In the Absence of the Sacred

Focuses on modern society's techno-war against indigenous peoples, arguing that such peoples' philosophy of the sacredness of the natural world offers a way to recover

Mander, author of the controversial Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television , thinks that we have too complaisantly accepted the advances of technology. Urging that we understand the benefits and drawbacks of technology before the latter overtake us, he observes that new technologies, always presented in the best possible light, steer society in some sociopolitical direction. Mander examines in turn computer, television, space and genetic technologies, pointing out that they are deployed in the manner most useful to the institutions that gain from them. Mander notes that the only consistent opposition to technology comes from land-based native peoples. This observation leads to a discussion of Indians and other native groups around the world whose cultures are under attack by governments. This lively, provocative argument will interest all readers concerned about our environment and quality of life. QPB selection; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A heartfelt plea to rethink the industrial world's alleged headlong rush to oblivion through its mad pursuit of technology. Mander, who conducts ad campaigns for nonprofit groups, expands greatly here on ideas he discussed in Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (1978). Through clever manipulation of product images and relentless promotion of best-case scenarios, Mander says, Americans have been sold a bill of goods by corporate, government, and academic boosters of new technologies. Evidence of this pattern surfaces in several predominant technologies--computers, TV, genetic and molecular engineering--and in each case a negative side exists to blacken industry's rosy view. Provocatively claiming that society would be better off without computers of any kind, since they benefit the military and a Big Brother mentality far more than they meet individual needs, Mander argues that serious consideration of age-old native attitudes toward life and economics is the only viable cure for the cancer of megatechnology. Details of recent battles between corporate and native interests in Alaska, Nevada, Hopiland, Hawaii, and elsewhere--in which the author played an active part--make the point that the spiritual and social values of these native peoples continue to be attacked even as their perspective becomes more desperately needed. To critics who accuse him of romanticism, Mander counters: ``What is romantic is to believe that technological evolution will ever live up to its own advertising, or that technology itself can liberate us from the problems it has created.'' Wide-ranging and impassioned--an important reminder as the 500th anniversary of Columbus's ``discovery'' approaches that native traditions still live, and that they may be the last defense against rampant corporate greed. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Mander's book is an angry protest against the uncritical adoption of technology, the expansion of capitalism, and the centralization of political power. He warns that these trends will lead to a New World Order dominated by multinational corporations, resulting in devastation of the earth's natural environment and native cultures. Mander argues that technologies like television and computers extend corporate control in society and promote the uncaring consumption of natural resources. To avoid imminent environmental catastrophe, he contends that we must adopt the values of Native American cultures that regard the earth as sacred. Mander, a former advertising executive, writes in compact, persuasive prose. His book reads like a series of essays. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
- Randy J. Olsen, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.