Project Gutenberg 2010-01-16 Public domain in the USA. 75 Teichner, Albert Teichner, Albert R. West The Junkmakers Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Robert Cicconetti, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Junkmakers" by Albert Teichner is a science fiction novella that was likely written in the early 1960s. The story is set in a future society where the destruction of obsolete technology is celebrated as a form of cultural and economic ritual, highlighting themes of consumption, value, and the human relationship with machines. Through its exploration of a bleak yet satirical world, the book critiques consumerism and raises questions about productivity and the necessity of work in society. The narrative follows Wendell Hart, a cybernetics engineer who becomes increasingly disenchanted with the societal norms surrounding the destruction of once-useful technology during ceremonial events known as the High Holy Day. As he delves into research on the implications of planned obsolescence and conspicuous consumption, Wendell is drawn into an underground movement that seeks to challenge these destructive practices. Through a series of events, including a shocking failure during one of the ceremonies that triggers unforeseen reactions from the discarded machines, Wendell grapples with the ideals of leisure versus labor. The climax reveals a transformation in societal consciousness as citizens begin to question their blind adherence to the rituals that dictate their lives, ultimately suggesting a yearning for deeper understanding and purpose beyond mere work. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction PS Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 76713 76724 2024-09-13T07:54:19.822011 2023-09-13T12:34:25.294883 text/html text/html 73318 2010-01-16T10:19:52 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 97990 2010-01-16T10:19:52 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 150258 2024-09-13T07:54:23.292983 application/epub+zip 150504 2024-09-13T07:54:21.067999 application/epub+zip 74016 2024-09-13T07:54:20.298015 application/epub+zip 239044 2024-09-13T07:54:25.021018 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 230277 2024-09-13T07:54:22.791013 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 154659 2022-09-14T09:29:28.192588 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 68013 67903 2024-09-13T07:54:19.546025 2023-09-13T12:34:25.029876 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 67934 2010-01-16T10:19:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27114 2010-01-16T10:19:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 17767 2024-09-13T07:54:25.148989 application/rdf+xml 12730 2024-09-13T07:54:20.639021 image/jpeg 3407 2024-09-13T07:54:20.467034 image/jpeg 147864 2024-09-13T07:54:19.845037 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog