"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." --Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack , June 1746

"The habituation of workers to the assembly line was made easier by another innovation of the early twentieth century: consumer debt. As Jackson Lears has argued, through the installment plan previously unthinkable acquisitions became thinkable, and more than thinkable: it became normal to carry debt. The display of a new car bought on installment became...