalam masyarakat. Mulanya saya kurang sedar mengapa penulis sangat menyanjung idea radikal kiri dalam demonstrasi dan protes, akhirnya baru beliau berhujah bahawa dengan adanya golongan ini, mereka memberi impak sebagai 'check and balance' terhadap polisi-polisi yang dijalankan parti pemerintah, kerana selepas ke'mandom'an gerakan kiri di Amerika, polisi yang dijalankan banyak berkompromi dengan pasaran yang tidak mengambil kira kepentingan awam dan hanya mementingkan kantung syarikat-syarikat besar.
December 29, 2014
This book has a valid premise - that increased personal power of modern society (beginning with cars, proceeding to household appliances and recreations, and accelerated with the advent of digital media) has contributed to, if not caused, an increase in self-centeredness and a deterioration of our public sphere. This is not a wholly new concept; Nisbet and others were writing about this as early as the 1950s and 1960s. However, it is good to see it refreshed, especially in light of the digital revolution and what has been happening in our public sphere over the past two decades.
That said, I found the book rather repetitive. Once the basic idea is put forward, the rest of the book is spent showing how it affects different aspects of our lives, from education to health care to our politics. If one gets the concept (it's not super-difficult) and sees it applied once or twice, one should be able to apply it to other realms. Thus most of the book is redundant, variations on a theme. I found myself skimming by the middle of the book.
That said, I found the book rather repetitive. Once the basic idea is put forward, the rest of the book is spent showing how it affects different aspects of our lives, from education to health care to our politics. If one gets the concept (it's not super-difficult) and sees it applied once or twice, one should be able to apply it to other realms. Thus most of the book is redundant, variations on a theme. I found myself skimming by the middle of the book.
October 5, 2014
Paul Roberts's book is not so much about the problem with getting what we want, but the destructiveness of focusing all our energy--both individually and as a society--on focusing all our efforts on getting what we want immediately, to the exclusion of the general good. His argument is a compelling one, particularly when he talks about the way business culture and politics have absorbed the habits and patterns of the Impulse Society. The destructiveness, as he points out, can only go on for so long before a total collapse ensues. While I would have liked more concrete examples, particularly in the final chapter when he addresses what needs doing to change the momentum of our society, it's a thoughtful and important book.
July 16, 2017
I remember myself feeling a general sense of anger reading this book, at how society has turned out, how companies get away with daylight robbery, and how we're only too happy to put up and shut up as long as we get our personalised, designed life. Mildly repetitive at times as he applies the impulse society lens to different arenas (health, politics, etc) but his point is abundantly made. This cannot continue.
___
A century ago, most economic activity occurred in our outer lives - in the physical world of production. Today the situation is almost reversed, with most economic activity centered on consumption.
Some would argue that since the computer revolution of the 1970s, the consumer marketplace has effectively moved inside the self, and is now inseparable from not only our desires and decisions, but also our very identities.
Much of what Apple and most other purveyors of personal technology, from Google to Microsoft to Facebook, are selling really is a kind of productivity: the ability to generate the highest level of momentary pleasure for the least effort.
Sloan's creation of the yearly car model for GM offered his customers the power to move themselves not just physically but socially, a shrewd proposition in a time when Americans were becoming increasingly status conscious.
Now anyone could upgrade to a higher level of emotional fulfillment - and do so more quickly and efficiently than had been possible under the old producer economy, when moments of intense satisfaction were less frequent and more likely to require some serious effort or discipline.
With the age of consumer choice, the feedback loop between marketplace and consumer shifted into much higher gear. The nascent project of self-improvement and self-discovery was now industrialised and professionalised into full-scale social agenda.
People who routinely use credit cards have no idea how much they've paid. - Dilip Soman, University of Chicago
Intertemporal choices (choices between now and later) are among the most frequent kinds of decision we make, and also among the most important, determining everything from personal health and finance to collective outcomes such as climate change. Alas, they are also our most fraught, time and again we get them wrong.
The story of civilisation is arguably the story of societies getting better at persuading, coercing, or otherwise inducing individuals to repress their impulsiveness and myopia, or repress them sufficiently, to keep civilisation moving forward.
It's tempting to view the social obligations of mom-and-pop stores as non-market inefficiencies. Yet Adam Smith himself insisted that markets would not yield their famous optimality without a strong moral dimension: absent trust and empathy between buyer and seller, markets quickly lose their efficiencies and fail - as numerous scandals, scams and bubbles have demonstrated.
Robert Nisbet in The Quest for Community: By emancipating the individual from often-repressive traditional social structures, modern liberal society effectively severed and isolated him from "the subtle, infinitely complex lines of habit, tradition and social relationship" that make individual freedom possible in the first place. Humans are inherently social, and it is only when individual freedom is mediated through social structures like family and neighbourhood that such freedom becomes meaningful or sustainable.
With the demolition of social norms through the privatisation of consumption (customer to consumer), we now had more power, but were increasingly alone with this power.
Technologies developed in a healthy manufacturing sector tend to spill over into the rest of the economy and spur broader growth, while the financial sector tends to siphon off talent and resources from other sectors.
Failure in the manufacturing sector leads to job loss. Failure in the financial sector can utterly destroy an economy.
Thus it's no surprise that once an economy's financial sector exceeds a certain size, it may actually begin undercutting economic growth.
The more we retreat into self-made experiences and lifestyles, the harder it becomes to engage in what is not familiar or personalised. And the brute fact is that some of the most important things in life, and certainly most of the biggest challenges we face as a society, are anything but personal or personalisable. Rather, they are generic, collective, and often unpleasant, requiring patience, a tolerance for the unfamiliar and a willingness to compromise and even sacrifice.
We need the 'other' not only to challenge our own ideas and opinions, refresh our thinking and keep democracy vibrant, but also to know ourselves. It is only by acknowledging something truly larger than ourselves that we can really understand who we are and importantly, who we aren't.
