The All-Consuming Nation

Thinking about shopping a little more consciously this Black Friday? This week's review examines the negative environmental impacts of America's consumer capitalist culture.

Posted on November 24, 2025 in Reviews of the Month

The All-Consuming Nation: Chasing the American Dream Since World War II

Lytle, Mark H. Oxford, 2021
536p bibl index, 9780197568255 $39.95, 9780197568279

Following WW II, consumer capitalism carried the American economy, expanding the middle class while narrowing the wealth gap. From Levittown to the Sunbelt, dramatic changes reshaped the American culture and landscape. When people fled cities, retail stores followed, creating indoor malls across the nation surrounded by acres of parking. Next came big-box stores like Walmart, quickly followed by online shopping that resulted in zombie malls. Along with consumption of automobiles and smart phones, all intimately connected with planned obsolescence, these excesses created a society with a devastating environmental impact. Combining politics and economics, Lytle (emer., Bard College) demonstrates how “the creative and destructive forces of capitalism continue to drive the all-consuming nation” (p. 442). Although consumption can yield positive and negative outcomes for consumer capitalism, its effect on the environment is almost always negative. Additionally, the increasing divide within American society heightens antagonistic extremism on both ends of the political spectrum, so that some still deny the evidence of environmental degradation. This fascinating study of the US covers 1945 to the present. It will appeal to thoughtful readers; those who most need this information will likely dismiss it as “fake news.”

Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.
Reviewer: D. R. Jamieson, Ashland University
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Environmental Studies
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – History, Geography & Area Studies – North America
Choice Issue: Jun 2023

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The All-Consuming Nation

Thinking about shopping a little more consciously this Black Friday? This week's review examines the negative environmental impacts of America's consumer capitalist culture.