The Virtue of Prosperity; Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence

New York, N.Y.: The Free Press, 2000. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Good/Good. xx, 284 pages. Signed by the author on the title page. Topics include What's New About the New Economy; Mass Affluence and Its Discontents; Merit and the Ones Left Behind; Who Wins, Who Loses; The Moral Critique of Prosperity; Goodbye Nature, Family, and Community?; Why Techno-Capitalism Prevailed; Technology and the Remaking of Humanity; The Quest for the Post Human; and The Things that Matter the Most. Also includes Notes, Index. Some pink highlighting and notations on several text pages. Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-born American author, filmmaker, and theorist, often described as a political provocateur. Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a school in New York City. Former white House policy analyst Dinesh D'Souza offers the first in-depth analysis of the spiritual and social crisis that has been spawned by the new economy and new technologies. In this bracing book, D'Souza neatly inserts himself between the technophiles, who welcome the limitless expansion of technological innovation, and the technophobes, who fear that old values will disappear in this Brave New World. Derived from a Kirkus Review: D'Souza tells us what's right, and what's wrong, with our brave, new, prosperous world. Folks are getting rich quick everywhere, thanks to a booming stock market and dross-to-gold Internet start-ups. The new wealth has done more than make a few millionaires feel guilty; it has also produced a larger critique of society. The stock-market boom and rampant consumer capitalism, say critics, are destroying American values-destroying the environment, tampering with religion, widening the gap between rich and poor. One-time ideological foes, like leftist Studs Terkel and conservative Gertrude Himmelfarb, can meet and agree on this much: our bank accounts are richer, but our society is poorer. But capitalism is not all bad, D'Souza says. D'Souza thinks not. His thesis is richly illustrated with fascinating anecdotes. Read it for its reporting.