Harley Earl was Vice President of Styling for General Motors and considered the father of American automotive design. Since its inception in the 1920s, GM styling was based on a concept known as “artificial obsolescence,” which involved redesigning and retooling the entire line of cars every two years so that car owners would want to…
Occasionally we here at The Contrary Perspective will publish quotations that have special meaning for contrarians and free-thinkers. One of my favorite quotations comes from the Norwegian author, Arne Garborg. For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but…
Remember in 2011 after SEAL Team 6 killed Osama bin Laden and Disney wanted to trademark the unit’s name for a collection of toys and games and miscellanea? It’s one of those blips on our collective cultural radar that seems insignificant, yet it points to our tendency to see war and empire as a game,…
The business of wars and weapons sales is booming, with the United States leading the pack as the world’s foremost “merchant of death,” as Michael Klare notes in this article on the global arms trade for TomDispatch.com. But why should we be surprised? War has always been a racket. And if you don’t believe me…
Heading north from the Beltway via Highway 1 to the centers of US power in Washington, DC you’ll pass through trendy Alexandria, Virginia, before encountering scrappier neighborhoods closer in. But don’t worry, because within just a few miles, the glint of ultra-modern office buildings appears on the horizon. Behold America’s own Emerald City, appropriately named…
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