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Don Tapscott, author of The Digital Economy, turns his attention to the way young people--surrounded by high-tech toys and tools from birth--will likely affect the future. In Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, Tapscott parlays some 300 interviews into predictions on how today's 2- to 22-year-olds might reshape society. His observations about this enormously influential population, which will total 88 million in North America alone by the year 2000, range from the kind of employees they may eventually be to how they could be reached by marketers.

Book Description

The bestselling book announcing the arrival of the Net Generation--those kids who are growing up digital--now in paperback. Heraled by Library Journal as one of the Best Business Books of 1997, Growing Up Digital tells how the N-Generation is learning to communicate, work, shop and play in profoundly new ways--and what implications this has for the world and business.

Growing Up Digital offers an overview of the N-Generation, the generation of children who in the year 2000 will be between the ages of two and twenty-two. This group is a "tsunami" that will force changes in communications, retailing, branding, advertising, education, etc. Tapscott commends that the N-Generation are becoming so technologically proficient that they will "lap" their parents and leave them behind.

The book also demonstrates the common characteristics of the N-Generation:
acceptance of diversity, because the Net doesn't distinguish between racial or gender identities, curiosity about exploring and discovering new worlds over the Internet and assertiveness and self-reliance, which result when these kids realize they know more about technology than the adults around them.

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Tapscott, who coined the term "Net Generation," profiles this new group and tells how its use of digital technology is reshaping the way society and individuals interact. 15 illustrations. 256 pp. $75,000 marketing. 100,000 print. (Business)

Customer Reviews:

Future Schlock.......2006-12-04

As a long-time net user AND baby boomer, I found much of what Tapscott says completely wrong, be it his unscientific conclusions regarding the so-called "N-Gen" (his own invention, which I find so distasteful and misleading that I'll not use it from now on), his predictions for the future, or his dim view of the technological abilities and intelligence of the boomers.

For example:

1. He assumes that boomers will always remain behind the young when it comes to using the net. There is endless talk of the growing percentage of youthful net users, while ignoring (and thereby discounting) any corresponding growth in boomers using it. He mentions more than once that because youth "assimilated" the net whereas boomers had to learn to use it, youth has an advantage in that respect. (I suppose that some kid raised in a car and thereby "assimilating" how to drive would have a great advantage over all of us dummies who had to learn by taking driver's ed, too.) Now, I don't know how technologically adept or otherwise he might be, and some allowance must be made for the time the book was written (1998), but nowadays I've got news for him: It ain't that hard!!!

2. He stereotypes boomers as being one-dimensional and ignorant; only youth is imaginative, unselfish, open-minded and resourceful. He predicts either a terrible clash between the generations or (in the unlikely event that the boomers wake up in time to cede control to youth) something of a utopia run by the young. It's funny, but a lot of people from that generation that I've encountered hardly fit that profile (and yes, I'm talking about people online)...and I never thought I was all that closed-minded (though I'm sure his advocates would disagree after reading this). Besides, isn't youth traditionally more imaginative, etc., etc.? What proof does he have that this generation won't turn out as all the others have? It's called "growing up." (And I don't mean that it's a 100% good thing!) And he contends that in that generational clash the young will have the advantage, having mastered the greatest tool for mass communication ever: the internet. Evidently the boomers will still be sending telegrams and will thereby be left behind.

3. He mentions that the young have some nebulous advantage in that they espouse so many different points of view, while boomers (there's that stereotyping again) see everything in black and white (I'm not kidding, that's exactly what he says at one point). Not surprisingly, he offers absolutely no proof for either of those assertions. As someone who's spent most of his life finding shades of gray in everything, I think he's confusing the word "different" with "differing," blissfully ignorant of the possibility that all of those contending viewpoints might result in nothing but cacophony.

4. His insights on the young seem to mostly stem from those kids he's spoken with on less than a handful of websites. Evidently he thinks that these websites provide a completely scientific sampling of that generation. Believe me, there ain't no such animal! I'm happy for those sites in that they were frequented by a very nice segment of the younger generation (though even here, some things--like the continuous protestations of teenage males that they would never, ever even think about visiting a porn site--seem somewhat disingenuous, to say the least), but I've been to many sites and participated with many from that generation who, I assure you, were hardly the little angels he's making everyone out to be (and I'm certainly not saying they're all bad, either...but these are rather sweeping generalizations, proof that HE thinks in black and white, anyway).