Ask a 20 year old how to get rich, says Campbell (Narcissism Epidemic), and you'll probably get 3 answers. "I can either be famous on reality TV, or I can go start a dot-com company and sell it to Google in about a week, or I can go work for Goldman Sachs and just steal money from old people."
The real crisis in innovation under the Impulse Society: innovation was once a tool to improve the productivity of the entire economy - companies, and workers, labour and capital - it's more exclusive today. Increasingly, innovation improves the productivity of capital, via faster returns, while leaving labour's productivity largely unchanged, or even slowed. E.g. the innovation of off-shoring has lowered worker productivity, by increasing the distance between business units or using less skilled labour.
With engineering, there's always an intense interaction between the people creating the product and the business owners it is being created for. And that works most easily when everyone is in the same building and they can meet every day and have informal conversations in the hallway.
In Britain, patients diagnosed with certain well-advanced cancers are automatically referred to pallative care. "Though it may seem incredibly bleak, it's just reality. We can pretend we can cure you with additional drugs, but that's just a game of make believe that really is not rational." - Anthony Zietman, oncologist.
Fox News Channel's simple two-part strategy: provoking the audience into a fever of indignation (to keep them watching) and fomenting mistrust of all other information sources (to keep them from changing the channel).
It's also telling that CNN, the main channel striving for neutrality, has one of the lower viewership numbers.
So focused was the left on self-expression and personal fulfillment that it largely neglected its historical function: keeping government from falling totally in the thrall of the marketplace and the blind march for efficiency.
"The worst families in American are those that actually function as families - they cook their own meals, take walks after dinner, and talk together instead of farming the kids out to commercial culture. These activities all involve less expenditure of money. Solid marriages involve less expenditure for counselling and divorce, thus they are threats to the economy as portrayed by GDP." - Jonathan Rowe, journalist
By making people more secure, by encouraging the idea that larger society has our interests and well-being at heart, we will be more willing to step out of ourselves and to devote more time to our families, our neighbours, our schools. As important, by making progress on inequality, by demonstrating that the economy is not solely for the wealthy and the politically connected, we begin to restore the faith that the rest of us once had had in the broader American experiment, and in democracy as a whole.
___
A century ago, most economic activity occurred in our outer lives - in the physical world of production. Today the situation is almost reversed, with most economic activity centered on consumption.
Some would argue that since the computer revolution of the 1970s, the consumer marketplace has effectively moved inside the self, and is now inseparable from not only our desires and decisions, but also our very identities.
Much of what Apple and most other purveyors of personal technology, from Google to Microsoft to Facebook, are selling really is a kind of productivity: the ability to generate the highest level of momentary pleasure for the least effort.
Sloan's creation of the yearly car model for GM offered his customers the power to move themselves not just physically but socially, a shrewd proposition in a time when Americans were becoming increasingly status conscious.
Now anyone could upgrade to a higher level of emotional fulfillment - and do so more quickly and efficiently than had been possible under the old producer economy, when moments of intense satisfaction were less frequent and more likely to require some serious effort or discipline.
With the age of consumer choice, the feedback loop between marketplace and consumer shifted into much higher gear. The nascent project of self-improvement and self-discovery was now industrialised and professionalised into full-scale social agenda.
People who routinely use credit cards have no idea how much they've paid. - Dilip Soman, University of Chicago
Intertemporal choices (choices between now and later) are among the most frequent kinds of decision we make, and also among the most important, determining everything from personal health and finance to collective outcomes such as climate change. Alas, they are also our most fraught, time and again we get them wrong.
The story of civilisation is arguably the story of societies getting better at persuading, coercing, or otherwise inducing individuals to repress their impulsiveness and myopia, or repress them sufficiently, to keep civilisation moving forward.
It's tempting to view the social obligations of mom-and-pop stores as non-market inefficiencies. Yet Adam Smith himself insisted that markets would not yield their famous optimality without a strong moral dimension: absent trust and empathy between buyer and seller, markets quickly lose their efficiencies and fail - as numerous scandals, scams and bubbles have demonstrated.
Robert Nisbet in The Quest for Community: By emancipating the individual from often-repressive traditional social structures, modern liberal society effectively severed and isolated him from "the subtle, infinitely complex lines of habit, tradition and social relationship" that make individual freedom possible in the first place. Humans are inherently social, and it is only when individual freedom is mediated through social structures like family and neighbourhood that such freedom becomes meaningful or sustainable.
With the demolition of social norms through the privatisation of consumption (customer to consumer), we now had more power, but were increasingly alone with this power.
Technologies developed in a healthy manufacturing sector tend to spill over into the rest of the economy and spur broader growth, while the financial sector tends to siphon off talent and resources from other sectors.
Failure in the manufacturing sector leads to job loss. Failure in the financial sector can utterly destroy an economy.
Thus it's no surprise that once an economy's financial sector exceeds a certain size, it may actually begin undercutting economic growth.
The more we retreat into self-made experiences and lifestyles, the harder it becomes to engage in what is not familiar or personalised. And the brute fact is that some of the most important things in life, and certainly most of the biggest challenges we face as a society, are anything but personal or personalisable. Rather, they are generic, collective, and often unpleasant, requiring patience, a tolerance for the unfamiliar and a willingness to compromise and even sacrifice.
We need the 'other' not only to challenge our own ideas and opinions, refresh our thinking and keep democracy vibrant, but also to know ourselves. It is only by acknowledging something truly larger than ourselves that we can really understand who we are and importantly, who we aren't.
Ask a 20 year old how to get rich, says Campbell (Narcissism Epidemic), and you'll probably get 3 answers. "I can either be famous on reality TV, or I can go start a dot-com company and sell it to Google in about a week, or I can go work for Goldman Sachs and just steal money from old people."
