James Needham wrote:
> I have often wondered why Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs doesn't seem
> to apply in contemporary USA. Maslow believed that when a human satisfies
It seems to me I've read that Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been
discounted by most disciplines except management, based on later research.
I wish I had the reference, but I tossed it. Perhaps someone else can
offer some follow-up.
> William Bennett, former drug czar, articulated it succinctly when he
> recently said "unbridled capitalism is a problem to human beings. We are
This sounds like the voice of Germany's Social Democrats (not said to bias
the discussion but to recognize that many have suggested that the "free
market" needs some externally applied controls to achieve what many/most
would regard as a suitable societal state).
> promotes the message that "The amoral, profit-at-any-cost, brand of
> capitalism, has an effect on American culture that can be described as
> corrupting and corrosive . . . Hollywood, Madison Avenue and Wall Street
> too often put money before morality. We are the most prosperous society in
While we're putting on sackcloth, we should also remember that some
European countries which have tried to find that balance have seemingly
found the entitlements portion difficult to manage without impairing the
attainment of other goals such as relatively full employment, relatively
full participation in a high tech marketplace, etc.
> Humans are neither purely economic animals nor purely social animals but
> have strong needs in both realms. A society that recognizes these needs
No disagreement here.
Bill
-- Bill Harris Hewlett-Packard Co. R&D Engineering Processes Lake Stevens Division domain: billh@lsid.hp.com M/S 330 phone: (425) 335-2200 8600 Soper Hill Road fax: (425) 335-2828 Everett, WA 98205-1298Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>