5. His usual, completely unscientific, means of arriving at a proof of one of his theories is to first introduce it, then to provide some truly scientific though barely related evidence (a chart that shows internet growth or something), and finally to submit a few quotes from his kids to bolster his standpoint. None of this, of course, proves anything, and I'm quite certain that anyone with a professional background in statistical analysis could easily rip his logic to shreds.

6. He sees the net as the road to the truth, and the new generation as particularly discerning of it. Yet everyday I find another hoax in my email, many of them passed on to me by gullible youngsters.

All of which amounts to his own utopian view of youth, a somewhat curmudgeonly distaste for the opinions and abilities of the boomers, and a blatant force-fitting of his transparent opinions (and, in the end, that's all they are) upon the actual, both slimly provided and barely relevant, facts.

It doesn't surprise me at all that younger people have given the book so many positive opinions on here; they're being told what they want to hear. What does surprise me is how few people have seen how poorly constructed his arguments are (regardless of how true or false his conclusions may be). What does that say about the ability of this new generation to discern the truth with a critical eye?

If the proof is in the pudding, keep in mind the year this was published: 1998. That was almost a decade ago (as I write this), long enough for a good part of that generation to come of age, long enough to begin to see some of his sweeping changes, long enough for many of his predictions to have come true. Where are they? People are talking about the book on here as if it were just published and he's showing us the world as it will be 10 years from now. He IS!...only that "10 years from now" is NOW!

N-Geners are Heroes.......2004-02-17

This book will definitely appeal to young people. The author creates the term 'N-Generation' obstensibly because Generation-Y was owned by another author. The book creates a super youth culture that is underappreciated and misunderstood. If you want to write a book that will appeal to young people and get a good rating on the college campus ... just trash the previous generation and the youth will scramble on board the turnip cart. This book does a disservice to youth and to the previous generation by promoting stereotypes, underscoring obscure opinions, and understating the contributions made by the Boomers.
The author should keep in mind that the N-geners didn't create computers and for the most part, they are clueless when it comes to coding. They do not qualify as experts ... not by a long shot. To encourage youth today to believe that they are experts in computers ... and the people who designed them are not ... is setting them up for real disappointment.
The author's opinions on TV and media are also absurd. He creates a model in which the state of everything that is not N-Gen is fixed and unchanging ... while the opposite is true for his heroes. Perhaps the most convincing argument that can be made against this author's opinions is that a good deal of his computer-based examples are already 'off-the-air'. Moreover, his characterization of the pre-web media era as being fearful of the new technology is way off base ... and today's integration of technologies is proof of this.
The book was written to promote sales rather than good, usable, and thoughtful ideas. Young people will adore this author ... not because he makes a good case ... but because he writes what they want to hear ... and makes them feel the way they want to feel ... like heroes.

A slanted perspective on it..........2003-09-03

When I first read it years ago, and rereading it today, I find a lot in this book that is insightful and, moreso, true. The author gives a look into the trends, ways, and lives of the N-Gen that is intriguing. Being one of this generation, it is like looking into my past and recalling my childhood.

Best of the best........2003-01-02

This is absolutely one of the best researched, most interesting, well written, and easy to read books on this topic. A must read for educators of Info-Age youngsters. It will enlighten the pre- Info-Age generations to a whole new world and way of thinking!

Nothing New.......2002-03-10

Maybe my expectations were too high based on the reviews. I found most of the information in this book to be news items. Also, anyone that follows technology in the news will not find much insight into this book. The book is an overview of how the younger generation uses technology in their social lives, play and work. If you are not very familiar with the internet and don't watch the news this book would be worthwhile. However, anyone who uses the internet and keeps up on the news won't get much out of it.

Growing up Digital : The Rise of the Net Generation

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Growing up Digital : The Rise of the Net Generation
Don Tapscott
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFKQB4

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Growing Up Digital: the Rise of the Net Generation
Don Tapscott
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFRJGO

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Great theory, but not always an easy read

Value edition for the budget minded

A Very Standard Economic Postulate

Don't buy the Dover edition of this book.

great idea, little proof

Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Max Weber
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0024248606

Book Description

Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, first published in 1904, remains to this day a powerful and fascinating read. Weber's highly accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the Protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the West. Widely considered as the most informed work ever written on the social effects of advanced capitalism, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism holds its own as one of the most significant books of the twentieth century. The book is one of those rare works of scholarship which no informed citizen can afford to ignore.

