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What is my life for? As affluence spreads ... hundreds of millions of people will be asking just this question. That they can ask it is in and of itself a great moral achievement, because it opens up to innumerable ordinary people the avenues of human fulfillment that were previously open only to aristocrats. Yet at the same time it is a strangely disquieting question, because there is no complete answer to it within the modern techno-capitalist framework.The Founders promised "the pursuit of happiness," but they didn't explain where happiness can be found, or even what it is. D'Souza argues that it must not be found in materialism--in both the consumerist sense of the word as well as the philosophical one. In a time of unprecedented prosperity, of course, the temptation is to find happiness exactly there, and the threat is profound: materialism may "transform our very nature as human beings and possibly introduce a new species in the world, the posthuman." D'Souza does not welcome this prospect (and consequently sounds very conservative indeed). The Virtue of Prosperity is a bold and thoroughly engrossing book. Readers won't need to agree with every one of D'Souza's points to find his many digressions fascinating. Whether he's writing about an extravagant Silicon Valley party, describing the ideas of Richard Dawkins, or making a casual reference to Marcus Aurelius, he's at once erudite and accessible. It's not always clear where he's going with his ideas until he gets there, but he makes the journey a pure joy. --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding Common Ground for Doing Good and Doing Well,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER)
This review is from: The Virtue of Prosperity : Finding Values In An Age Of Techno-Affluence (Hardcover)
Mr. D'Souza does an excellent job of describing the principalarguments in favor of and against rapid growth in technology and capitalism. He then takes on the difficult task of creating common ground among the diverse positions, and has some success in putting the first rope ladders across this abyss of discord. Even though the permanent bridge remains to be built, getting those rope ladder across is worth five stars. The best parts of the book are his interviews Mr. D'Souza clearly tilts more toward the Techno-capitalists have their good sides as D'Souza points out that The book is very effective in Clearly, the solutions I think the After you finish the book, consider where else perspectives differ Embrace the differences to make a better world
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!,
By Rick Heil (Park City, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virtue of Prosperity : Finding Values In An Age Of Techno-Affluence (Hardcover)
Dinesh D'Souza has traveled through a vast territory of ideas, arguments, worries, concerns and fears - articulating a vision for how Captalism has provided the engine for the dramatic change around us. Rather than feel guilty, or fault the weaknesses (which he illuminates in detail) of the West, Dinesh offers a promotion for the advancement of what works, why it works and how to harness the energy of the human spirit - the VIRTUES of Greed - to for the first time in human history dramatically raise the quality of life for all. Excellent book, great romp through history and wonderful calrity of vision. He's on my permanent must read list.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE PRESENT "ERA OF UNPRECEDENTED PROSPERITY": GOOD OR BAD?,
By David Roger Allen (Freeland, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virtue of Prosperity : Finding Values In An Age Of Techno-Affluence (Hardcover)
The American Enterprise Institute's enfant terrible Dartmouth College grad author (his 1991 book, ILLIBERAL EDUCATION: The Politics Of Race And Sex caused quite a stir), Dinesh D'Souza (born in India, became a USA citizen in 1991) has written a very interesting book titled THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY (2000). It's about the moral and ethical aspects of the present highly touted USA wealth "boom," and it asks the intelligent question, is all this so-called "wealth" really success?D'Souza points out early in his book that techno-capitalism in the present age has created enormous inequalities, has undermined families and communities, and has all but destroyed many of our (previously) most cherished values. He asks the question "how can we learn to be happy with out 'success'?" Well, being sponsored by the unabashedly right-wing, pro-capitalism American Enterprise Institute (a Washington, D.C. "think tank" dedicated to telling it the way right-wingers think it is), Mr. D'Souza doesn't really join the attack on what's happened to equality, families, communities, and values. He is rather an unabashed apologist for "aren't these great times" crowd. After all, he's been on their payroll since finishing Dartmouth in the early 80's (and prepared for it by working as a student staffer on the infamous DARTMOUTH REVIEW, then America's most famous conservative student publication). Even so, agree with Mr. D'Souza or not, he does raise many very intelligent and interesting questions, and provides a generous amount of space in his 284 page book for the opposing side to tell its story. His book is worth buying and reading, and offers several valuable features, most especially his well organized and extensive chapter end notes (he was highly praised for similar notes provided in his book ILLIBERAL EDUCATION). The first part of THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY is the best part. Dinesh D'Souza provides a well written and intelligent backgrounder to the various issues and situations surrounding the current "good times." He asks the question "What's new about the new economy?" and comes up with interesting points and answers. He points out, for instance, that the world's richest man, Bill Gates of Microsoft, was worth in 2000 a cool (or hot) $100 billion (net worth). In contrast, John D. Rockefeller at his peak was worth a paltry $17 billion in today's money. D'Souza observes that Bill Gates and his descendants could spend $10 million A DAY IN PERPETUITY and NEVER run out of money. Now that's wealth! If Bill were a country, he would be number thirty five in the world rankings, surpassing the gross domestic products of Hungary, Ireland, Israel, and New Zealand! He ranks just ahead of Finland, and just behind Greece. An unlike John D., it didn't take him long to get where he is. The author wows us with other (many other) statistics of this sort, and in so doing, allows his book to take on the personality of sort of research scholars versions of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? The best part of the book follows. D'Souza gets down to a serious discussion of mass affluence and its discontents in a chapter titled The Gathering Storm. He then moves on to discuss the subject of "merit," and the many people it leaves behind. He states that success must at times be regarded as a lottery, and explains who wins, and who loses. By far, the best chapter in the book is titled Eye Of The Needle: The Moral Critique Of Prosperity. This is followed by a poignant chapter titled The World We Have Lost: Goodbye Nature, Family, and Community. Get this book and read it. The cult of prosperity and affluence has been touted by a very self-interested lot of politicians, businessmen, and others the late H.L. Mencken would have called "wowzers." Their hidden agenda is almost unexamined in current literature or mass media, and Dinesh D'Souza's book, THE VIRTUE OF PROSPERITY comes as close as any I have read to getting down to the nitty gritty about what really has happened, and what it all means.
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