The Limits to Satisfaction: An Essay on the Problem of Needs and Commodities

At a time when the supply of resources is a problem, William Leiss analyses demand and consumption. Why do we need so much? Does the ability to choose from such a wide range of commodities give us more satisfaction? Why do we accept being pushed into buying products about which we know little because they promise to give us a particular characteristic - freshness, happiness, sex appeal?

Consumerism and capitalist and socialist industry have reached the point where state power is legitimatize...