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American society is a culture of paradoxes. Never has a country produced such great abundance, yet never have we had to work such long hours to sustain a quality of life marred by corporate exploitation and senseless consumerism. Collectively, our middle class possesses massive wealth, yet we are currently powerless to effect substantial change in both the capitalist or democratic systems. We have irresponsibly destroyed the world's natural resources, yet--as in the past--our "daring innovation" may help resolve the calamitous ecological crisis we have created in the first place. In his sixth book, The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy, William Greider attempts to discover "how and why our brilliant economic system collides with so many of society's broader aspirations and regularly frustrates them." How did these paradoxes develop and how will they be redressed? Greider flatly states that his intention is not to discuss a utopian ideal, but rather to relate his "conviction that the arrangements within capitalism can be changed, little by little, to make more space for life through innovations that eventually become common practice."
Greider creates a sobering picture of the obstacles we must overcome if we are ever to re-establish "an authentic democracy," one that truly serves the values of the majority and not just the wealthy few and the status quo. Indeed his descriptions of the deleterious effects of capitalism on the environment, the American workforce (white and blue collar alike), and the very fabric of American life expose an urgent need for change. Greider maintains that the strength of the capitalist system is its adaptability. Therefore, despite his frank admission that substantial change will be difficult and a long time in coming, his catalogue of small successes and localized reform initiatives lend credibility to his hopeful claim that "the corporate institution is ripe for reinvention." --Silvana Tropea
Book Description
In his previous bestsellers, Who Will Tell the People and Secrets of the Temple, William Greider laid bare the inner workings of American politics and the Federal Reserve, revealing how they often work against the interests of the majority of us. In The Soul of Capitalism, Greider examines how the greatest wealth-creation engine in the history of the world is failing most of us, why it must be changed, and how specifically it can be transformed.
Brilliantly perceptive and sweeping in its ambition, The Soul of Capitalism is also hard-headed and practical, as Greider, one of our most eloquent populist spokesmen, assures us we are not powerless. He illustrates how American capitalism can be aligned more faithfully and obediently with what people want and need in their lives, with what American society needs for a healthy, balanced, and humane future. He proves that it is within our power to reinvent capitalism to make it work for us.
The Soul of Capitalism -- solid, pragmatic, visionary, optimistic -- addresses the nation's most urgent needs.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-02
This is a book for critics of "Capitalism" not its supporters.
The sub-title of this book is, "Opening Paths to a Moral Economy". So I interpret the Soul of Capitalism to be concerned with its fairness - the fairness of the economic system.
Capitalism has never been much on fairness. Capitalism has always been considered more like Mother Nature - the way it is; not the way it should be.
There are many who consider this to be "fair". If that is the way it is, that's the way it is.
If this is how you feel don't bother buying this book.
If you think that the Capitalist system could be improved and made better, then you will probably find this book very interesting.
Mr. Grieder does suggest in this book that he hopes that it will inspire the younger generation. I hope so too.
One other thought occurs to me with regards to Capitalism.
When J. S. Mill was analyzing this particular problem in his "A Theory of Political Economy" he said something to this effect:
So if we admit that the fundamental rules of economic dogma can not be denied and that we must conform to them in our attempts at earning money and operating our businesses - competition, supply and demand etc. - well so be it. But after we have conformed to these demands and made our fortunes we are then free to do with our incomes and our wealth as we please - and so too are governments who gain their wealth after the fact. There are no economic rules or dogmatic restrictions on how we must spend our money after we have earned it. We are once again in command and fate is once again in our hands.
What a terrible book.......2007-02-04
I have never written an Amazon review before, but I wanted to save others from watsing their time and money on such a terrible book. Greider doesn't know anything about how markets acually work or most businesses operate, nor does he have any sense of why wealthy countries can afford to protect the environment. This book is basically a oontinuing rant, repetitive, fraught with emotion but lacking any real argument.
Capitalism's soul needs a touch up.......2005-10-24
Any ardent supporter of capitalism, at least any honest supporter, should hear alarm bells going off over recent economic trends and developments. Globalization, the rise of sweatshops, Wal-Mart, exploiting illegal immigration for economic gain at the cost of American jobs, and the whole Enron/cooking the books imbroglio that's claimed numerous companies in the past five years all set my teeth on edge. You can throw NAFTA, CAFTA, and reckless deregulation into the mix as well. I'm about as conservative as one can get, and I don't like the way the economy is going--not at all. Maybe I've retained a trace of the liberal sentiment from my youth, but I believe the economic elites of this country are selling us all down the river. That's why I'm happy to recommend William Greider's "The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy." The author is a liberal, no doubt about it, but many (not all) of the claims and arguments he sets forth in this highly readable tome will smack you in the head with their clarity, sanity, and inventiveness. Greider's book should bear the title, "Common Sense 101: Wake Up Before It's Too Late!"
