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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Know the past to protect the future,
By
This review is from: Enemies of society (Hardcover)
This was not an easy book for me to acquire. Nevertheless, it was worth the wait and the expense put forth to get it in my hands and pass the content thorough my eyes and into my mind!
Put simply, this book is about how hard it was for Western society to achieve economic liftoff and how we could (and often do) slide backwards when we set aside the essential ideas that allowed us to break free in the first place. In the early chapters, Johnson lays out the thesis that the world had the basic tools to begin growing economically for thousands of years before material wealth was actually achieved. For thousands of years, each generation trudged along just like the one before it. There was little innovation or rise in living standards until certain ideas took hold. Then, humans began to get it and accumulate knowledge and better practices. Finally, life spans began to grow and human life began to have more enjoyment. What were these precious ideas? They are complex and explained in detail in Johnson's book, but they are not mysterious or unknown. Equality before the law, for example, is a darn good idea if you want to attract investors. The right to profit from one's labor is a grand idea if you want people to work hard. Recognizing that some ideas are better than others is a great idea if you want an ordered society where well meaning hard working people can accumulate enough wealth to cultivate the finer things of life. Chaos, in contrast, is easy. One simply encourages people do whatever they want at the expense of the successful. A society of wealth and knowledge is not an accident and can be overwhelmed by barbaric forces. The world is awash in such forces and anyone who cares to see civilization protected might get this book and learn a bit of how our systems and practices came about in the first place. Our good lives are built on the trial and error of our forebears, and this book lays out their struggle.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The origons of political correctness,
This review is from: Enemies of society (Hardcover)
Fabulously erridite book that spotted the reasons for the decline of the social structure of the west. His central premise is the politically correct thinking has undermined the west values by the maipulation of the language to make all feel perfect .Has an incredible bibliography.I'ts a long time since I read this so it gets 4stars from memory
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Middle class means prosperity for all,
By Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Enemies of Society (Hardcover)
I read this short and good book, here in Brazil.
Writen by an english scholar,during 1970 decade, this book describes the fact that state controling the economy ever bought corruption,poverty, tiranny and concentration of money, in the hands of a few and corrupt people.Greeks, romans and islamics ever went into state's companies, with the same and terrible results. Roman empire wasn't wiped out by barbarians, but for its economical policies.Western and catholic Europe climbed because, it was more free than islamic or orthodox world. The main failure of this book is to be, a little outdated.T, to example, it talks about soviet system.
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