[(Virtue of Prosperity, the )] [Author: D'Souza] [Nov-2001]

by Dinesh D'Souza

The chief problem societies have faced "since the time of the Babylonians," writes Dinesh D'Souza, has been the problem of scarcity. "But now that age has passed, and America has a new coping with prosperity." It's a good problem to have, but also a serious, even debilitating, one. "The moral conundrum of success," the author continues, means that all too often, "the body is flourishing, but somehow the soul still feels malnourished." D'Souza is well known for his bestselling conservative books Illiberal Education, The End of Racism, and Ronald Reagan. On these pages, however, he seems to set politics aside to ask deep questions about the meaning of life in a world of material 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 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

Genres: Economics, Politics, Philosophy, Sociology

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dinesh D’Souza is a political commentator, bestselling author, filmmaker and a former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, Dinesh D'Souza graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1983. He served as John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. D'Souza writes primarily about Christianity, patriotism and American politics.

Reviews

[Red Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2000, interesting to enter some notes here in 2017, because the rapid technological changes even in 17 years have brought D'Souza's question, "Do we want to use known technology to invent the post-human" into new light (though he should change "known technology" to "unknown").

D'Souza sees risk in going from a mass middle class to a mass affluent class.

Schumpeter warned of the "gale of creative destruction" in both economic and social terms, and was worried about the latter.

One way the rich subsidize the poor is that they buy really expensive new things prior to mass production and price reduction, so those items can be produced at first.

"Capitalism civilizes greed" - it creates a system to prevent appropriation and organize distribution

Capitalism has succeeded over religion in part due to the philosophers - Machiavelli and Hobbes gave up on making people good, Adam Smith explained that private gain can lead to the public welfare, Bacon glorified the man of science, Locke argued for property rights.

[Brad Bevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is my first D'Souza book, but I really enjoyed it. If nothing else, he is an excellent writer and this book will make you think. Written around the turn of the millenium, parts of the book are dated but most of it is truer than ever today. The author covers both sides of the debate over affluence in today's new society, and what its implications are.

I picked this up because it was quoted so often in another book I recently read, The Good of Affluence. In my opinion, this is a much better book because of the author's skill in writing. The chapter titled 'Eye of the Needle' about the moral implications of affluence was especially helpful.

Highly recommend this one to anyone living in America today, the land of the techno-affluent. The author's argument that we are better off than anyone in history and what that means is more true today than ever before, but he also tackles some huge problems inherent in the system, including relative inequality, moral proximity, and ethical issues surrounding new technologies. Will definitely return to this one again, highly recommended.

[Frederick Hammill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Politics aside, this book was just written at a very low reading level, and struggled with coherency. The ideas could’ve been organized much better. A little editing goes a long way. Might need to hire new ghostwriters 👻

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dinesh focuses on a small part of the population when he makes his sweeping generalizations. There is a middle class and underclass that he does not mention. We won't advane to the extent he talks about until this lower class starts to prosper. Certainly there will always be poor but when the average joe/jane is struggling to to get the basics, it doesn't allow them to think about "higher" goals.

[Chris Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember much about this one other than the fact that I agreed with it and liked it.

[Jonathan]

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