Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery
- ISBN-10
- 1400823129
- ISBN-13
- 9781400823123
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 352
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2001-07-30
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Author
- John Mueller
Description
Democracy is overrated. Capitalism, on the other hand, doesn't get enough credit. In this provocative and engaging book, John Mueller argues that these mismatches between image and reality create significant political and economic problems--inspiring instability, inefficiency, and widespread cynicism. We would be far better off, he writes, if we recognized that neither system is ideal or disastrous and accepted instead the humdrum truth that both are "pretty good." And, to Mueller, that means good enough. He declares that what is true of Garrison Keillor's fictional store "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery" is also true of democracy and capitalism: if you can't get what you want there, "you can probably get along without it." Mueller begins by noting that capitalism is commonly thought to celebrate greed and to require discourtesy, deceit, and callousness. However, with examples that range from car dealerships and corporate boardrooms to the shop of an eighteenth-century silk merchant, Mueller shows that capitalism in fact tends to reward behavior that is honest, fair, civil, and compassionate. He argues that this gap between image and reality hampers economic development by encouraging people to behave dishonestly, unfairly, and discourteously to try to get ahead and to neglect the virtuous behavior that is an important source of efficiency and gain. The problem with democracy's image, by contrast, is that our expectations are too high. We are too often led by theorists, reformers, and romantics to believe that democracy should consist of egalitarianism and avid civic participation. In fact, democracy will always be chaotic, unequal, and marked by apathy. It offers reasonable freedom and security, but not political paradise. To idealize democracy, Mueller writes, is to undermine it, since the inevitable contrast with reality creates public cynicism and can hamper democracy's growth and development. Mueller presents these arguments with sophistication, wit, and erudition. He combines mastery of current political and economic literature with references to figures ranging from Plato to P. T. Barnum, from Immanuel Kant to Ronald Reagan, from Shakespeare to Frank Capra. Broad in scope and rich in detail, the book will provoke debate among economists, political scientists, and anyone interested in the problems (or non-problems) of modern democracy and capitalism.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Peace, Prosperity, And Politics
By John MuellerThis book deals with a variety of issues of history, of national security, and of political economy, and focuses on the need for a dynamic perspective. It emphasizes the development of ideas as the motor forces behind the economic policies.
-
Retreat From Doomsday
By John MuellerPublic policies and attitudes toward war are examined to determine why, despite unprecedented arms stockpiles, major war as a policy option among developed nations has been disregarded
-
The Remnants of War
By John MuellerWhen developed states commit disciplined troops to peacekeeping, the result is usually a rapid cessation of murderous disorder. The Remnants of War thus reinvigorates our sense of the moral responsibility bound up in peacekeeping.
-
Web Matrix Developer's Guide
By John MuellerWeb Matrix Developer's Guide
-
The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency
By John Mueller52 Van Linschoten and Kuehn 2012. See also Wright 2006. 53 McCarthy 2001. See also Zenko 2014b; Horton 2017, 51–52. There was a parallel here with his father's decided unwillingness to negotiate with Saddam Hussein about the Iraq ...
-
What Then Must We Do?: Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution
By Gar AlperovitzLooks at the problems with America's current economic system offers a revolutionary way forward that the author claims is not corporate capitalism or state socialism, but rather a system that is uniquely American.
-
Are We Safe Enough?: Measuring and Assessing Aviation Security
By John Mueller, Mark G. Stewart... Peter M. Haas and John A. Hird (eds), Controversies in Globalization, Richard Jackson and Samuel Justin Sinclair (eds.) ... and Legitimacy: The Four Waves Theory and Political Violence, Rafael Reuveny and William R. Thompson (eds.) ...
-
The Acoustics of Speech Communication: Fundamentals, Speech Perception Theory, and Technology
By James M. PickettThis is the only book to relate all three of the currently interactive areas of speech science-acoustic phonetics, speech perception, and speech technology. The book presents a gradual...
-
The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce
By Deirdre Nansen McCloskeyHigh Noon, Kant, Bill Murray, the modern novel, van Gogh, and of course economics and the economy all come into play in a book that can only be described as a monumental project and a life’s work.
-
Corporation Nation: How Corporations are Taking Over Our Lives -- and What We Can Do About It
By Charles DerberWe are, in effect, losing our financial and emotional security, depending more than ever on the whim of these corporations. But it doesn't have to be this way, as this book makes clear.