Industrial Society And Its Future Commentary - How some people adjust (part 1)

"77. (fr) Not everyone in industrial-technological society suffers from psychological problems. Some people even profess to be quite satisfied with society as it is. We now discuss some of the reasons why people differ so greatly in their response to modern society.


78. (fr) First, there doubtless are differences in the strength of the drive for power. Individuals with a weak drive for power may have relatively little need to go through the power process, or at least relatively little need for autonomy in the power process. These are docile types who would have been happy as plantation darkies in the Old South. (We don’t mean to sneer at the “plantation darkies” of the Old South. To their credit, most of the slaves were NOT content with their servitude. We do sneer at people who ARE content with servitude.)"

These are the people who usually settle for lower ranking works (and usually there's plenty of), but a slow drive for power doesn't necessarily mean a slow level of frustration, expecially because of those group 3 needs that can't be fullfilled/aren't under their control.

"79. (fr) Some people may have some exceptional drive, in pursuing which they satisfy their need for the power process. For example, those who have an unusually strong drive for social status may spend their whole lives climbing the status ladder without ever getting bored with that game."

I beg to disagree: people from higher classes have many times shown many kinds of pathological behaviour, expecially connected with drug abuse and suicide. Hence their need for the power process (which in these people tends to be even stronger than usual) is probably frustrated.

"80. (fr) People vary in their susceptibility to advertising and marketing techniques. Some are so susceptible that, even if they make a great deal of money, they cannot satisfy their constant craving for the the shiny new toys that the marketing industry dangles before their eyes. So they always feel hard-pressed financially even if their income is large, and their cravings are frustrated.


81. (fr) Some people have low susceptibility to advertising and marketing techniques. These are the people who aren’t interested in money. Material acquisition does not serve their need for the power process.


82. (fr) People who have medium susceptibility to advertising and marketing techniques are able to earn enough money to satisfy their craving for goods and services, but only at the cost of serious effort (putting in overtime, taking a second job, earning promotions, etc.). Thus material acquisition serves their need for the power process. But it does not necessarily follow that their need is fully satisfied. They may have insufficient autonomy in the power process (their work may consist of following orders) and some of their drives may be frustrated (e.g., security, aggression). (We are guilty of oversimplification in paragraphs 80-82 because we have assumed that the desire for material acquisition is entirely a creation of the advertising and marketing industry. Of course it’s not that simple.)"

The author is however correct in claiming modern mass society is mostly based on the process of material acquisition. Its values in particular revolve a lot around it since the very beginning, which is also why they were immediatly criticized by the catholic church which had foreseen the danger behind them (not that catholic church isn't dangerous itself anyway). Since religion nowadays  seems to be living a period of decline, values based on the process of material acquisition have been rapidly taking over (expecially in the second half of the 20th century), making technological and material progress even faster.