Eco-Spasm Report

by Alvin Toffler

Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, predicts a "breakdown of industrial civilization on the planet and the first fragmentary appearance of a wholly new civilization", based upon his belief in a coming worldwide depression.

Genres: Nonfiction

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Alvin Eugene Toffler was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide. He is regarded as one of the world's outstanding futurists.
Toffler was an associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload". In 1970, his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.
He and his wife Heidi Toffler (1929–2019), who collaborated with him for most of his writings, moved on to examining the reaction to changes in society with another best-selling book, The Third Wave, in 1980. In it, he foresaw such technological advances as cloning, personal computers, the Internet, cable television and mobile communication. His later focus, via their other best-seller, Powershift, (1990), was on the increasing power of 21st-century military hardware and the proliferation of new technologies.
He founded Toffler Associates, a management consulting company, and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, visiting professor at Cornell University, faculty member of the New School for Social Research, a White House correspondent, and a business consultant. Toffler's ideas and writings were a significant influence on the thinking of business and government leaders worldwide, including China's Zhao Ziyang, and AOL founder Steve Case.

Reviews

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banii şi nebunia oferă două dintre cele mai generoase teme ale literaturii occidentale. Astăzi, când grevele, falimentele, penuriile şi scumpirile ne bombardează conştiinţa, când marile profituri şi şomajul în masă concurează pe primele pagini ale ziarelor, când acţiunile se învârtesc scăpate de sub control, iar inflaţia şi depresiunea îşi dispută întâietatea, adeseori se pare că sistemul financiar mondial însuşi lunecă spre nebunie. Psihiatrii ne spun că schizofrenia, una dintre cele mai răspândite şi dramatice boli mintale, este marcată de „fluctuaţii rapide între însufleţire şi depresie”. Victima manifestă „preocupări excentrice faţă de lume şi faţă de sine însăşi”. Pot apărea amăgiri, halucinaţii, precum şi „insomnie, vise înfricoşătoare, o groază de neînţeles”. Toate aceste expresii descriu adecvat atmosfera economică din zilele noastre. Căci trăim într-o economie schizofrenică, un sistem care a pierdut contactul cu realitatea. Iar „groaza de neînţeles” se răspândeşte pe scară largă.

[The · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1975 Toffler predicts our 2008 predicament.

[chance nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

imagine writing a book about globalism and not calling it globalism. what toffler advocates for is no different than Reaganite neolibralism with a new label. any idiot with a basic understanding of economics and Marx's critique of capital would come to a better solution to the issues brought about by globalism than this guy. how you end up promoting a global corporate monopoly before adapting the Soviet command economy, that was only an ocean away, is beyond me.