The real crisis in innovation under the Impulse Society: innovation was once a tool to improve the productivity of the entire economy - companies, and workers, labour and capital - it's more exclusive today. Increasingly, innovation improves the productivity of capital, via faster returns, while leaving labour's productivity largely unchanged, or even slowed. E.g. the innovation of off-shoring has lowered worker productivity, by increasing the distance between business units or using less skilled labour.
With engineering, there's always an intense interaction between the people creating the product and the business owners it is being created for. And that works most easily when everyone is in the same building and they can meet every day and have informal conversations in the hallway.
In Britain, patients diagnosed with certain well-advanced cancers are automatically referred to pallative care. "Though it may seem incredibly bleak, it's just reality. We can pretend we can cure you with additional drugs, but that's just a game of make believe that really is not rational." - Anthony Zietman, oncologist.
Fox News Channel's simple two-part strategy: provoking the audience into a fever of indignation (to keep them watching) and fomenting mistrust of all other information sources (to keep them from changing the channel).
It's also telling that CNN, the main channel striving for neutrality, has one of the lower viewership numbers.
So focused was the left on self-expression and personal fulfillment that it largely neglected its historical function: keeping government from falling totally in the thrall of the marketplace and the blind march for efficiency.
"The worst families in American are those that actually function as families - they cook their own meals, take walks after dinner, and talk together instead of farming the kids out to commercial culture. These activities all involve less expenditure of money. Solid marriages involve less expenditure for counselling and divorce, thus they are threats to the economy as portrayed by GDP." - Jonathan Rowe, journalist
By making people more secure, by encouraging the idea that larger society has our interests and well-being at heart, we will be more willing to step out of ourselves and to devote more time to our families, our neighbours, our schools. As important, by making progress on inequality, by demonstrating that the economy is not solely for the wealthy and the politically connected, we begin to restore the faith that the rest of us once had had in the broader American experiment, and in democracy as a whole.
April 20, 2024
This book was published in 2014 and I want the author to write a 2024 version. Much of what he warns against in this book has already occurred or is imminent. And his charge to combat the pernicious symptoms of rhe impulse society with genuine commitment to community is apt for our times, when loneliness and isolation are rampant. Some chapters are outdated at this point and worth skipping, but overall an intriguing read.
February 14, 2017
This book explores how our obsession with myopia, quick returns, and immediate gratification has corrupted our financial system, our politics, and our ability to work together as a community. Although I didn't agree 100% with some of his examples, I definitely feel like this book provided very valuable insight. I feel like I understand the climate of our country a lot better. I strongly recommend this.
August 24, 2017
The impulse society shows the reasons why the world changed from we to I in various sectors. Really Awesome.
December 21, 2019
Some good points, but too repetitive and generalized. A bit too negatively hyperbolic.
April 21, 2015
Quite an inspiring read! We've all heard that people expect everything right away now. Technology has made this possible with instant messaging, overnight delivery, ability to watch a whole series of a tv show on the computer, etc. Roberts ties this to the idea that mankind is actually hard-wired this way. We were originally hunters-gatherers, which did not require planning and waiting like farming. So we are quickly falling back to this. The problem is that this tendency has allowed us as a nation to make some decisions which could be interpreted as short-sighted. He proves this theory with facts. "For middle class workers, the shift in fortunes was stark. In 1973 a 30 year old man in a middle-wage job was making 60 percent more than his father had 20 years before. By 1993 the man's son was making 25 percent less than the man was in 1973." Since I am in my 50's I have had this personal experience. He also compares the American response to globalization with other countries. Labor is losing here because the effects of globalization, offshore jobs without training for new jobs for American workers, is actually widening the gap between the very rich and the poor. The middle class is decreasing. As compared to European countries, who also offshore, but train the workers for new jobs. Our society is more interested in the immediate profits and does not consider the costs of thousands of workers unemployed and living on the edge. Really thought provoking.
February 17, 2015
I received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway.
This is an interesting topic, the impulse society, about how people have continued to change from a society based system to a new short term, instant, rewards and individualism. The book has been well researched and the author clearly knows his topic, although the book has clearly been written slanted towards the authors opinion he does have valid arguments.
Each chapter, or subchapter, begins by looking at the past, either using stories or interviews with experts, before being processed into either future predictions or the authors opinion on where we are going wrong. Bizarrely it is very clear, almost a different author completely, when this past research goes into the authors opinion. I really enjoyed the first part but when the author starts his opinion pieces the chapter suddenly becomes a struggle, it's almost as if he is trying to get his word count up and simply doesn't flow. I found myself having to reread pages after daydreaming whilst reading the end of chapters, yet the beginning of each chapter was captivating.
This would easily have been a four star, maybe even a five star, if it wasn't for the authors monotonous writing style during his summing up.
This is an interesting topic, the impulse society, about how people have continued to change from a society based system to a new short term, instant, rewards and individualism. The book has been well researched and the author clearly knows his topic, although the book has clearly been written slanted towards the authors opinion he does have valid arguments.
Each chapter, or subchapter, begins by looking at the past, either using stories or interviews with experts, before being processed into either future predictions or the authors opinion on where we are going wrong. Bizarrely it is very clear, almost a different author completely, when this past research goes into the authors opinion. I really enjoyed the first part but when the author starts his opinion pieces the chapter suddenly becomes a struggle, it's almost as if he is trying to get his word count up and simply doesn't flow. I found myself having to reread pages after daydreaming whilst reading the end of chapters, yet the beginning of each chapter was captivating.
This would easily have been a four star, maybe even a five star, if it wasn't for the authors monotonous writing style during his summing up.
February 24, 2016
The impulse society: how we have become arrogant, ungrateful, and not able to make commitments
I loved the book because it explains in simple terms the reasons we have become intolerant of differences, unable to make long term commitments, and be absolutely concerned with me, myself, and I by wanting everything now.
As a teacher, I dealt with this situation in the classroom. Creating a community of learners was more difficult in the last 10 years than at the beginning of my career. Working with school board members, that we're more concerned about the money spent that about learning, was discouraging to say the least.
