The Good Society: The Humane Agenda

by John Kenneth Galbraith

Book Overview

Galbraith also recognizes human weakness, differences in ability and motivation, and the formidable obstacles facing those who challenge the status quo. No one else explains the interplay of economic and political forces with Galbraith's exquisite clarity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395859980
• ISBN13: 9780395859988
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Hobo Philosopher

It is refreshing to read a book by an author who provides answers and not just criticisms. Professor Galbraith truly conforms to Robert Heilbroner's colorful description of the economists throughout history as The Worldly Philosophers. Without doubt this is the work of one of our modern day Worldly Philosophers. This book was written in 1996 when Mr. Galbraith was a very old man. The title of the book suggests a utopian message. Its subtitle is The Humane Society. But being a Worldly Philosopher and a professional economist, Professor Galbraith's "Good Society" is no dreamy eyed fantasy. It is an outline of not only what should be done but what is practical and achievable in a society - particularly our society here in the USA. Of course this is all predicated on the notion that we live in a society that has a moral conscience. If you believe that you live in a world that is beyond morality or conscience or that the way things are is the way that things should be, then I would predict that this book will not interest you all that much. Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher: "Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.." "A Summer with Charlie" "A Little Something: Poetry and Prose" "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother"

The pragmatic compassionate liberal's credo

I am writing this review on the day after John Kenneth Galbraith passed away at the age of ninety- seven. He was a legendary figure in his lifetime, an economist with a world reputation. His book 'The Affluent Society" (1958) made the U.S. and the world think again about the meaning of a society primarily devoted to individual consumer consumption. He was a public servant of great ability and dedication from his days working for the Roosevelt Administration during the Second World in the Office of Price Administration through his service to the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations . He served as U.S. Ambassador to India and was a strong advocate for that country in the U.S. For over thirty years he taught at Harvard and was considered one of its most popular and brilliant teachers. He wrote over thirty books, and was involved in a tremendously wide variety of public activities and affairs. This short book is an updating of 'The Affluent Society'. In it he tackles major economic and social questions >He speaks of a good society whose obligations are to provide for " personal liberty, basic wellbeing , racial and ethnic equality, the opportunity for a rewarding life". <br />In short chapters of around ten pages he tackles the problems of the deficit, the environment, migration, the proper distribution of wealth, the providing of aid to the world's poor. <br />Galbraith was a fighter in spirit , a person of great wit and fierce sense of social justice. His platform of a kind of social democracy as the ideal way to meet the modern world's problem certainly is questioned by many, not the least by predominant economic opinion today. <br />Perhaps his greatest importance was in pointing out performance problems in capitalist societies, and demanding a greater degree of concern for the commonweal. <br />He was one of those rare intellectual figures who could take a relatively dull subject and make it 'interesting' for the broader public. <br />He worked hard, long and well and his contribution will hopefully not be forgotten.

A Treatise for Economic Justice

This book is on my short shelf of most important books of this era, in that Galbraith takes the work of his earlier economic analyses over many books, and gives an all-humanity based outline to consider for the 21st century.Those who dismiss this book as non-economic I fear are stuck within narrow definitions, as opposed to the more human-based origins of the word economics (from oikonomia, home management). It is this narrow definition that is prone to the boom-bust cycles Galbraith discusses in earlier historical works on the history of modern economics, and is part ofthe current recessional problem.This book is a cry for human-based economics, and would be a good book study or resource for businesses, community organizations, or churches around North America.

It' s useful for his enemy

I have two reasons for putting a high value of this book, First, I truly appreciate Mr. Galbraith's style. Its sentence is compact, logic is clear, and expression is eloquent...in short, his style is incredibly excellent. Second, it's useful. Reading this compact book,you can understand 'liberal's good society.'I believe nobody can misunderstand Mr. Galbraith's opinion. If you are a 'liberal', to read this book must be a pleasure. And, if you belong to 'conservative', missing opportunity to know your enemy is not clever.

A well written liberal's list of goals for society

Galbraith, the master, sums up his decades of experience and insight in this book. Well written, of course, easy to read. He makes a solid, careful case. The book is a fast read, and is highly recommended.