Success

by Thomas Sullivan

In 1908 Henry Ford mastered the assembly line and brought affordable cars to the masses. In 1940 Dick and Mac McDonald gave people the fast food restaurant. Heaped with praise, these three men were considered to be idols, wildly successful heroes. But the car is now killing the planet while fast food ravages our bodies. Today’s darlings of the business world include Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, with their accelerating computers and glittering iPhones, quickly replaced but difficult to discard. Staring at a heaping mound of toxic castoffs in India, I wonder what their success is doing to our bodies, our minds, and the planet?

6S

Thomas Sullivan's memoir of teaching Drivers Ed (Life in the Slow Lane) is forthcoming from Uncial Press in February 2010. More of Thomas’s writing can be found here.