Poor Richard's Principle: Recovering the American Dream through the Moral Dimension of Work, Business, and Money

Robert Wuthnow

Published by Princeton University Press 1996

Poor Richard's Principle

Recovering the American Dream through the Moral Dimension of Work, Business, and Money

Robert Wuthnow

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400822201

Overview
Contents

About this book

The American Dream is in serious danger, according to Robert Wuthnow--not because of economic conditions, but because its moral underpinnings have been forgotten. In the past this vision was not simply a formula for success, but a moral perspective that framed our thinking about work and money in terms of broader commitments to family, community, and humanitarian values. Nowadays, we are working harder than ever, and yet many of us feel that we are not realizing our higher aspirations as individuals or as a people. Here Wuthnow examines the struggles in which American families are now engaged as they try to balance work and family, confront the pressures of consumerism, and find meaning in their careers. He suggests that we can find economic instruction and inspiration in the nation's past--in such figures as Benjamin Franklin, for instance, who was at once the prudent Poor Richard, the engaged public person, and the enthusiastic lover of life.

Drawing on first-hand accounts from scores of people in all walks of life and from a national survey, the book shows that work and money cannot be understood in terms of economic theories alone, but are inevitably rooted in our concepts of ourselves and in the symbolic rituals and taboos of everyday life. By examining these implicit cultural understandings of work and money, the book provides a foundation for bringing moral reasoning more fully to bear on economic decisions. It re-examines the moral arguments that were prominent earlier in our history, shows how these arguments were set aside with the development of economistic thinking, and suggests their continuing relevance in the lives of people who have effectively resisted the pressures of greater financial commitments. Demonstrating that most Americans do bring values implicitly to bear on their economic decisions, the book shows how some people are learning to do this more effectively and, in the process, gain greater control over their work and finances. At a time when policymakers are raising questions about the very survival of the American dream, Poor Richard's Principle offers an analysis of how moral restraint can once again play a more prominent role in guiding our thinking.

Author / Editor information

Robert Wuthnow is the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of American Religion at Princeton University. He is the author of numerous articles and books on American religion and culture, including Acts of Compassion (Princeton) and Learning to Care: Elementary Kindness in an Age of Indifference.

Reviews

In this sociological tract for our times, Wuthnow reconsiders the nature and meaning of the American dream in the late twentieth century. This book goes much further than merely recounting the manifold failings of American economics and culture in the pursuit of happiness.... Wuthnow perceives a moral vacuum at the core of American society, and recommends that Americans systematically revisit the cultural imperatives of an earlier age to reinvent the paradigm of personal success in late capitalism. An important and timely work.

Through dozens of citizens who talked with him, Wuthnow records the continuing stresses in modern economic life.... [The] model of an ideal life, Wuthnow maintains, evolved before the Civil War into two schools of social thought, which he calls 'ascetic' and 'expressive' moralism.... Wuthnow's impressive body of polls and interviews convinces us that both of these modern traditions remain powerful influences in American life today.---Richard Parker, The New York Times Book Review

"Contributes significantly to our understanding of the major disjunctions of contemporary social life."—Robert Jackall, Williams College

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Introduction. THE QUESTION OF MORAL RESTRAINT Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART ONE. THE UNREALIZED AMERICAN DREAM
Chapter One. HAVING IT ALL—AND WANTING MORE: THE SOCIAL SYMPTOMS OF CULTURAL DISTRESS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
Chapter Two. MAKING CHOICES: FROM SHORT-TERM ADJUSTMENTS TO PRINCIPLED LIVES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Chapter Three. MORAL TRADITION: THE LOST AMBIVALENCE IN AMERICAN CULTURE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
PART TWO. THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF MATERIAL LIFE
Chapter Four. SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES: THE DECOUPLING OF WORK AND MONEY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Chapter Five. ACCOUNTS: THE CHANGING MEANINGS OF WHITE-COLLAR WORK Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
Chapter Six. (NOT) TALKING ABOUT MONEY: THE SOCIAL SOURCES AND PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF SUBJECTIVIZATION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
Chapter Seven. GETTING AND SPENDING: THE MAINTENANCE AND VIOLATION OF SYMBOLIC BOUNDARIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Chapter Eight. THE WORKING CLASS: CHANGING CONDITIONS AND CONVERGING PERSPECTIVES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
PART THREE. THE PRECARIOUS SOURCES OF HUMAN VALUES
Chapter Nine. FAMILY LIFE: THE NEW CHALLENGES OF BALANCING MULTIPLE COMMITMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Chapter Ten. REDISCOVERING COMMUNITY: THE CULTURAL POTENTIAL OF CARING BEHAVIOR AND VOLUNTARY SERVICE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
Chapter Eleven. THE QUEST FOR SPIRITUALITY: AMBIGUOUS VOICES FROM AMERICA’S RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	292
PART FOUR. THE LANGUAGES OF MORAL DISCOURSE
Chapter Twelve. MATERIALISM AND MORAL RESTRAINT: THE ROLE OF ASCETIC AND EXPRESSIVE VALUES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
Chapter Thirteen. THE POSSIBILITIES OF MORAL DISCOURSE: LIMITATIONS, ATHOLOGIES, AND CHALLENGES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
METHODOLOGY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	375
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	377
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427

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