The changes in our financial system, according to the author, have merged with such an impetus force into our lives, and challenged our sense of self and community.
I would encourage everyone to read this book before casting another vote in a primary, caucus, or general election.
I loved the book because it explains in simple terms the reasons we have become intolerant of differences, unable to make long term commitments, and be absolutely concerned with me, myself, and I by wanting everything now.
As a teacher, I dealt with this situation in the classroom. Creating a community of learners was more difficult in the last 10 years than at the beginning of my career. Working with school board members, that we're more concerned about the money spent that about learning, was discouraging to say the least.
The changes in our financial system, according to the author, have merged with such an impetus force into our lives, and challenged our sense of self and community.
I would encourage everyone to read this book before casting another vote in a primary, caucus, or general election.
May 14, 2015
Shallow and disappointing book that starts off with great gusto but ends up being another narrow left-liberal rant about how capitalism is destroying everything we as a society cherish. Surely some elements of his arugment are true, but the total lack of objectivity and heavy-handed political tone strip the book of all its argumentative merit.
September 20, 2025
《The Impulse Society》的核心主旨
Paul Roberts 在《The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification》這本書中，深入探討了當代美國社會中一種普遍且日益嚴重的現象：衝動文化（Impulse Culture）。他認為，在「即時滿足」（instant gratification）的驅動下，美國人變得越來越無法延遲滿足，凡事都追求立即的回報和結果。這種文化不僅僅是個人層面的問題，更滲透到社會、經濟、政治和人際關係的各個層面，從根本上改變了美國社會的運作方式。
Roberts 提出的核心觀點是：
耐心與長遠規劃的喪失： 人們越來越難以忍受等待，不管是購物、資訊獲取還是職業發展，都期望能立刻見效。這種心態導致了短期主義盛行，人們不再願意為長期目標而努力或犧牲。
承諾與責任感的弱化： 衝動文化鼓勵人們在做決定時只考慮當下的感受和利益，導致人們更輕易地做出承諾，也更輕易地放棄。這使得婚姻、工作和人際關係變得更加脆弱。
對複雜問題的簡化： 在一個資訊爆炸的時代，人們習慣於接受簡單、快速的答案，而不是深入探究複雜問題的根源。這在政治和社會議題上表現得尤為明顯，人們傾向於接受聳動的標語和口號，而非理性的辯論。
社會各層面的具體體現
Roberts 在書中以大量例子來闡述衝動文化對美國社會的影響，這些例子深刻且極具說服力：
1. 經濟消費：從「儲蓄」到「即時消費」
過去，美國社會鼓勵人們為了未來而儲蓄，為買房、退休或應對不時之需而做長遠規劃。然而，在衝動文化下，消費主義被推向了極致。信用卡、先買後付（Buy Now, Pay Later）的服務盛行，讓消費者可以立即擁有商品，而無需等待。
深入舉例： 書中提到，過去人們會花數年時間存錢，才能買下一輛新車；而現在，汽車貸款和租賃方案讓「擁有」變得唾手可得。這種**「先消費，後買單」**的模式，雖然刺激了短期經濟增長，卻導致了家庭債務高築，長期來看對個人財務健康造成了巨大威脅。這也反映了 Roberts 提出的核心論點：人們為了即時的快樂，而犧牲了未來的財務穩健。
2. 人際關係：從「承諾」到「選項」
傳統上，婚姻和人際關係被視為一種需要長期投入和維護的承諾。但在衝動文化下，人們更傾向於將關係視為一種「選項」或「消費品」。
深入舉例： 網路交友軟體的興起是最好的例子。這些應用程式讓用戶可以快速、大量地篩選潛在對象，一旦不滿意，只需一個滑動手勢就能「換一個」。這種便利性讓人們習慣於將關係「商品化」，一旦遇到困難或不適，就立即尋求下一個「更好的選項」，而不是努力修復或經營現有關係。這種心態導致了美國的離婚率居高不下，也使得人們更難建立深層次的情感連結。
3. 政治與媒體：從「複雜」到「簡化」
衝動文化也深刻影響了政治運作和媒體傳播。在人們缺乏耐心去理解複雜議題的背景下，政治家和媒體傾向於提供簡單化、情緒化的資訊，以迎合大眾的即時滿足需求。
深入舉例： Roberts 指出，過去的政治辯論會深入探討政策的利弊，需要聽眾具備一定的耐心和理解能力。而現在，政治家們更常使用**「金句」（sound bites）和「情緒性口號」**來爭取選票。例如，「築牆！」、「讓美國再次偉大」等口號，雖然簡單有力，卻迴避了背後複雜的社會和經濟問題。而社群媒體上的「標籤」（hashtags）和短影音，更是將複雜的議題壓縮成幾秒鐘的片段，讓民眾只看到表層，而忽略了深層的討論。
總結來說，Paul Roberts 的《The Impulse Society》不僅僅是一本關於「即時滿足」的書，更是一本對當代美國社會病態的深刻診斷。他透過上述例子，揭示了衝動文化如何侵蝕了人們的耐心、責任感和對長遠目標的追求，最終導致一個更加短視、脆弱和分化的社會。
深入舉例（Detailed Examples）
羅伯茨擅長用生動軼事和歷史脈絡說明抽象概念，讓讀者易於代入。以下是書中幾個關鍵例子，深入剖析「衝動社會」的運作：
線上遊戲成癮康復中心的寓言（開頭比喻）
書一開頭，羅伯茨描述參訪一間專治線上遊戲成癮的康復中心。一位年輕玩家沉迷虛擬世界，只求「找到合適對手」即時勝利，忽略現實生活。透過治療，他意識到「人生不止於此」。這象徵整個社會：科技讓我們逃避不適（awkwardness），但最終放大空虛。舉例來說，社群媒體如Facebook不僅強化自戀（每天「讚」數決定價值），還扭曲為「糞書」（Faeces book）的自嘲，反映個人如何在虛擬中追求即時肯定，卻損害真實連結。
2008年金融危機的金融創新濫用
