Why Things Don't Work
September, 1982
During The Late Sixties and early Seventies, when Playboy was examining the future of American life with what turned out to be grim accuracy, there was an orphaned assignment, Why Things Don't Work. No one ever did very much about it, because the subject was too overwhelming. A magazine article? It required an encyclopedia. Since then, the number of things that have not worked would tax the guilt reserves of an Old Testament prophet. A single minor aspect of the catastrophe inspired a major best...
