p 79
when maddening behavior becomes he standard of a society, people learn to compete for the right to engage in it. envy blinds people and makes them compete for addiction.
p. 82
growth becomes addictive. like heroin addiction, the habit distorts basic value judgements. addicts of any kinds are willing to pay increasing amonts for declining satisfactions. they have become tolerant to escalating marginal disutility. they are blind to deeper frustration because they are absorbed in playing for always mounting stakes.
withdrawal from growth mania will be painful, but mostly for members of the generation which has to experience the transition and above all for those most disabled by consumption. f their plight could be vividly remembered, it might help the next generation avoide what they know would enslave them.