Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism

By Arthur C. Brooks, Peter Wehner, Dina Nayeri

Book Overview

This provocative and myth-busting book challenges the popular narrative that capitalism breeds greed and inequality, as Arthur Brooks and Peter Wehner make the compelling case that democratic capitalism actually reinforces Christian values, strengthens families and communities, alleviates poverty, and unlocks genuine human flourishing--a must-read for anyone rethinking the ethics of the free market economy.

Popular 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0844743771
• ISBN13: 9780844743776
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: AEI Press
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.6" x 6.6"