Full Description
In this landmark work, Neil Gilbert addresses the long-standing tensions between capitalism and the progressive spirit. Challenging the contemporary progressive outlook on the failures of capitalism, Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit analyzes the empirical evidence for conventional claims about the real level of poverty, the presumed causes and consequences of inequality, the meaning and underlying dynamics of social mobility, and the necessity for more social welfare spending and universal benefits. A careful reading of the research reveals that these issues are far less serious than contemporary progressive claims would have the public believe. Progressive leaders, however, remain firmly wedded to the established social agenda, which conveys a vision of the good society that disregards the historically unprecedented and wide-spread abundance in the advanced post-industrial countries. Meanwhile, the progressive agenda inadvertently caters to the corrosive effects of insatiable consumption and the commodification of everyday life, from which modern capitalism profits. The analysis suggests that it is time to resist the material definition of progress that stands so high on the current agenda and envision alternative ways for government to advance society.
Contents
Introduction
1. The Progressive Spirit
Poverty
2. The Affluent Society: Poverty Amid Abundance
3. No Longer A Massive Affliction: Are you Blind?
Inequality
4. The Root of All Evil: Poverty to Inequality
5. Inequality Amid Abundance: What's the Harm?
Social Mobility
6. Social Mobility: Going Up and Coming Down
7. The Arc and Ladder of Mobility
Universalism
8. Universalism: Taxing and Spending
9. From Cradle to Grave
10. The Social Compass of Progressive Conservatism