The main thesis of "The Soul of Capitalism" is, essentially, that the way the current market system operates is unsustainable. A mania for short-term profits over long-term stability, a corporate culture that resembles in no small way medieval feudalism, and the destruction of the environment form the core of Greider's insightful critiques. He argues that the supposedly "free" market is actually presided over by a select elite increasingly invulnerable to democratic processes. The average investor has little say over how executives run companies, whether corporations will operate with their workers' interests at heart, or how a company treats the environment. Only large shareholders and financial analysts have real power, and most of these groups and individuals are far more concerned with making money now than worrying about what could happen fifty years down the road. As for the actual composition and daily functioning of the American corporation, Greider states the obvious by arguing that workers have little to no say in how their employers do business, and are in fact tacitly encouraged to shut up and do their work. His claims that the current market system works night and day to subvert environmental safety need no elaboration.
So what we should we do to take back our markets, improve our workplaces, and ensure that we have land to stand on and water to drink in the future? Turn to socialism, right? Wrong. Greider is a liberal, but he's definitely not a rock-ribbed statist. He believes that capitalism is a great force for humanity that should serve man instead of the other way around. He wants the pension fund managers, who control billions upon billions of dollars in market investments, to exert their influence and bring stability to the economic system. The author also hopes to reform the corporation so that each worker has their own financial stake in the workplace, and he provides several examples of how some companies and venture capitalists have created such entities. "The Soul of Capitalism" examines the environmental issue, and discovers that the best way to guarantee future ecological solvency is to redesign the fundamental tools of capitalist enterprise, i.e. rebuilding the factories and products to operate in more efficient ways that save energy, save money, create less waste, and work as well as, if not better than, current designs. Greider offers several examples of how this process is already underway. It's exciting stuff, no doubt about it.
I liked many most aspects of the book. For someone who probably hasn't held a job in a corporation, he knows the culture with shocking intimacy. We've all worked at places that issue nonsensical rules by fiat while ignore shocking amounts of waste because they won't deign to include workers in decisions. His understanding of the market seems solid as well, especially the increasingly dangerous influence of financial analysts. These sharks, many of whom never held a real job in their lives, not only applaud but also encourage layoffs and other socially damaging policies because they think such things improve the bottom line. I've actually read articles where these dolts grouse because a certain company won't play their slash and burn game. We also know that we harm the environment every time we throw a television set or computer monitor away. Why aren't companies making more ecologically friendly gadgets? Well, they are, but the current market system generally prefers to throw their cash to the big business concerns, the same organizations that have a vested interest in stifling potential competition and innovations that threaten their bottom line. I think it's safe to say that one of Greider's main reasons in writing this book is to throw open capitalism, to make it more democratic in all of its varied aspects.
"The Soul of Capitalism" isn't perfect. While Greider is pessimistic about the government changing the economic system, he's perfectly willing to let them create a sort of "last resort" works program that will act as a safety net for society's poorest members. Uh huh. Sounds an awful lot like a new welfare program to me. Wait until the statist liberals grab hold of that idea! I also had to chuckle over his idea of introducing a course on capitalism in the universities. You want a bunch of Marxists teaching a course on capitalism? Not me. Those idiots in the professoriate have done enough damage already. I'll end with an elaboration on calling Greider a liberal. He is, but he's more a liberal in the classical sense. The author believes in empowering the individual by giving them more choices in how they earn a living, which will ultimately lead to more choices in living a fulfilling life. Sounds like a plan to me.
Encouraging a little impudence.......2005-05-10
"One of this book's implicity objectives is to encourage a little impudence, especially among younger people. I do not expect my prose to blow away their caution and skepticism. but I do hope they keep their minds open to the possibility that some of what I have observed may be right and that it speaks to their own experiences and thinking. If so, they need to ask some questions, to entertain more doubts about the system, less doubt about themselves. Curiosity and doubt are the first steps toward action, especially when accompanied by well-earned anger at the way things are."
This book is thought provoking and full of ideas yet is easy to read and stick with. Greider puts forth the concept of pension funds as the "universal owner" of major corporations and thus a possible force to enact changes. He explains how Innovest, a financial advisory firm applies "Eco-Value" ratings to corporations, thus giving investors a tool for positive screening.
I learned that the Nature Conservancy is starting a Center for Compatible Economics which is "trying to create jobs and incomes in order to protect nature". Greider lays out the problems of capitalism and government as he sees them and gives examples of how these problems are being tackled from the bottom up, one person at a time. He encourages us all to step up and contribute to that effort.
This book is well documented, using sources such as Wendell Berry and Paul Hawken and many others.
How to Fix Capitalism's Flaws (without replacing it).......2005-01-23
William Greider has written a well informed, sharp critique of capitalism. In this book, he devotes individual chapters to analyzing the dysfunctional ways that capitalism impacts us as workers, consumers, investors, citizens and as human beings. In each chapter, he gives some suggestions about how we can leverage the many strengths of capitalism improve it from within.
Although Greider *does* acknowledge that capitalism has improved our standard of living significantly and lengthened our lives, this acknowledgement is merely a nod; he definitely leans to the left in this book and suggest many interesting ideas for reform. Some of those ideas seem impractical, but he also gives many examples of how some are working successfully today.
Although he is well informed and a fluid writer, some of Greider's arguments and examples seemed one-sided, and this is one weakness of the book. I had wished he could have anticipated obvious counter-arguments and refuted them, instead of leaving them lingering in the readers mind. Nevertheless, his ideas will provide food for thought and an easy, enlightening read.
Some of his main points are as follows. In the chapter on consumerism, Greider notes that despite our material wealth, we're still consumed with the relentless pursuit of "more" - working more hours for more material goods, status goods, or entertainment. Furthermore, companies produce the products we demand in low-cost ways that degrade the environment. To counter this, Greider notes several examples about how organized consumer boycotts have changed corporate behavior more effectively than government regulation.
As workers, our fortunes are tied to the corporations we work for, yet we have little or no say in the big decisions. Democracy stops at the company's door. Vast hierarchies of workers maintain the uneven distribution of money we see in the rest of a capitalistic society. Workers - or "human resources" - are rented by the hour, and those labor costs are often trimmed by reducing healthcare and pension coverage for employees. To fix this, Greider argues for and gives examples of firms with more participatory decision making, employee ownership, and executive accountability.
In the chapter on capital, he notes that corporate investments are controlled by just a small group of executives, investment bankers, and large fund managers. Whether they are serving the stockholders, clients, or investors, this group makes decisions with a heavy emphasis on economic factors, and little or no emphasis on larger social issues or goals. Yet the soft qualities that are hard to put a price on - like dignity, freedom, a clean environment, democratic expression - aren't a byproduct of a strong economy; they are necessary for it, and the fact that they're "priceless does not mean worthless." Thus, Greider believes that when the quest for profits and productivity trumps social responsibility, the economy will suffer. He'd encourage huge pension funds to invest for the long term in socially responsible companies, and cites those that do.
In the chapter on government, Greider highlights the subsidies & other "corporate welfare" doled out by governments. Large corporations on the verge of bankruptcy are rescued by the federal governement (think Chrysler, Savings & Loans, airlines, etc). States compete to draw in new corporations by giving them special tax breaks. Rather than just occasionally intervening in the economy whose direction is set by corporations, Greider believes government should lead more via grand public works projects (Erie canal, the highway system, airports, parks, etc.) or through sweeping social programs (New Deal, etc.) Also, companies that are funded or rescued using tax dollars should spell out exactly what they will deliver to the public in return, or else their corporate charters must be amended to include a social mission.
In a final chapter, Greider notes that we should come up with a collective vision of what kind of society we want, one in which we are more than just consumers and workers striving individually; one in which we are citizens building the society we want.
Overall, I thought some of Greiders ideas were food for thought, some weren't, and some seemed well-intentioned but unworkable. Nevertheless, I found it enjoyable to read, since Greider is a fluid writer since he is a journalist. However, there are other books in a similar vein by economists that argue some of Greider's points slightly better --- in particular, "The Future of Success" by Robert Reich on the work/spend cycle, or "The Affluent Society" by John Kenneth Galbraith on increasing government investment in infrastructure.
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This digital document is an article from The Other Side, published by The Other Side on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 7003 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy.(Book Review)
Author: Scott Klinger
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The Other Side (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: The Other Side
Volume: 40
Issue: 4
Page: 39(2)
Article Type: Book Review
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Culture and Demography in Organizations
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Customer Reviews:
Not for the lay person.......2005-04-03
I must say it is an honor to be the first person to review this book. I read of all of Mr. Hillman's books that are not out of print. Being a lay person I found this one very hard to read. I did not have this problem with Mr. Hillman's other works including "The Myth of Analysis."
The number of theories examined in this book is staggering to say the least. It is very hard to find a book as comprehensive about this subject as this book. Even encyclopedia Britannica refers to it.
Anybody interested in the subject of emotion should read this book.
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