The Ordeal of Change; Future Shock; and Shifting Gears

Heraclitus, an Ionian philosopher, is supposed to have believed that only change exists. “It is impossible to step into the same river twice,” he stated, “for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.” Lionel Ruby, in The Art of Making Sense, relates an interesting story concerning this view:

The Greeks disposed of this point in an amusing anecdote. Heraclitus, they said, lent several drachmas to a friend, who failed to repay the debt. When Heraclitus dunned the debtor, he denied that it was he who received the money, and he supported his denial by citing Heraclitus’ philosophy of change, which asserts that no man is the same from moment to moment!

The problem of change has been with philosophy ever since.

Recently, however, the problem of social change has been receiving increasing attention from social philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists. The Ordeal of Change, Future Shock, and Shifting Gears deal with social change. Each book addresses itself to a different aspect of change, from a different framework, for a different reason. Thus, the books compliment and supplement one another, while overlapping very little.

“It is my impression,” writes Eric Hoffer, “that no one really likes the new. We are afraid of it.” Why? “We can never be really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs inordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.” This is undoubtably why Hoffer calls his book The Ordeal of Change.

The Ordeal of Change is a collection of essays loosely related to the theme of drastic social change. In the course of these essays, Eric Hoffer examines the revolutionary mentality, the role of statist intellectuals in maintaining the status quo, the relation between freedom and productive work, the manner in which misfits and undesirables make history, and much more.

That Hoffer’s psychological acumen is considerable may be seen from the following:

The rabid extremist in present-day Asia is usually a man of some education who has a horror of manual labor and who develops a mortal hatred for a social order that denies him a position of command. Every student, every clerk and minor office-holder, every petty member of the professions feels himself one of the chosen. It is these wordy, futile people who set the tone in Asia. Living barren, useless lives, they are without self-confidence and self-respect, and their craving is for the illusion of weight and importance, and for the explosive substitutes of pride and faith.

Presenting a mosaic of psychological and sociological insights, Hoffer offers a unique perspective on change. His ideas are often illuminating, almost always suggestive. Writing with the passionate concern and fire of youth, Hoffer is refreshingly original, painstakingly clear, and a pleasure to read.

When industrialism first arose, it was met, not with praise and gratitude, but with a blind and unshakeable hatred. Since that day, the mark of Cain has been on the forehead of industry. Industrialism has been accused of destroying the livelihood of workers, of exploiting them, of alienating them, of undermining the structure of the family, of producing poverty, of ravaging the beauty of nature, of upsetting “the precarious ecological balance,” and more. It now stands accused of producing change so extensively and rapidly that people will soon be unable to cope with it. Alvin Toffler is the new enemy of technology. His indictment is Future Shock.

Toffler’s thesis is relatively simple. He argues that change is taking place far more rapidly and extensively in today’s society than ever before. If the past is a reliable guide to the future, change will become even more widespread and its pace will quicken. There are, however, limits to the amount of change with which human beings can cope. Physical and psychological breakdown occurs when these limits are crossed. Our culture, warns Toffler, is approaching these boundaries. Something must be done. And Toffler is willing to let the government do it.

Although Toffler’s thesis is fundamentally unsound, Future Shock is not without virtues. For instance, the book shows, in meticulous detail, that today’s culture is dominated by temporary homes, goods, human relationships, institutions, and information. The book shows that industry is providing an ever-widening diversity of goods and services. Industry, rather than producing conformity, makes possible more individuality of expression, taste, and want.

These virtues, however, neither mitigate nor excuse the nature of the book. While there is much in this book with which to disagree, I would like briefly to touch upon three basic errors and one truly evil proposal.

Toffler contends that the increasing amount of diversity provided by industry will make choice ever more complex, difficult, and ultimately impossible. This is what he calls “overchoice.” This is nonsense in at least two respects. First, no one considers every alternative when he makes a choice. Numerous psychological factors—a person’s goals, desires, values, needs, and knowledge, to name a few—eliminate all but a few alternatives from consideration. Second, Toffler believes that businessmen will continue to offer an ever-increasing number of products to consumers, whether market conditions warrant it or not. In fact, of course, the economic considerations that prompt businessmen to offer more options to consumers will prevent them from offering too many.

