The Good Life and Its Discontents
The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Business Book Bestseller
"Shrewd and optimistic. . . . [The Good Life and Its Discontents] combines first-rate analysis with persuasive historical, political and sociological insights." —The New Republic
Today Americans are wealthier, healthier, and live longer than at any previous time in our history. As a society, we have never had it so good. Yet, paradoxically, many of us have never felt so bad. For, as Robert J. Samuelson observes in this visionary book, our country suffers from a national sense of entitlement—a feeling that someone, whether Big Business or Big Government, should guarantee us secure jobs, rising living standards, social harmony, and personal fulfillment.
In The Good Life and Its Discontents, Samuelson, a national columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, links our rising expectations with our belief in a post-Cold War vision of an American utopia. Using history, economics, and psychology, he exposes the hubris of economists and corporate managers and indicts a government that promises too much to too many constituencies. Like David Reisman's The Lonely Crowd and John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society, the result is a book that defines its time—and that is sure to shape the national debate for years to come.
"A smart, balanced epitaph for an era—with a few clues for what's ahead." —Business Week
"Lucid [and] nonsectarian . . . Samuelson traces how the reasonable demand for progress has given way to the excessive demand for perfection." —The New York Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Samuelson, a syndicated columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, offers here a thoughtful exposition of a paradox: Americans feel pessimistic even as the country overall has prospered by most measures. His explanation is the concept of ``entitlement,'' the American sensibility that ``almost everyone deserves to succeed.'' And just as Americans have enjoyed the fruits of prosperity (consumer goods, etc.), they have accordingly demanded more of government. However, he warns, our economy cannot be managed as easily as some theorists say. Thus, ``the politics of overpromise''--in which budget deficits, broadened ``rights'' such as equality and lobbyist gridlock--have led to bloated government. Samuelson's solution is a culture of greater responsibility. He suggests we raise the retirement age to crimp the costs of an aging America, and that all government benefits be ``means tested'' (limited by income). Otherwise, he cautions, we may not band together to fight pressing social problems involving race and poverty. Hearkening back to the early-20th-century progressive movement, Samuelson suggests that an interregnum, such as our era, is part of the cycle of history. Author tour.