Customer Reviews:

Great theory, but not always an easy read.......2007-07-30

Max Weber's thesis that the Protestant work-ethic helped give rise to the spirit of modern capitalism is well known, but how true is it? Weber goes into an impressive review of historical details on how Luther's concept of the calling became the Calvinist concept of labor to glorify God, and finally the Puritan concept that is applied to business as well as anything else. In short, the Protestant hard-work ethic, intended to be a sign of election and to glorify god, inadvertently (at least in part) gave birth to the spirit of capitalism, of sustained, planned, methodical profit-making. Though capitalism is no longer dependent upon religion for maintaining its ethos (we are all caught in the rat race), it is fascinating how Weber makes a compelling case that a once anti-materialist Protestant Christianity came to affirm the capitalist spirit by way of a hard-working ethic. Many of Weber's themes are persuasive, if also controversial. Weber has by no means isolated the final or full cause of the take-off of capitalism in modern times, but he has made a good case for one contributing factor. Would that his style of writing had been a bit more direct - Weber's insights are at least worth careful reading.

Value edition for the budget minded.......2007-06-06

The "reviews" about Weber's thesis could fill libraries. Ooops! They actually have!

So let's ignore that.

The focus here is on value, and this Dover value edition is perfectly fine for the thrifty college student on a limited budget who needs to read this work for an assignment but doesn't want to be at the mercy of the University Library.

This is a seminal work that reaches far into other fields of inquiry, so it is likely you will need it no matter what your field.

The binding is an el-cheap-o slab of glue, so it won't lie flat on your desk when you are transcribing a quote for a citation.....but since you've downloaded the text file you'll just cut and paste anyway.

Academic citations to this edition are perfectly acceptable in scholarly papers and under MLA, ASA, APA, ACS, APSA, "Turabian" and MHRA style guidelines (and perhaps others).

A Very Standard Economic Postulate.......2007-04-15

Assuming Max Weber's thesis to be true proves useful. By assuming it as a postulate, one gains a potential way of understanding the beliefs of the western-world's upper pareto boundary and the typical ressentiments / bad faith (bad-tempered, difficult mental traps everyone who tries to create something can't help but fall into from time to time, mea culpa!) of the lower.

Max Scheler (who advised Karol Wojtyla as a Ph.D. student) seems to have done something similar to what Max Weber describes the upper pareto boundary (somewhere over the rainbow as the song goes) as having done. Max Scheler "attempted to reconcile Nietzsche's ideas of master-slave morality and ressentiment with the Christian ideals of love and humility."

Anyway, just projecting a few of my other readings onto this one a bit. L8R.

Don't buy the Dover edition of this book........2006-10-26

The Dover edition of the book has been bound so tightly that it's difficult to turn the pages--and to read the words, which are nearly swallowed up by the binding. It feels like if you force it at all, the whole binding will come unglued.

It may be cheap, but it *feels* so extremely cheap that it's just not worth the money saved. Buy yourself another edition--or for that matter, just get the text free online. Anything's better than trying to read this edition.

great idea, little proof.......2006-09-26

As part of my enquiry into the forces that the Reformation unleased, I decided to at last read this classic.

Alas, it was disappointing in that Weber makes the assertion - that reformation-spawned ideologies were the foundation of the capitalist revolution - and then offers little historical explanation as proof of his thesis. Instead, what he does is to painstakingly describe the ideologies in question, to show that they are compatible conceptually with his definition of capitalism (the rise of an urban bourgeoisie that created wealth by investing in industry as a major new economic actor, eventaully leading to the eclipse of the old land-based aristocracy). As Hannah Ardnt said, so long as you are far enough from reality, you can make almost any ideas appear compatible. As such, I was unconvinced that a) the feeling of being among the elect made people work harder to prove it by material success and b) that a heightened sense of individuality that arose with separation from the papist ideologies augmented this pursuit of self-development via the massing of personal capital. While the protestant ideologies may conform vaguely to these notions, that does not in the slightest prove a direct causal connection. Indeed, one might argue that it was the repression by the Inquisition - against the bourgoise's challenge to traditional aristocrats - that may have delayed the development of capitalism in Catholic countries for a few centuries. (That capitalism did develop in many Catholic countries also undermines the book's prinicpal thesis.)

This essay is interesting as a pioneering attempt at sociological determinism from a rather existentialist perspective, but reading the whole thing was a bit much for me. Weber was a great and innovative thinker, however out of date his modes of reasoning have become - they are strictly qualitative. Not recommended except asof historical interest.

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The Greater Separation of Powers
Breaking new ground
A Prayer of Capitalism
Brilliant, provocative, learned, faithful
The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism by Michael Novak

The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism
Michael Novak
Manufacturer: Madison Books
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ASIN: 0819178233

Book Description

...a major work for our times. --Irving Kristol, The Public Interest

Customer Reviews:

The Greater Separation of Powers.......2006-09-20

This is a brilliant and intoxicating book. It argues that democratic capitalism is not a moral slum but a school of moral uplift. That is because democratic capitalism does three things. It tries to limit power -- economic, political, and moral -- and bring it under law. It encourages reciprocity and honest dealing. And it also teaches people that the way to thrive is to live and work to serve the needs of others. The same point has been made again and again in the long tradition of market apologetics since Adam Smith and most recently by Frederick Turner in "Shakespeare's Twenty-first Century Economics."

Democratic capitalism goes beyond the idea of limiting government power by the separation of powers. It attempts a "greater separation of powers" beyond government -- in society itself.

This is Novak's big idea. He differentiates society into a political sector, an economic sector, and a moral-cultural sector, and experiences each as a check and balance for the power of the other sectors.

Reactionaries of all kinds, of course, want to turn back the clock to a pre-democratic-capitalist society where everything is reabsorbed back into politics, or an even more primitive religio-politics. Chances are though that the genie can't be put back in the bottle. So we have to start from where we are, with a society as described by Novak, a differentiated political sector, economic sector, and moral-cultural sector.

Breaking new ground.......2002-08-10

The American theologian Michael Novak converted from socialism to capitalism in the 1970s, somewhat against the trend of the times. It might be said that he got in early to beat the rush to the neoconservative right. He has written that his liberal humanist education, mostly in philosophy and theology, was anti-capitalist 'as was common'. At the age of 40 he recognized a need to question his presuppositions about political economy and especially economics. This led him to discover and eventually to celebrate democratic capitalist traditions and institutions, especially in their North American form. He is especially proud of the achievements of the founding fathers of the Constitution with their appreciation of the need to separate the powers of church and state, and to take precautions against the predatory activities of political factions.

In his capacity as a Catholic theologian he has been especially concerned to reply to the moral critics of capitalism who typically argue that the system abandons the public interest and the welfare of the community to self-interest and the pursuit of individual gain. In one of his other books, Free Persons and the Common Good, he attempted to retrieve from the Catholic literature a conception of the common good that is consistent with capitalism and the market order. Novak taook up this challenge with a tortuous excursion into the works of Catholic thinkers, among them Aquinas who Lord Acton described as 'the first Whig'.

His account of the American experience as an adventure of classical (non socialist) liberalism is more convincing. He identifies several valuable moral traditions which were called forth by democratic capitalist institutions in the early American colonies. These include civic responsibility, personal economic enterprise, creativity and a special kind of communitarian living. He also offers a cogent rejoinder to the critics who accuse capitalism of lacking moral or spiritual depth. He explains that statements on the 'spiritual deficiency' of democratic capitalism spring from a "horrific" category mistake. Democratic capitalism is not a church, a philosophy or a way of life, instead it promises three liberations; from tyranny and torture; from the oppression of conscience, information and ideas; and from poverty. The resulting social order provides space "within which the soul may make its own choices, and within which spiritual leaders and spiritual associations may do their own necessary and creative work". He suggests that Democratic capitalism has done rather well on the score of promoting spiritual and cultural life, in contrast with Fascism and Communism which aspired to cater for higher human needs.

The most significant achievement of the book is to explain how the common good can be served by the blend of individualism and free-market institutionalism (under the rule of law) that is advocated by von Mises and Hayek. Both these writers and other classical liberals dismiss the notion that there is anything identifiable as the common (collectivist) good. But the kind of 'common good' that Novak identifies is not of the collectivist variety, instead it is a framework of institutions and traditions which maximises the chance for all individuals to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This particular kind of common good is promoted by the extended order of morals and markets, provided that the markets and other vital parts of the system of law and government are working properly. Here the notion of the rule of law is crucial because it defines an essential function for strong (but limited) government.

Novak supports the market liberal thrust for free trade and he also endorses the traditional, conservative notion of the rule of law against certain types of social engineers and judicial activists. However he does not object to the welfare state because he thinks that it is necessary in these days of fragmented communities and highly mobile people. Those who like their ideology strong and pure will deplore this lapse from grace but it shows Novak's willingness to get the best of both worlds, if this is at all possible. In the same way that he is determined to retrieve the best of Catholic theology he is prepared to take whatever he finds acceptable from the diverse strands of liberalism, ranging from the laissez-faire of von Mises and the deregulators to the left-liberalism of the American democrats. Novak challenges libertarians who have no time for religious traditions and he challenges religious conservatives who regard the liberal tradition as self-centred. This book maintains his reputation for breaking new ground and making connections between apparantly antagonistic modes of thought.

A Prayer of Capitalism.......2002-03-03

...

This is an important book. It links the liberal democratic order of capitalism with the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and thus at once removes capitalism from being a secular, non-discriminatory form of free market exchange to a human set of relationships between individuals based on a moral code.

Whether or not all philosophers would agree with that thesis is another issue. Since the enlightenment when religious authority was usurped and the secular society emerged, religion has been under attack in developed societies and today many in organized religions decry the relatavistic nature of our behaviour.

That said this is a book that should be read by anyone interested in the concept of the ethical corporate governance. It is a difficult book to read due to the densely written arguemnts which require close reading. It is a challenging book in many ways, especially to those who have strong personal belief systems. Nevertheless, Novak makes a strong case and his exposition deserves to be taken to a wider audience

My thoughts upon rereading this book again recently were that there is a need for a similar book to relate Capatilism to other major religions in a way which transcends any one religion in particular. In the light of recent events too there is a case for a treatise which relates Capitalism to the Moslem world to show that it is an inclusive rather than an exclusive social system.

Brilliant, provocative, learned, faithful.......2001-02-16

Michael Novak is probably the foremost Christian thinker on the economy. Any of his books reward study, but "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism" is undoubtedly his magnum opus. In this classic text, which has now been updated and revised, Novak joins issue with theologians like Paul Tillich who contend that "any serious Christian must be a socialist." It appeared in a samizdat (underground) edition in Poland during the 1980s and had an obvious impact on the Solidarity movement. Its reasoned defense of democratic capitalism as being grounded in the humane values of the Judeo-Christian tradition also helped give a moral center to the neo-conservative movement.

In "Democratic Capitalism," Novak addresses the consistency of capitalism with church teachings on wealth. Novak recognizes that church teaching has been hostile to capitalism, as with much else of modernity. Yet, Novak contends that arguments against capitalism serve mainly to give aid and comfort to the Leviathan state. Indeed, Novak persuasively (if controversially) attributes Christian opposition to capitalism to two main sources: ignorance and antique world views. Church leaders and theologians tend to have either a pre-capitalist or a frankly socialist set of ideals about political economy.

To be clear, Novak does not believe that faith should be subordinated to capitalism. To the contrary, he recognizes that the divine plan was that we should enjoy the fruits of the earth and of our own industry. He simply contends that capitalism is the best way Fallen humans have yet devised to obey the Biblical command that we are to be stewards of God's world. Novak never loses sight of the basic proposition that it was equally the divine plan that God should be worshiped, obeyed, and feared. The fear of the Lord, he would argue, is the beginning of capitalist wisdom, just as it is of any other kind of wisdom. Not surprisingly, therefore, Novak's analysis has begun to impact the way the church thinks about capitalism. Pope John Paul II's most recent encyclicals on work and the economy, for example, such as Centesimus Annus, contain obvious marks of Novak's influence. In sum, very highly recommended.

The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism by Michael Novak.......2000-04-20

A nut's and bolts book about how and why systems that allow "free choice" produce better goods and services. A MUST book for people in Latin Countries where "poverty" was a virtue and production was conceived as evil. Novak pulls the shades off of the "socialist" concept that only Capitalists are greedy. Marx indeed never took into consideration a human spirit that could be "inspired" to do things for the Glory of the Creator. I don't leave "home" without my copy. I read and then re-read.

Catholic Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism

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Catholicism and Capitalism Go Together
a celebration of capitalism tempered by a warning
the morality of capitalism

Catholic Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism
Michael Novak
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 002923235X

Customer Reviews:

Catholicism and Capitalism Go Together.......2002-06-19

Not only is capitalism moral, but Novak proves out how the Catholic church has a history of rejecting socialism and exalting the capitalist society. Contrary to Max Weber's work on the Protestant Ethic, all of Catholicism is not one big tome to social justice and human rights. From _Rerum Novarum_ to _Centesimus Annus_, Catholicism captures the spirit of entrepreneurial ingenuity and liberty.

a celebration of capitalism tempered by a warning.......2000-06-05

"Those who are convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism." Pope John Paul II, _Centesimus_Annus_-1991, #46

Michael Novak has written several books on the impact of capitalism on democratic society, including _The_Catholic_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism_. In essence, this volume contains a synopsis of papal thought on economics from Leo XIII in his encyclical _Rerum_Novarum_ (1891) to John Paul II in his centennial rejoinder _Centesimus_Annus_ (1991). This tumultuous period in between these two documents oversaw the rise of socialism and its final collapse. These events lead to the question, does capitalism engender a moral superiority as an economic system. The book leads the reader to the conclusion in the qualified affirmative.

Modern society maintains three dimensions involving public participation--political, economic and moral. Democracy (or probably more accurately, constitutional republican government) constitutes probably the best political form that flawed humans can achieve in this life. Capitalism has been demonstrated to be the most effective economic means to ensure maximum benefit (in productivity and material reward) for the greatest number of persons. Publicly expressed religious worship (particularly the Judeo-Christian creeds) have blessed society with moral leavening to help counter the vices so prevalent among persons at large in all walks of life. That socialism has collapsed so utterly is partly due to its _unitary_ nature. It intends to concentrate all powers--political, economic and moral--into the apparatus of the state. However, a democratic capitalist society with no accountability to God will also ultimately degenerate and collapse.

Leo XIII criticized to Europe's early Marxist movement, predicting that "The Socialists, working on the poor man's envy of the rich, endeavor to destroy private property, and maintain that individual possessions should become the common property of all, to be administered by the State... But their proposals are so clearly futile for all practical purposes, that if they were carried out the working man himself would be among the first to suffer." He extends his comments noting that the socialists "act against natural justice and threaten the very existence of family life. And such interference... is quite certain to... subject [all citizens] to odious and intolerable slavery... Ideal equality--of which so much is said--would, in reality, be the leveling down of all to the same condition of misery and dis-honor. Thus it is clear that the main tenet of Socialism, the community of goods, must be utterly rejected; for it would injure those whom it is intended to benefit, it would be contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and it would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonwealth." One can only shudder at the cost in human lives and misery that mankind has suffered for not affording greater attention to these words at the time.

Catholic ideas of these components in society were further expounded by Pius XI in _Quadragesimo_Anno_ (1931), to which he contributed. Injustice within society must be confronted, and for this imperative the term "social justice" was coined. Pius XI emphasized three points: personal responsibility, institutional change, and practicality. Humans have a moral nature and thereby must accept responsibility within the society in which they live. They must focus on change in the system--the institutions which constitute society. And finally, people should be realistic, concentrating on what is "possible" and not on utopian visions. During past ages, common people were passive "subjects"--this was a call to action for "citizens" to participate. (Needless to say, this encyclical was not very popular with Mussolini.) This requires free men and women to join together and organize. The art of association, Tocqueville wrote, is the first law of democracy. The absence of this quality makes the practice of modern citizenship and civil society impossible. The contrast can probably be best illustrated by a comparison between the American and French Revolutions of the eighteenth century. American colonialists were knit together by habits of volunteerism, whereas the French were still a mob of solitary individuals. The first revolution led to a free society--the second disintegrated quickly into a murderous anarchy followed by Napoleon's dictatorship.

The underlying principle of John Paul's anthropology is the "creative subjectivity" of the human person--seen from two perspectives: philosophically and theologically. The former sees _homo_creator_ envisions _imago_Dei_. In _Centesimus_Annus_ #32, John Paul writes, "Whereas at one time the decisive factor of production was the land,... today the decisive factor is increasingly man himself, that is, his knowledge, especially his scientific knowledge, his capacity for interrelated and compact organization, as well as his ability to perceive the needs of others and to satisfy them."

As a consequence, freedom is a means--not an end--to seek a harmony between self interest and the interests of society as a whole, wherever this is possible. Liberty is not to be taken as license--not as liberty _from_ the law, but liberty _within_ the law. Ultimately, all societies must focus on "the truth about man", for without this emphasis, people lose their moral bearings and sense of direction. (See the excerpt at the beginning of this review.) Capitalism enables the greatest opportunity to engage creatively in the economic sphere, and rewarding the labors of those who endeavor in productive enterprise. John Paul continues, "Important virtues are involved in this process such as diligence, industriousness, prudence in undertaking reasonable risks, reliability and fidelity in interpersonal relationships as well as courage in carrying out decisions which are difficult and painful, but necessary both in the overall working of a business and in meeting possible setbacks." Democratic polity provides a means of participation by citizens in establishing consensus. But without an understanding of the truth of man's obligations to God, corruption will ultimately dissolve the spirit of cooperation and chaos will ensue. Checks and balances provide the counterweights to inappropriate economic desires, as the pope describes the proper role for the public's moral component: "Such a society is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state so as to guarantee that the basic needs of the whole of society are satisfied." The message from John Paul's encyclical and of Michael Novak's _The_Catholic_Ethic_ could be summarized as follows: The human imperative is to be creative, and society must endeavor to encourage public virtue.

the morality of capitalism.......1999-11-29

I've lived through the '50's red scares,communist world expansion, the '60's nihilism and militaristic support for capitalistic expansion. I've witnessed the polemics of the 80's and '90's, culminating in the demise of Communism and the emergence of a "Third way" synthesis. Capitalism always appealed to the intellect as logical but, knowing that not all humans are hard working and creative, capitalism in its pure state always seemed morally lacking. Mike Novak argues this is like blaming the car engine for and moral deficits of a drunk driver. While providing an interesting ride, this socio-economic -political rollercoaster has always lacked a tanscendent moral order. Along the way, pundits, social critics and propogandists produced a moral overview both fragmentary and conflicting. Mike Novak's book assigns some greater moral clarity to the choas of this historical tumult. He argues that one may be both a devout catholic and an enthusiastic capitalist, that indeed, being catholic may even oblige one to be a capitalist. He stenghens his views with the imprimatur of encyclicals, both eloquent and prescient, by Popes Leo XIII through John Paul II. Each humanistic and thoughtful citizen, whether a member of The American Republic or the world at large, must ask: Are private property and the pursuit of profit moral goods or evils? Are capitalism's excesses and shortcoming the faults of the economic order itself or the hosting culture? Is the pursuit of self interest a natural expression of god-given talent (hence a moral imperative to inspire, protect and empower others) or is it the selfish and exploitative. Is greed good? When does legitimate self interest become greed? Is global expansion of American capitalism righteous, as an escape from the enslavement of starvation-level poverty? Or is it simply an invitation to starve more freely? Is the inclusion of world citizens an invitation to the feast of expanding prosperity or an exploitation of their circumstance? Should the social conscience of a corporation make good business sense? Is it even possible? Is it theologically sound? Is it theologically required? After reading Professor Novak's book, I believe each reader will have a clearer view of capitalism's moral strengh and the weakness of opposing neo-socialist apostasies.

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The New Spirit of Capitalism
Luc Boltanski , and Eve Chiapello
Manufacturer: Verso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1844671658

Book Description

A major study of the organization of contemporary capitalism—already a classic.

This major new work examines the structure of capitalism and how it has been reorganized since the 1960s. Via an unprecedented examination of management texts the authors find that employers are using the language of 1968 counterculture to drive through new work practices and more successful and subtle forms of exploitation. They argue that from the middle of the 1970s onwards, capitalism abandoned the hierarchical Fordist work structure and developed a network-based form of organization that was founded on employee initiative and autonomy in the workplace—a 'freedom' that came at the cost of material and psychological security. In a work that is already a paradigm-shifting classic, Boltanski and Chiapello show how the new spirit triumphed thanks to a remarkable recuperation of the Left's critique of the alienation of everyday life. This epoch-defining work is as important and as sweeping in scope as Ernest Mandel's Late Capitalism and Hardt and Negri's Empire.

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The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism
Michael Novak
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CDA8CK

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Spirit of Democratic Capitalism.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ICU54Q

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