羅伯茨追溯1970年代企業掠奪者（corporate raiders）如何透過股票回購剝削公司，轉移到1980-2000年代的金融工具如CDO（債務抵押債券）。銀行將高風險貸款「切片」包裝成安全產品，賣給投資者，追求短期利潤。這不僅引爆危機，還永久損害「共同福祉」感——從前跨階層的社會契約，變成「贏家通吃」的寡頭壟斷。例子：雷曼兄弟倒閉前，CEO優先獎金而非穩定，導致全國失業率飆升，放大中產階級不信任。
醫療系統的「健康消費」陷阱
美國人視醫療為「即時商品」：不願預防（如運動），卻花費巨資求速效治療（如手術或新藥）。羅伯茨舉例，健身產業雖蓬勃，但多為虛榮驅動（vanity），而非長期健康；醫療成本佔GDP 18%，卻未改善壽命。疫情前，美國人寧願低保費計劃，也不願支持全民健保，反映「自利優先」——結果是健康不均，窮人更易生病。這與亞當·斯密的「自利聚合益眾」理想背道而馳，變成「自利毀眾」。
政治遊說與社區斷裂
華盛頓政客受企業捐款操控，例子如槍枝管制辯論：NRA（全國步槍協會）用短期遊說阻礙改革，忽略校園槍擊的長期社會成本。勞動端，製造業外移讓工人頻繁遷徙，選擇「志同道合」的社區（如紅州/藍州分化），強化極端觀點。結果：美國人雖「全球化」，卻更不包容——如移民政策中，個人恐懼勝過集體人文。
正面轉變的希望例子
結尾章「Making Space」舉《平價醫療法》為例：它強制預防投資，挑戰「即時醫療」邏輯；另有跨黨派推動選舉融資改革，顯示「我們社會」復甦可能。羅伯茨建議，從個人減低社群依賴開始，到企業鼓勵長期股東責任，逐步重建。
總結來說，這本書不是純粹悲觀，而是警鐘：我們已跨過「市場與自我的虛擬融合」門檻，但仍有空間回頭。羅伯茨的寫作風格生動，融合數據與故事，讀後會反思自身「衝動」習慣。
Paul Roberts 在《The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification》這本書中，深入探討了當代美國社會中一種普遍且日益嚴重的現象：衝動文化（Impulse Culture）。他認為，在「即時滿足」（instant gratification）的驅動下，美國人變得越來越無法延遲滿足，凡事都追求立即的回報和結果。這種文化不僅僅是個人層面的問題，更滲透到社會、經濟、政治和人際關係的各個層面，從根本上改變了美國社會的運作方式。
Roberts 提出的核心觀點是：
耐心與長遠規劃的喪失： 人們越來越難以忍受等待，不管是購物、資訊獲取還是職業發展，都期望能立刻見效。這種心態導致了短期主義盛行，人們不再願意為長期目標而努力或犧牲。
承諾與責任感的弱化： 衝動文化鼓勵人們在做決定時只考慮當下的感受和利益，導致人們更輕易地做出承諾，也更輕易地放棄。這使得婚姻、工作和人際關係變得更加脆弱。
對複雜問題的簡化： 在一個資訊爆炸的時代，人們習慣於接受簡單、快速的答案，而不是深入探究複雜問題的根源。這在政治和社會議題上表現得尤為明顯，人們傾向於接受聳動的標語和口號，而非理性的辯論。
社會各層面的具體體現
Roberts 在書中以大量例子來闡述衝動文化對美國社會的影響，這些例子深刻且極具說服力：
1. 經濟消費：從「儲蓄」到「即時消費」
過去，美國社會鼓勵人們為了未來而儲蓄，為買房、退休或應對不時之需而做長遠規劃。然而，在衝動文化下，消費主義被推向了極致。信用卡、先買後付（Buy Now, Pay Later）的服務盛行，讓消費者可以立即擁有商品，而無需等待。
深入舉例： 書中提到，過去人們會花數年時間存錢，才能買下一輛新車；而現在，汽車貸款和租賃方案讓「擁有」變得唾手可得。這種**「先消費，後買單」**的模式，雖然刺激了短期經濟增長，卻導致了家庭債務高築，長期來看對個人財務健康造成了巨大威脅。這也反映了 Roberts 提出的核心論點：人們為了即時的快樂，而犧牲了未來的財務穩健。
2. 人際關係：從「承諾」到「選項」
傳統上，婚姻和人際關係被視為一種需要長期投入和維護的承諾。但在衝動文化下，人們更傾向於將關係視為一種「選項」或「消費品」。
深入舉例： 網路交友軟體的興起是最好的例子。這些應用程式讓用戶可以快速、大量地篩選潛在對象，一旦不滿意，只需一個滑動手勢就能「換一個」。這種便利性讓人們習慣於將關係「商品化」，一旦遇到困難或不適，就立即尋求下一個「更好的選項」，而不是努力修復或經營現有關係。這種心態導致了美國的離婚率居高不下，也使得人們更難建立深層次的情感連結。
3. 政治與媒體：從「複雜」到「簡化」
衝動文化也深刻影響了政治運作和媒體傳播。在人們缺乏耐心去理解複雜議題的背景下，政治家和媒體傾向於提供簡單化、情緒化的資訊，以迎合大眾的即時滿足需求。
深入舉例： Roberts 指出，過去的政治辯論會深入探討政策的利弊，需要聽眾具備一定的耐心和理解能力。而現在，政治家們更常使用**「金句」（sound bites）和「情緒性口號」**來爭取選票。例如，「築牆！」、「讓美國再次偉大」等口號，雖然簡單有力，卻迴避了背後複雜的社會和經濟問題。而社群媒體上的「標籤」（hashtags）和短影音，更是將複雜的議題壓縮成幾秒鐘的片段，讓民眾只看到表層，而忽略了深層的討論。
總結來說，Paul Roberts 的《The Impulse Society》不僅僅是一本關於「即時滿足」的書，更是一本對當代美國社會病態的深刻診斷。他透過上述例子，揭示了衝動文化如何侵蝕了人們的耐心、責任感和對長遠目標的追求，最終導致一個更加短視、脆弱和分化的社會。
深入舉例（Detailed Examples）
羅伯茨擅長用生動軼事和歷史脈絡說明抽象概念，讓讀者易於代入。以下是書中幾個關鍵例子，深入剖析「衝動社會」的運作：
線上遊戲成癮康復中心的寓言（開頭比喻）
書一開頭，羅伯茨描述參訪一間專治線上遊戲成癮的康復中心。一位年輕玩家沉迷虛擬世界，只求「找到合適對手」即時勝利，忽略現實生活。透過治療，他意識到「人生不止於此」。這象徵整個社會：科技讓我們逃避不適（awkwardness），但最終放大空虛。舉例來說，社群媒體如Facebook不僅強化自戀（每天「讚」數決定價值），還扭曲為「糞書」（Faeces book）的自嘲，反映個人如何在虛擬中追求即時肯定，卻損害真實連結。
2008年金融危機的金融創新濫用
羅伯茨追溯1970年代企業掠奪者（corporate raiders）如何透過股票回購剝削公司，轉移到1980-2000年代的金融工具如CDO（債務抵押債券）。銀行將高風險貸款「切片」包裝成安全產品，賣給投資者，追求短期利潤。這不僅引爆危機，還永久損害「共同福祉」感——從前跨階層的社會契約，變成「贏家通吃」的寡頭壟斷。例子：雷曼兄弟倒閉前，CEO優先獎金而非穩定，導致全國失業率飆升，放大中產階級不信任。
醫療系統的「健康消費」陷阱
美國人視醫療為「即時商品」：不願預防（如運動），卻花費巨資求速效治療（如手術或新藥）。羅伯茨舉例，健身產業雖蓬勃，但多為虛榮驅動（vanity），而非長期健康；醫療成本佔GDP 18%，卻未改善壽命。疫情前，美國人寧願低保費計劃，也不願支持全民健保，反映「自利優先」——結果是健康不均，窮人更易生病。這與亞當·斯密的「自利聚合益眾」理想背道而馳，變成「自利毀眾」。
政治遊說與社區斷裂
華盛頓政客受企業捐款操控，例子如槍枝管制辯論：NRA（全國步槍協會）用短期遊說阻礙改革，忽略校園槍擊的長期社會成本。勞動端，製造業外移讓工人頻繁遷徙，選擇「志同道合」的社區（如紅州/藍州分化），強化極端觀點。結果：美國人雖「全球化」，卻更不包容——如移民政策中，個人恐懼勝過集體人文。
正面轉變的希望例子
結尾章「Making Space」舉《平價醫療法》為例：它強制預防投資，挑戰「即時醫療」邏輯；另有跨黨派推動選舉融資改革，顯示「我們社會」復甦可能。羅伯茨建議，從個人減低社群依賴開始，到企業鼓勵長期股東責任，逐步重建。
總結來說，這本書不是純粹悲觀，而是警鐘：我們已跨過「市場與自我的虛擬融合」門檻，但仍有空間回頭。羅伯茨的寫作風格生動，融合數據與故事，讀後會反思自身「衝動」習慣。
February 25, 2018
