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Book Description
"No one, economist or civilian, could turn the pages of this book without spotting, time and again, some unexpected and arresting idea that really wants to be ...
Book Details
Prices Change currency & sellers
| ISBN | Edition | List | Sale | Seller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9780691146461 | Others | $19.95 | $13.64 | bn.com |
| -- | $19.95 | ebooks.com | ||
| $19.95 | $11.99 | The Book Depository | ||
| Other editions → | ||||
Akornab 
"When modern man goes out into a city to mingle with strangers, he is bound by a multitude of constraints that prevent him from asserting his Paleolithic personality. When a stranger offers him food, he cannot simply seize it as his prize but must meekly sign a credit-card slip. When the credit card ... (continue)
"When modern man goes out into a city to mingle with strangers, he is bound by a multitude of constraints that prevent him from asserting his Paleolithic personality. When a stranger offers him food, he cannot simply seize it as his prize but must meekly sign a credit-card slip. When the credit card company asks for settlement of his account, he cannot proudly tell them to go hang but must pay up, or face endless petty nuisances that--most of the time--are a credible incentive to comply. When another stranger picks his pocket, he must report the theft patiently to the police rather than seeking out the perpetrator and killing him along with his tribe. In short, bourgeois prudence has driven out panache, and modern society is unimaginable in any other way." (p 256)[return][return]"[A]lmost all of the institutions of modern society can be understood as dedicated to an utterly unnatural division of labor between strangers. The idea of such cooperation on its own would be powerless with the institutions that makes individuals believe in the cooperation of others, but the institutions, in turn could not work unless they built on a natural disposition in human beings to cooperate within them. The political ideas that humanity will need for its survival in the next century are, therefore, all ideas about how to makes these institutions work." (p 244)
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