The art of shrinking heads Book

This provided a clear explanation of post-modernism for me and describes well how the various "liberation" movements since the second world war have led to what could be the greatest threat to humanity: total Capitalism.
I struggle with DuFour's absolute language. Every single act of amoral disregard for traditional values or every example of abject consumption is held as proof that all of humanity is engaged in the same way. I can view his examples as trends that are beginning or have potential to begin, but this may be the condition we always find ourselves in. There are always competing ideologies and values and, particularly in the 20th century, the worst is realized before humanity can return to a saner sense. I may have put that too simplistically. In discussing this with my wife, Lisa, she reminded me, when I was discussing DuFour's concept of "desymbolization", that if traditional symbols like money are being removed, there must be something replacing it. Nature abhors a vacuum. DuFour doesn't talk much about what is replacing the values and relationships that are eroding. I think "Shrinking Heads" would have been much more useful if the author proscribed a way to repel the deleterious changes rather than leave it at signaling that these changes are occurring. Anyway, this book was really demanding. I think all this nasty recalibration of our values and mores toward a more inhumane commodity driven existence could happen because the mechanism is so complicated and intricate, it's difficult to see it happening. I read this book on my new iPad as a PDF and I was buying apps to make it easier to read so I was fully engaged in the commodity capitalism DuFour was warning me of. It made me feel trapped. As I said,I mentioned many of arguments in this book to Lisa. She tends to grasp things more clearly and quicker than I do. These discussions were helpful. I guess this is to say: This is a great book about societal trends and threats (great to read in this election year). It is a book I think I will refer back to again and again. I suggest reading it with someone with whom you can discuss it.