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Ross Gregory Douthat

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The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success Hardcover – February 25, 2020

by Ross Douthat (Author)

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From the New York Times columnist and bestselling author of Bad Religion, a powerful portrait of how our wealthy, successful society has passed into an age of gridlock, stalemate, public failure and private despair.

Today the Western world seems to be in crisis. But beneath our social media frenzy and reality television politics, the deeper reality is one of drift, repetition, and dead ends. The Decadent Society explains what happens when a rich and powerful society ceases advancing—how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline creates a strange kind of “sustainable decadence,” a civilizational languor that could endure for longer than we think.

Ranging from our grounded space shuttles to our Silicon Valley villains, from our blandly recycled film and television—a new Star Wars saga, another Star Trek series, the fifth Terminator sequel—to the escapism we’re furiously chasing through drug use and virtual reality, Ross Douthat argues that many of today’s discontents and derangements reflect a sense of futility and disappointment—a feeling that the future was not what was promised, that the frontiers have all been closed, and that the paths forward lead only to the grave.

In this environment we fear catastrophe, but in a certain way we also pine for it—because the alternative is to accept that we are permanently decadent: aging, comfortable and stuck, cut off from the past and no longer confident in the future, spurning both memory and ambition while we wait for some saving innovation or revelations, growing old unhappily together in the glowing light of tiny screens.

Correcting both optimists who insist that we’re just growing richer and happier with every passing year and pessimists who expect collapse any moment, Douthat provides an enlightening diagnosis of the modern condition—how we got here, how long our age of frustration might last, and how, whether in renaissance or catastrophe, our decadence might ultimately end.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Publication date

February 25, 2020
Dimensions

6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1476785244
ISBN-13

978-1476785240
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Clever and stimulating . . . Informative and well balanced . . . [An] intriguing theological-political idea.” —Mark Lilla, The New York Times Book Review

“Well-timed . . . This is a young man’s book. Douthat can see our sclerotic institutions clearly because his vision is not distorted by out-of-date memories from a more functional era. . . . Charming and persuasive." —Peter Thiel for First Things

“A scintillating diagnosis of social dysfunctions . . . His analysis is full of shrewd insights couched in elegant, biting prose. . . . The result is a trenchant and stimulating take on latter-day discontents.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Ross Douthat is the rare pundit who has managed to keep his head through the ideological turbulence of recent times — and his new book grows out of his characteristic equanimity and good sense.” —Damon Linker, The Week

“Douthat’s best book yet, a work of deep cultural analysis, elegantly written and offering provocative thoughts on almost every page. It’s hard to think of a current book that is as insightful about the way we live now as is this one.” —Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

“It is a testament to [Douthat's] singular skill and wisdom, then, that he has written so thoughtful and compelling a book that bemoans the end of progress. The Decadent Society is Douthat at his best—clever, considered, counterintuitive, and shot through with insight about modern America.” —The Washington Free Beacon

"Ambitious and entertaining." —Financial Times

"A convincing argument." —The National Review

"A substantial book by one of the more serious people in American public life today, The Decadent Society deserves a wide readership." —The New Atlantis

Praise for To Change the Church:

"High-minded cultural criticism, concise, rhetorically agile, lit up by Douthat's love for the Roman Catholic Church . . . An adroit, perceptive, gripping account . . . It's strong stuff, conversationally lively and expressive." —The New York Times Book Review

"Erudite and thought-provoking . . . Weaves a gripping account of Vatican politics into a broader history of Catholic intellectual life to explain the civil war within the church . . . Douthat manages in a slim volume what most doorstop-size, more academic church histories fail to achieve: He brings alive the Catholic 'thread that runs backward through time and culture, linking the experiences of believers across two thousand years.' He helps us see that Christians have wrestled repeatedly with the same questions over the past two millennia." —The Washington Post

“Absorbing.” —Booklist

About the Author

Ross Douthat is a columnist for the New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, and coauthor of Grand New Party. Before joining the New York Times, he was a senior editor for the Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he cohosts the New York Times’s weekly op-ed podcast, The Argument. He lives in New Haven with his wife and four children.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (February 25, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476785244
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476785240
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #67,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #109 in United States National Government
- #170 in Political Commentary & Opinion
- #207 in History of Christianity (Books)

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Ross Douthat is a columnist for The New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change The Church, Privilege, and Grand New Party. Before joining the Times he was a senior editor for The Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he has appeared regularly on television, including Charlie Rose, PBS Newshour, and Real Time with Bill Maher.

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4.3 out of 5

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John

It will deeply affect how you see the modern world.

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2020

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I found it to be a mind altering book. Its pages clearly represent decades of critical thought and serious reflection about the Western World's past, present, and future. Douthat's writing on the habit of culture to repeat itself is particularly convincing, arguing that a time traveler from 1985 to 2019 would be surprisingly disappointed in the lack of innovation and real change in almost every facet of our society, including entertainment, technology, and our current heated political discussions. If you want to better understand the modern world, and why people don't seem happier despite having unprecedented abundance, read this book.

