"... The modern world, with its vast, soulless urban enclaves, is divorcing itself from the rhythms of nature and community. Our days are filled with mindless tasks, the drudgery of work and a gnawing loneliness. The mental pollution of sound bites, the dizzying and ceaseless chatter of television and computers, the constant assault of advertising seek to fill the void with a virtual, image-based illusion... Many who live in the United States, plagued by its consumer culture, waste their energy attempting to satisfy the insatiable demands of an all-consuming self. People have become cut off, engulfed in the fruitless search to find an unachievable happiness in the things they accumulate, the experiences and products they are sold, or the careers they have built. The promised self-fulfillment, of course, never arrives. Consumers are prodded with even greater urgency to seek solace in newer products, greater opulence and increased status. The frantic search for happiness is endless...'