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Wie Viel Ist Genug? Vom Wachstumswahn Zu Einer Ökonomie Des Guten Lebens (2012)

by Robert Skidelsky(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

388897822X (ISBN13: 9783888978227)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Verlag Antje Kunstmann

review 1: SKIDELSKY Robert; SKIDELSKY Edward: „How much is enough? Money and the Good Life“, London 2012Father and son have written a book. At a conference in Dürnstein I could hear these theses from fathers voice. This gave the impetus to read the book.For interesting pages of a book I always make a dog-ear in the page. In this book, I would have almost all of the pages with such a "dog- ear" provided.The very first sentence: „Nothing is enough fort he man to whom enough is too little.“Capitalism has brought on one hand, an improvement of the human condition, but at the same time reinforced greed, envy and avarice . Our Western culture - influenced by religion - but has different principles and sees avarice is a vice.The "western world" is so well developed that it would b... moree sufficient that only 15 hours per week is worked and everyone would be still satisfied . You would not get less money. "...The material conditions of the good life already exist, at least in the affluent parts of the world , but that the blind pursuit of growth puts it continually out od reach.“ (Page 13)The income has risen continuously in recent decades, but the happiness of the people has not kept pace. The rich have become even richer. "in the 1970 the pay of a top American CEO was under 30 times that of the average worker; today it is 263 times." (Page 30)The authors confront questions such as "What is wealth for? How much money do we need to lead a good life?" (Page 5)The authors are not compliant with the classic environmentalists to make the growth responsible for climate change. They even think that "It might rather require us to persevere with growth, so as to finance the technologies needed to mitigate ist consequences.“ (Page 124)It is in this book not only criticized but also delivered approaches. About the "basic goods":1 Basic goods are universal, that is, they belong to a good life itself. (Page 150)2 Basic goods are final, which means they are good in themselves and not merely as means to something else, that's good. (Page 151)3 Basic goods are sui generis, ... they are not part of other good things. (Page 152)4 Basic goods are indispensable for anyone ... they do not have , is considered a serious loss or disadvantage. (Page 152)They also define "good things" :1 Health ( = full function of the body )2 security3 respect4 personality5 harmony6 friendship7 leisureIn realizing these basic goods - according to the authors - you have a good life.Father and son taking a stand for a basic income , "paid by the state to each full member or accredited resident of a society, regardless of wheather he or she wishes to engage in paid employment, or is rich or poor …“ (page 197)For a better life and the consumer pressure has to be reduced. "Because we work mainly to consume, so the less we want to consume, the less we want to work.“ (Page 202)Since advertising is fueling the consumer pressure, the authors propose a regulation of advertising.At the end makes you free to the reader to decide for themselves what they think of the proposals made . But it was important, "The gre now confronting us is not one of money but of human possibilities.“ (Page 218)
review 2: Overall, I found Skidelsky & Skidelsky's "How Much is Enough" to be an intellectually stimulating, engaging, and well-reasoned book. I think their call for a more moral understanding of economics is sorely needed, especially in an age when liberals and progressives all too often justify their recommended redistributive policies only on technocratic grounds like "increased productivity." My main gripe with the book, however, lies with the chapter on "Limits to Growth." I agree with them on the moral case against limitless growth and agree with their prescriptions, but I think they argue against a straw man version of the environmental movement for much of the chapter. They acknowledge their complete lack of expertise in climate science but then proceed to speak very dismissively--with sweeping, unsubstantiated claims--of climate scientists and environmental activists for much of the first half of the chapter. When they lament the non-existence of a theme of "living in harmony with nature" in environmentalist literature, I began to wonder if they had even read any. Their idea of "good life environmentalism" is a quite common theme in environmentalist circles, especially those in the "new economy" circle. less

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