In 1970, The New Yorker Magazine ran a 39,000-word excerpt of ‘The Greening of America' -- the longest in its history. Then the book came out. It caused a firestorm. Written by Charles Reich, a distinguished professor at Yale Law, it showed how a once-free America had become a Corporate State that made no one happy.

The way out? It wasn't political change --- for Reich, politics came last. The first and most important thing: Consciousness. As he saw it, America had outgrown "Consciousness I," which had helped form a nation of free individuals. It had outgrown "Consciousness II," which was corporate and heartless. Now it was time for "Consciousness III," in which people would turn away from the quest for traditional success and forge a new, personal path to satisfaction.

In short: Change the way you think, help others do the same, and soon the system has to change.

Sound familiar? This is very much what the "Occupy" movement is saying now. But Reich said it first, and in a way that excited readers (two million copies sold).

‘The Greening of America' is a brief history of America that will be of interest to all readers who wonder why the United States is having such trouble responding to new realities. It may be of particular interest to Americans who care about politics, for the issues in Reich's book are being played out on the national stage. On one side, Consciousness I politicians tell us that the solution to all our problems is a return to a time when men took care of their own business and government barely existed. On the other side, Consciousness II politicians argue that the federal government can best protect us from an unregulated marketplace and a shredded safety net.

And then there is 'The Greening of America.' Can there be a “revolution,” as Reich wrote, that starts with culture and the individual? Might it triumph without violence? Or are we doomed to struggle for a soul-crushing existence in the Corporate State?

'The Greening of America' has been out of print for years. For this edition, we have compressed a 125,000-word book to a crisp 25,000 words. And Charles Reich has added a new foreword and final chapter.

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