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The American Dream Machine

Posted by Elliott on Monday, November 23, 2009 · View Comments 

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In 1971 PBS launched a program called The Great American Dream Machine – a satire based on political comedy. What really stuck out in this series wasn’t Chevy Chase but Marshall Efron and his critical look at consumerism.

“One notable skit was on the different size descriptions on cans of food, in the days prior to government regulation and standardizing of labels. Efron sarcastically compared cans of olives with sizes like “Giant”, “Jumbo”, “Extra Jumbo”, “Super Jumbo”, “Colossal”, and “Super Colossal”. The “Super Colossal” can contained one olive that filled the can.

Another piece involved Efron attempting to cook a lemon meringue pie… using mainly artificial ingredients found listed on a box of frozen pie.

A most memorable segment trumpeted the Trash Compactor appliance. Efron’s tagline….”the machine that turns 20 pounds of trash into 20 pounds of trash!”

Even though this series went live in the 70’s, it hit on some of the core issues that are facing us in the 21st century. The connection between consumerism and the American Dream Machine is finite; consumers must be enticed to purchase and use products or services to fuel growth of American. Do American’s need a new vision that helps them deal with reality, a promising story of the future that helps them let go of this consumption based past? Is the “Go Green” mantra this new story?

Small has become the new big, and less is the new more. Now days we want it all in 140 characters with the option to listen to audio, look at pictures, and maybe watch a video. We want it now, not later, and all in my pocket, so I can view it on my own time. This shift in consumerism has rocked the foundation of the American Dream Machine putting many companies bottom up or barely with their heads above water. Simultaneously, there seems to be an overlying theme that the majority of people want to slow down, listen, and get involved with helping their environment.

The chaotic technical genius of the younger generation matched with elder’s wisdom and knowledge of environmental studies can develop a whole new green industry that will create a new American Dream Machine never seen before.

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  • http://www.doingwords.com alan

    Great post. I hadn’t seen the show before but it sounds perfect for these times.

    While it’s more likely that at least some of our 20 pounds of trash will be recyclable this decade, we still have a ways to go before we can say for sure that the energy cost of transporting and recycling that trash won’t itself contribute to the problem.

    Instead of wanting it now, all in our pocket, we might save the world by accepting we don’t really need it all now, or that we really need a personalised, individual feed of ‘it.’

    Sit with a whole village in India and watch a Bollywood film with them. It’s the only film playing, a film screens only once a week, and you watch it with the whole village, not when it suits you, but when it’s screening.

    Sure, compared to an iPod Touch, there’s inconvenience and maybe often disappointment and boredom, but on the flipside it’s one laptop and one projector and screen servicing the entertainment needs of 200 people, with almost no transport cost to get it there. You can run everything necessary to screen the film off a car battery and a day’s worth of sunshine.

    Maybe it also means better relationships with your family, neighbours and broader community.

    I can’t deny it’s going to be tough for me too, and I don’t think a change like this will happen until what we have now is taken from us against our will by economic and environmental change. But I think it probably will happen.

    I, for one, welcome our new film projector overlords ;-)

  • elemenager

    Alan,

    Thanks for the response you brought up some really great points – I really liked your reference to the Bollywood Films in the local villages it’s an interesting thought that a strong community can have a major impact the the consumption and waist of a local area. Want to co write a blog on the topic?

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