Roberts doesn't pretend that post-WWII America was a complete utopia or that nothing has improved since, but he tracks rather stark and largely negative shifts between then and today; in very broad terms he sees a merging of the self and the marketplace with greater polarization of the population on multiple fronts, coupled with increasing emphasis on short-term gains rather than long-term development, on private rather than public goods, on personality rather than character, on benefits to stockholders rather than employees, on the financial markets and efficiency rather than true investment and productivity, and on political brand rather than effective compromise. The outcome is a more unstable, polarized, and inequitable society with seriously flawed economic, political, and healthcare systems. (Note too that this book was written in 2014, so in the chapter about how polarized politics has become, how we can't even agree on what constitutes a fact anymore, how it can be difficult for many to shift out of campaign mode into governing mode, how media is fragmenting audiences and shaping policy, etc. etc., I just wanted to warn 2014 Roberts that he had no idea how much crazier it was all going to become.) We need to, and we can, push back against the Impulse Society and its leading forces, he argues. His proposed counter-movement includes changes to national policies (making corporate buybacks illegal again, reforming campaign finance regulations, etc.) down to what we as individuals can do (rebuilding local community structures, reframing how we think about our needs and our purpose).
None of these broad ideas are exactly surprising, and I was already familiar with them from a psychology/sociology/culture perspective, so I wasn't sure how much I would learn going in, but I actually came away with quite a bit. Roberts supports his points with specific and illuminating research, much of it rooted in economics, which is not my personal forte. (The caveat being that those who already have a strong background in economics, corporate history, and politics may not get as much out of the book and may have criticisms I wouldn't know enough at this point to make.) I found it all interesting and thought-provoking, at the very least, and good fodder for discussion.
I hope to return to this review in a bit and add some of the statistics I found most compelling.
None of these broad ideas are exactly surprising, and I was already familiar with them from a psychology/sociology/culture perspective, so I wasn't sure how much I would learn going in, but I actually came away with quite a bit. Roberts supports his points with specific and illuminating research, much of it rooted in economics, which is not my personal forte. (The caveat being that those who already have a strong background in economics, corporate history, and politics may not get as much out of the book and may have criticisms I wouldn't know enough at this point to make.) I found it all interesting and thought-provoking, at the very least, and good fodder for discussion.
I hope to return to this review in a bit and add some of the statistics I found most compelling.
October 14, 2018
The book offered me a radically new perspective on society, the marketplace, and the quest for prosperity and efficiency. I can't say the arguments made me flip my views, but I can now at least see how some people believe in valuing some things which I don't value a lot.
