The delicate balance of capitalism

Mark C. Taylor describes in his book The moment of complexity the delicate balance of a capitalist society between the discipline of the worker and the undiscipline of the consumer:

"The operation of the assembly line depends on the repeated execution of tasks carried out with precise timing. [...] Ford and his engineers realized that efficient production required the imposition of mechanical regularity on natural rythms. [...] Within the all-encompassing logic of industrialism, work, leisure, and rest are designed to promote efficiency and thus increase profitable production. Workers not only have to produce but also consume more and more products. [...] For industrial society to thrive, a sufficient number of people must have the time, money, and desire to consume what they do not necessarily need. The intricate relation between production and consumption underscores one of the inescapable contradictions of capitalism. Profitable production demands, on the one hand, the rational control of emotions and desires and, on the other, the cultivation of the desire to consume, which often is unreasonable." (M. C. Taylor, The moment of complexity, From grid to network)

No wonder that frustation is the general mood of Western peoples.