Toffler’s claim that “future shock” will soon occur rests upon the assumption that the rate of change will continue to accelerate. But this cannot be assumed. As long as human beings possess free will, they can choose to reduce the amount of change rather than increase it.

He asserts that change in today’s society is approaching the limits of human adaptability. Individuals, in large numbers, will fall victim to future shock. Nowhere in Future Shock does Toffler present evidence that even partially establishes “the limits of adaptability.” Toffler does not know how much change or how much stimulation human beings can handle, and if his evidence is complete, neither does anyone else. Since Toffler does not know the boundaries of human adaptability, he cannot defend his claim that this culture is approaching them. He has no business announcing that “we are condemning countless millions to future shock.”

Using Orwellian Newspeak, Toffler calls his last section “Strategies For Survival.” It is here that Toffler lays his cards on the table. The high card is a king. Toffler states, “We must stop being afraid to exert systematic control over technology.” He asserts that America needs “creative new political institutions . . . for promoting or discouraging (perhaps even banning) certain proposed technologies.” He believes that “public intervention may well be necessary, and we should not evade the responsibility.” Despite his continual protests to the contrary, Toffler is an enemy of industry, progress, and liberty. This book attempts—unsuccessfully—to provide one more justification for expanding government control over more and more areas of each individual’s life. This book is another attempt to frame a hero and exonerate a villain. I urge each reader of LR to buy this book. Libertarians need to know how this frame-up is being accomplished, what the evidence against the hero consists of, how the villain is given the task of judging the hero, and how perjured testimony has gotten into court.

Shifting Gears deals with change on a personal, practical level. While the world around each person changes, so does the world within. The career that challenges a person at age 25 may seem dull when he reaches 40. The romantic partner who is right for a person at 30 may leave him in age 50. Five years from today a person’s job may be eliminated due to advances in technology. After years of trying unsuccessfully to make his marriage work, a man may be told by his wife that she is filing How is a person to deal with these changes? How can an individual restructure his life in a sensible way? Do any general guidelines exist that would enable one to handle change in a more successful manner? What are they? Shifting Gears was written as an answer to these questions.

Nena and George O’Neill summarize their book’s purpose as follows.

This book is designed to help you develop a life strategy that gives you the

flexibility you need to deal with change on both a personal and societal level. A life strategy designed by you and for you can help you to shift gears at the important moments of your life, it can help make it possible for you to meet change in a positive way and to put the natural and inevitable crises of your passage from one life phase to another to work in a constructive and creative way. An effective life strategy can help you at any age to reevaluate and restructure your life so as to take full advantage of your potential for continuing growth that can alone bring fulfillment and personal security.

Each human being is an intergrated organism. Man is a thinking, feeling, acting being. A biologically and psychologically sound approach to change must involve all three realms of human life. This is exactly what Shifting Gears does. It is a profoundly egoistic book. It is concerned with personal growth, independence, and self-fulfillment. It is passionately committed to individual happiness. Readers of this book may be struck by the similarities between it and the work of Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden. To point out but a few of the parallels, the O’Neills argue for the show continually in all realms of life, the importance of long- s and planning, the value of independence, the need to pursue ing values, the fact that all proper human relationships benefit es, the need for an integrated set of values, and the importance ive work.

Unlike the works of Rand and Branden, however, Shifting Gears is more concerned with the practical side of psychology and ethics. It teaches the er to put his values into practice. It teaches the reader how to discover the career that is right for him. It teaches the reader how to find a style of life that will make him happy. No student of Objectivism, no egoist, no one concerned with his personal happiness should pass it up. Reviewed by Michael Emerling / Political Philosophy—Psychology—Survival / Ordeal of Change (122 pages) / LR Price $.75 / Future Shock (561 pages) / LR Price $1.95 / Shifting Gears (280 pages) / LR Price $1.95