A very large part of the book was focused on the 2008 recession and how the rise of consumer culture, and the finance industry's willingness to exploit weaknesses in consumers' minds can lead to economic disaster. Those parts were very stretched out, and I skipped part of them (maybe 10 pages in total). The author first provides his view -- which is in fact very interesting -- but then consumes many pages to what you can call repetition for emphasis.
The best part of the book were the first and fifth chapters. The first chapter is sort of essential for understanding the author's views in the rest of the book for those who are unversed in the world of the author's values. The fifth chapter is absolutely amazing, and focuses more on the personal and societal impacts of consumer culture, rather than historic anecdotes and other retrospective analyses.
My main problem with the author's views was how he encourages us to cope with some inefficiencies (he gives a bad rep to the word "efficiency" and views it as the end goal of most destructive corporate actions) and not do anything about them. I thought the views were much too traditionalistic and conservative.
The author also completely overlooks the facts that personalization sometimes benefits the consumers. He sees personalization as an evil by corporations to try to appeal to each individual, individually, and to encourage them to never push out of their comfort zone. While in my own opinion, the personalization of news and books and articles is echo chamber-creating and extremely harmful, things like the personalization of clothing recommendations, food recommendations, et cetera, is usually better and removes unnecessary mental strain. Big data can be used for the good of consumers as much as it can be used for the good of corporations, but the author does not acknowledge that.
Even if you're not willing to read the whole book, read chapter 5. It's a worthwhile read.
A very large part of the book was focused on the 2008 recession and how the rise of consumer culture, and the finance industry's willingness to exploit weaknesses in consumers' minds can lead to economic disaster. Those parts were very stretched out, and I skipped part of them (maybe 10 pages in total). The author first provides his view -- which is in fact very interesting -- but then consumes many pages to what you can call repetition for emphasis.
The best part of the book were the first and fifth chapters. The first chapter is sort of essential for understanding the author's views in the rest of the book for those who are unversed in the world of the author's values. The fifth chapter is absolutely amazing, and focuses more on the personal and societal impacts of consumer culture, rather than historic anecdotes and other retrospective analyses.
My main problem with the author's views was how he encourages us to cope with some inefficiencies (he gives a bad rep to the word "efficiency" and views it as the end goal of most destructive corporate actions) and not do anything about them. I thought the views were much too traditionalistic and conservative.
The author also completely overlooks the facts that personalization sometimes benefits the consumers. He sees personalization as an evil by corporations to try to appeal to each individual, individually, and to encourage them to never push out of their comfort zone. While in my own opinion, the personalization of news and books and articles is echo chamber-creating and extremely harmful, things like the personalization of clothing recommendations, food recommendations, et cetera, is usually better and removes unnecessary mental strain. Big data can be used for the good of consumers as much as it can be used for the good of corporations, but the author does not acknowledge that.
Even if you're not willing to read the whole book, read chapter 5. It's a worthwhile read.
July 26, 2020
An interesting, thought provoking book. It details well the improvements to society that the pursuit of technological efficiency has brought us, and with more emphasis, the detrimental impacts these same pursuits can and are currently causing when left unchecked by society.
Some of the interesting problems highlighted in this book, for which we must as a society want to discuss to resolve:
- Our political establishments have become too partisan due to a pressure to conform to a particular image or brand that earns them corporate funding that they can leverage towards being reelected.
- Shareholder pressure on the public business sector incentivises them to pursue good quarterly financial results. The most efficient process of measuring up to this pressure is to engineer their finances rather than investing in long term growth and limits them from producing innovation that truly benefits society. We measure a company's success on their monetary value rather than what they are producing.
- Advances in technology have brought the individual a never before seen ability to become the self of their own desires. While this seems like a net benefit to our lives, it has caused our society to consume endlessly to pursue our own self centred ambitions, and compare them to those around us.
A small topic not covered when addressing the free market generally is the private sector of big business. While still financially incentivised, these companies have more liberty to pursue a shared contribution to society. SpaceX, for example, has not had to hold itself to the expected standards of the public shareholder and continues to work towards a long term, immense societal innovation.
Some of the interesting problems highlighted in this book, for which we must as a society want to discuss to resolve:
- Our political establishments have become too partisan due to a pressure to conform to a particular image or brand that earns them corporate funding that they can leverage towards being reelected.
- Shareholder pressure on the public business sector incentivises them to pursue good quarterly financial results. The most efficient process of measuring up to this pressure is to engineer their finances rather than investing in long term growth and limits them from producing innovation that truly benefits society. We measure a company's success on their monetary value rather than what they are producing.
- Advances in technology have brought the individual a never before seen ability to become the self of their own desires. While this seems like a net benefit to our lives, it has caused our society to consume endlessly to pursue our own self centred ambitions, and compare them to those around us.
A small topic not covered when addressing the free market generally is the private sector of big business. While still financially incentivised, these companies have more liberty to pursue a shared contribution to society. SpaceX, for example, has not had to hold itself to the expected standards of the public shareholder and continues to work towards a long term, immense societal innovation.
March 22, 2023
The book does a thorough job of showing and explaining how the chase of instant gratification has transformed the individual self and society at large into a consumer economy. Providing various examples of the prevalence of the impulse society in various aspects of life today.
I was forced to reason my role in the impulse society. It pointed out a fact that I am aware off that challenges are necessary for growth. In the impulse society we are ever on the lookout for the path of least resistance. Which by itself is not bad but a way of life and system that is geared at this approach for efficiency without regard for the cost or morality is on the Highway of collapse. According to the author the impulse society has provided a breeding ground for narcissism. A quote that stuck with me was “Virtually every traditional culture understood this and regarded adversity as inseparable from and essential to the formation of strong self-sufficient individuals…Discomfort, difficulty, anxiety suffering, rejection, uncertainty, or ambiguity-in the Impulse society these aren’t opportunities to mature and toughen or become. Rather, they represent errors and inefficiencies and this opportunities to correct”
There were part of the book I didn’t think were necessarily but overall it was a good read and would highly recommend.
