We live in a culture of choice. But, in an age of corporate dominance, our freedom to choose has taken on new meaning. Upset with your local big box store? Object to unfair hiring practices at your neighbourhood fast food restaurant? Want to protest the opening of that new multinational coffeeshop? Vote with your feet!
What if it's not that simple?
In No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart, Tom Slee unpacks the implications of our fervent belief in the power of choice. Pointing out that individual choice has become the lynchpin of a neoconservative corporate ideology he calls MarketThink, he urges us to re-examine our assumptions . Slee makes use of game theory to argue that individual choice is not inherently bad. Nor is it the societal fix-all that our corporations and governments claim it is. A spirited treatise, this book will make you think about choice in a whole new way.
What if it's not that simple?
In No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart, Tom Slee unpacks the implications of our fervent belief in the power of choice. Pointing out that individual choice has become the lynchpin of a neoconservative corporate ideology he calls MarketThink, he urges us to re-examine our assumptions . Slee makes use of game theory to argue that individual choice is not inherently bad. Nor is it the societal fix-all that our corporations and governments claim it is. A spirited treatise, this book will make you think about choice in a whole new way.
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- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-230) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 306.1/23
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9781897071885
- LCCN
- HB846.8
- LCCN Item number
- S56 2006eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xiii, 240 p.)
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00200374 (OCoLC)181843344 (CaOOCEL)406115
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- List of Figures 10
- Acknowledgements 12
- Chapter 1 A World of Choice 16
- A Short Modern History of Choice 18
- MarketThink 20
- Wanted: A Better Way of Thinking about Choices 24
- Jack Shops at Wal-Mart 25
- Chapter 2 Good Choices and Bad Outcomes 32
- Jack and Jill's Ugly Divorce 32
- The Prisoner's Dilemma 36
- Choosing the Right Words 38
- Choosing the Right Starting Point 42
- Chapter 3 Private Choices and Public Failures 49
- Jill Drops a Coffee Cup 50
- Choosing Our Environment 57
- Choosing Our Cities 69
- Choosing Where to Shop 73
- The Kind of Problem a City Is 77
- Chapter 4 Arms Races and Red Queens 80
- Jack Keeps up with the Joneses 82
- A Selection of Arms Races 84
- Choosing to Be Cool 87
- From Commodity to Status Symbol 89
- Chapter 5 Co-operation and Its Limits 92
- Enduring Love 93
- Choosing to Reciprocate 95
- Choosing Not to Compete 99
- Choosing in Groups and Crowds 103
- Choosing Temptation 109
- Chapter 6 Divide and Conquer 116
- Choosing Not to Vote 118
- Companies and Individual Choice 121
- The Market as a Public Good 125
- Chapter 7 That Obscure Object of Desire 129
- Buying Sneakers at Whimsley Mall 130
- Identifying the Real Choice 133
- Game Theory: What Is It Good For? 137
- Chapter 8 Join or Get Run Over 141
- Choosing a Nightclub in Whimsley 142
- A Selection of Herd Choices 145
- Choosing Our Schools 157
- Choosing Our Technologies 167
- Fooled by Randomness 173
- Chapter 9 The Devil You Know 177
- Jack Goes to the Movies 178
- Choosing Our Fashions 180
- Choosing Our Culture 183
- Jill Buys a Lemon 187
- A Basket of Lemons 191
- Choosing Where to Eat 197
- Squeezing the Lemons 199
- Chapter 10 Free to Choose, but Exploited 206
- Power, Relationships, and Context 207
- Choosing Stability 208
- Choosing to Be Exploited 211
- Chapter 11 Beyond Whimsley 218
- The Ultimatum Game 219
- Jill Hits the Ceiling 222
- Choosing to Reject 227
- A Backward Glance 229
- Notes 234
- Bibliography 240
- Index 246
- A 246
- B 246
- C 247
- D 248
- E 248
- F 249
- G 250
- H 250
- I 250
- J 251
- K 251
- L 251
- M 251
- N 252
- O 252
- P 252
- Q 253
- R 253
- S 253
- T 254
- U 254
- V 254
- W 255
- Y 255
- Z 255
