He then answers with: "If we are better off than we were in 1970, the answer is yes. If we are worse off, the answer is no. . .if the answer is no, then we face the unprecedented task of finding a new direction for society." He then asserts that the answer is indeed no and that change is needed.
In the book, the author highlights three major ways of thinking, which he calls Consciousness I, II and III. These types of people are everywhere, with Consciousness I types focused on self. A person works for his or her own self-satisfaction and is essentially a cut off from all community. This type of person feels that everyone is responsible for their own actions and should help themselves.
Consciousness II is more community-oriented and came into existence in the twentieth century. Mainly as a result of bad feelings about the selfishness of Consciousness I, this type of person sees a need for a large government which helps people. Individuals are seen as looking beyond themselves towards the good of everyone, which is an altruistic, but largely unworkable philosophy.
The reaction to all of this was Consciousness III, who Reich saw as the bell-bottom wearing younger generation. These people were doing something new, when they saw a problem with the government, they were unafraid to question its motives. They were unwilling to go off to fight a war that they could not justify or find justification for. They were willing to experiment and were less career-oriented than previous generations.
Reich was impressed and he saw a chance for great change. He saw the younger generation teaching others how to be as accepting of people as they were. This was happening across the country and he could see no reason for why it should not continue. Unfortunately, it did not.
But along the way, Reich tells his readers of many of the problems with America in 1970. They are, for the most part, many of the same problems we face today. In fact, it is so surprising how many of his points are still problems, that he could have written this book today. Perhaps that means that the time is as ripe for a "Green Revolution" today as it was back then.
In the preface the author states that the only things he might have changed in the book is the use of gender. Realizing the sensitivities of many of his readers, he states that he should have changed all the references to people as being strictly male, but in the end he did not alter his work.
The Greening of America is available from Crown Trade Paperbacks for $14.00.
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