I was forced to reason my role in the impulse society. It pointed out a fact that I am aware off that challenges are necessary for growth. In the impulse society we are ever on the lookout for the path of least resistance. Which by itself is not bad but a way of life and system that is geared at this approach for efficiency without regard for the cost or morality is on the Highway of collapse. According to the author the impulse society has provided a breeding ground for narcissism. A quote that stuck with me was “Virtually every traditional culture understood this and regarded adversity as inseparable from and essential to the formation of strong self-sufficient individuals…Discomfort, difficulty, anxiety suffering, rejection, uncertainty, or ambiguity-in the Impulse society these aren’t opportunities to mature and toughen or become. Rather, they represent errors and inefficiencies and this opportunities to correct”
There were part of the book I didn’t think were necessarily but overall it was a good read and would highly recommend.
August 19, 2021
Before I started to read it, I had certain expectations. Once I started, I found that it well exceeded the expectation. The angle of impulse is an important one, and it helps to explain a lot of things.
However, the author seemed to push the impulse button a little too much. To me, "Wall Street (a metaphor) owns the Republican Party and rents the Democratic Party" makes a lot of sense, although that's from a different angle. His bothsideism, although not too serious, is still disappointing. I wish I'd be as optimistic, but the developments since the book was published have proved to be not quite right.
However, the author seemed to push the impulse button a little too much. To me, "Wall Street (a metaphor) owns the Republican Party and rents the Democratic Party" makes a lot of sense, although that's from a different angle. His bothsideism, although not too serious, is still disappointing. I wish I'd be as optimistic, but the developments since the book was published have proved to be not quite right.
April 11, 2025
I was recommended this book after finishing The Siren's Call by my mother, who is significantly more well versed in this type of literature than I am at this point.
While I think there a plethora of quotable parts of this book that still reflect very well ten years down the road (particularly the seemingly endless verbal assaults on SUV drivers), there are definitely some parts of this book in my opinion that seem to come across with an "enlightened centrist" vibe that gives me an involuntary eye-roll response.
Definitely glad I read the book, though I'm not sure it will enter the nonfiction wing of my hall of fame books, if you will.
While I think there a plethora of quotable parts of this book that still reflect very well ten years down the road (particularly the seemingly endless verbal assaults on SUV drivers), there are definitely some parts of this book in my opinion that seem to come across with an "enlightened centrist" vibe that gives me an involuntary eye-roll response.
Definitely glad I read the book, though I'm not sure it will enter the nonfiction wing of my hall of fame books, if you will.
February 11, 2019
Extremely well written book,impact full and while focused on USA catches the trends of how we are formatting ourselves to be isolated from our surroundings propelled by the beast of self actualisation.
Roberts refers to the financial crisis of 2008 and how we have refused to change our ways .
The fall of Apple and the lifestyle it promoted is a excellent time for us to read this book and visit the insights.
As one reviewer has said its long on causes and short on solutions but for many recognising the problem and limting it is perhaps a way to the solution of which there is not one
Roberts refers to the financial crisis of 2008 and how we have refused to change our ways .
The fall of Apple and the lifestyle it promoted is a excellent time for us to read this book and visit the insights.
As one reviewer has said its long on causes and short on solutions but for many recognising the problem and limting it is perhaps a way to the solution of which there is not one
August 22, 2019
Up until the Forever War chapter (which one would think would be about military adventures overseas) the book was spot on. However, the author's politics appear starting in this chapter, and run through the rest of the book, suggesting government solutions, while off-handedly dismissing that the problems he wants government solve, stem from prior government solutions.
So stop reading at Forever War. The drive to personalization creates individuals, and not communities.
So stop reading at Forever War. The drive to personalization creates individuals, and not communities.
December 19, 2019
This book took some of my thoughts, added some more thoughts, did the research and put into words my unease with the trajectory of so much in our society here in the USA. Thought provoking and a good read. I highly recommend it.
I would have given it a five but the final chapter seemed a bit abrupt and not as well thought out. I’m not looking for answers on a silver platter but this was Corel Ware. The rest of the book was really well done.
I would have given it a five but the final chapter seemed a bit abrupt and not as well thought out. I’m not looking for answers on a silver platter but this was Corel Ware. The rest of the book was really well done.
August 23, 2020
I highly recommend this book if you want to make sense of the seemingly nonsensical society we live in now. It’s important to own what has happened to our sense of community and values so we can identify why we have this sense of frustration and the specific steps to move forward. This book presents a very compelling explanation and direction for improving our society. For me, it was a very hopeful and practical message that I needed right now.
November 12, 2020
Some very interesting points but written in quite a laborious and repetitive way. eg US spends half of what China does on new fuel tech, 1/4 wouldn't marry someone from different political party compared to 1/20 in the 1970s, how all our short term thinking leads to quick fixes, short term planning, branded politics companies doing buy back shares to boost share price rather than investing into the future.
November 30, 2019
Enjoyed reading this very much. A real eye opener. Very much tapping into the conversations we all have when we get together about what is happening with world and the "I want it now", entitled people we are all constantly running into. Also, over consumerism and 'want' becoming 'need'. Easy to read and understand. Knowledgeable but also entertaining. It has led me to expand my reading material.
December 7, 2020
After reading this book, I imagined the problems that occur in Indonesian society. The author of this book says that Art is no longer for Art. The Art of impulsive community is the Art of selfishness. I imagine how in my country, people go to the movies and queue for tickets early to show that they have the latest news.
June 7, 2019
Pur descrivendo la realtà degli Stati Uniti di alcuni anni fa, offre una chiave di lettura preziosa e valida delle molteplici facce della Società dell'impulso. Ho apprezzato la conclusione, impegnativa, credibile ed onesta. Mi stupisce che non sia stato tradotto in italiano.
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