Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic CapitalismPopular opinion would have us believe that America's free market system is driven by greed and materialism, resulting in gross inequalities of wealth, destruction of the environment, and other social ills. Even proponents of capitalism often refer to the free market as simply a 'lesser evil' whose faults are preferable to those of social democracy or communism. But what if the conventional understanding of capitalism as corrupt and unprincipled is wrong? What if the free market economy actually reinforces Christian values? In Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism, Arthur C. Brooks and Peter Wehner explore how America's system of democratic capitalism both depends upon and cultivates an intricate social web of families, churches, and communities. Far from oppressing and depriving individuals, the free market system uniquely enables Americans to exercise vocation and experience the dignity of self-sufficiency, all while contributing to the common good. The fruits of this system include the alleviation of poverty, better health, and greater access to education than at any other time in human history-but also a more significant prosperity: the flourishing of the human soul. |
Contents
Chapter I Human Nature and Capitalism | 1 |
Chapter II The Economic Achievements of Capitalism | 11 |
Chapter III Capitalism Ethics and Religious Faith | 27 |
Chapter IV Is Capitalism Unjust? | 39 |
Conclusion | 55 |
About the Authors | 58 |
Endnotes | 60 |
Back Cover | 75 |
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Wealth & Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism Peter Wehner,Arthur C. Brooks No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
achieve acts Adam Smith advance Africa American Enterprise Institute available at http://www behavior believe capitalist Chairman and CEO Christian citizens communism Communist Corrode Moral Character corruption created critics democracy DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM Director East Germany economic system egalitarian free market corrode free societies Gary Becker George George Ayittey Glenn Hubbard greed human nature income inequality individual Industrial Revolution infant mortality Irving Kristol Jim Wallis JUSTICE THE MORALITY Karl Marx kibbutz LeBron James liberty live London market corrode moral ment Michael Novak million MORALITY OF DEMOCRATIC Paul people’s Peter Berger Peter Wehner philosopher Policy Studies political poverty Professor of Economics progress prosperity Public Policy redistribution religion Research Fellow Resident Fellow Resident Scholar Michael responsibility rich Scripture self-interest Senior Fellow social socialist South Korea talent things tion University Visiting Fellow Visiting Scholar WEALTH & JUSTICE Wealth and Justice Wehner and Brooks wrote