2 people found this helpful

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Tina Nguyen

It’s a wake up call

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020

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From the looks of the title, I thought this was going to be about how indulgent our society has become (think of eating cake while taking a bubble bath with a 24K gold leaf facial mask on). Instead, the writer uses the term “decadent” to mean stagnation in our society.

Basically, the US has not been growing as much as it did in the 1950s. We haven’t really made revolutionary progress since flying people to the moon in the 1960s. But what about iPhones and Teslas? Sure, they made our lives easier but they aren’t game changes like indoor plumbing. At the end of the day, you can make a phone call on a regular phone or use your computer to look up stuff and send emails. A Tesla will get you from point A to point B just like my used car.

All great societies contract, and the author goes through factors that prevent us from further developing. It’s no secret our socioeconomic and political systems are at a stalemate. Our birth rate has declined. There’s also the looming climate change crisis that is going to radically change immigration patterns, which will lead to a worldwide upheaval.

The book is doom and gloom, but let’s face it...we’re on a path of destruction if we don’t recognize that we’re stuck in mud. It’s even more realistic to read it right now during the pandemic.

Even though the concepts were thought provoking, I’m giving it 4 stars because it is a difficult book to read. Definitely not light summer reading.

8 people found this helpful

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Joshua D. Reitano

Couldn't put it down

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020

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I've always enjoyed Douthat's political and cultural commentary, a sane and thoughtful voice in a clickbait world that seems to reward pure madness. The Decadent Society is Douthat's effort to assess the state of things in the Western world, and to take a stab at what's next.

As to the state of things, Douthat spends the first part of the book arguing (as have many others) that we are in a period of decadence that has stretched on since the end of the space age. The four indicators of decadence he cites are: stagnation, sterility, sclerosis and repetition. He does an admirable job of making the case that this is the state of Western society.

Part 2 of the book is Douthat's analysis of how decadence has stretched on as long as it has, and how it might comfortably continue on throughout much of Western society. The rise of the internet and ubiquitous entertainment have made us "comfortably numb," elites (now rentiers rather than innovators) have a stake in perpetuating the current decadence, and there is a lack of real rivals. Other emerging civilizations seem to be approaching their own level of decadence (China being the top example). Douthat also points out that decadence may well be pretty comfortable for an awful lot of people, thus decreasing the likelihood that disruptors take hold and bring real change.

The final part of the book is a look at what could come next if the current decadence is not sustainable. Douthat spends time thinking through possible catastrophic upheavals, as well as the likelihood of various causes for a coming renaissance. Finally he compares the current global civilization to the Roman empire. It it possible we have reached the apex of what man can do, in which case, is decadence the necessary result? Absent space exploration with more worlds to see, discover and leap to, or some outside intervention (divine or the result of another society's space exploration), will decadence be the inevitable outcome?

This is a fascinating book. Highly recommended.

23 people found this helpful

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Alex Newell

Excellent book from one of the best modern conservatives

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2020

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Ross Douthat is one of the best minds in the modern conservative movement. He has a knack for giving an argument in a charitable and friendly manner - he consistently shows he understands the arguments of those who would criticize his position, and then provides his counter argument without demeaning those who might disagree.

The decadent society is prescient, especially given the coronavirus outbreak which put the decadence of modern institutions on full display. The chapters about family breakdown and its consequences are also hard-hitting, as that is one of the most overlooked “high cost” elements of an increasingly libertine culture.

Do read this book - it is well worth your time and money.

3 people found this helpful

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Diogo Vasconcelos Pessoa

Um pouco do que não conhecemos das oligarquias

Reviewed in Brazil on January 17, 2022

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Assustador e ao mesmo tempo, essencial ler.

One person found this helpful

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Hugh Lloyd

Excellent Book

Reviewed in Canada on December 28, 2020

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Insightful analysis of the political and social environment of the present age. Highly recommended.

Cliente Amazon

Brilliant beginning but disapppointing ending

Reviewed in Spain on January 18, 2022

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The book begins with a brilliant thesis: the western civilization is a decadent one, and shows cleverly how stagnation is spreading in many fields (arts, tecnology, economics, politics, demographics...). Incredibly the last chapter, which should tell us what awaits next, is about miracles, UFOS and religious cults. Simply unacceptable.
3/4 parts of the book are interesting, though

Edoardo Angeloni

A just vision of several questions.

Reviewed in Italy on November 14, 2020

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The author writes for the Nyt and he has an exact vision about many questions of our society,. The Usa don't be more a winner power, after Obama they have begun to remain into them-selves. That could mean also that with an objective more concrete the progress is more sure. In fact the Universities and the Silicon Valley continue to produce an efficient research. A glass half void half to drink. A message probably quietly, but also of hoping.

Sorrowful investigator

An extended op-ed piece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2020

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Rave reviews and good PR but a disappointment. The book begins well, laying out its thesis about the glory days
of space travel being 50 years in the past with no notable progress since except the Internet. The idea that we're now stuck in stagnation, sterility, sclerosis and repetition is easy to establish but Douthat succumbs to exactly this
pattern of repetition himself. It's a wordy and shallow text amounting to little more than journalistic masturbation, and far too US-focused to appeal to readers in the rest of the world.

9 people found this helpful

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