Charles Handy article on the drawbacks of living under capitalism and how a self-centered, materialistic society reduces people's lives to creating profit. Handy begins the article describing how strange it is that smoking is banned in America at Boston’s Logan International Airport, but that the right to bear arms is permitted. Handy goes on to locate the right to self-defense as the extension of a right to look after oneself, and asserts that, for many Americans, the American dream appears now more like a fantasy, as two incomes are now needed to live as well as one’s parents did and organizations no longer provide long-term security in terms of employment. Handy notes how middle-income managers are the ones feeling the pain from this development the most, and that it is even worse below them because there is no longer any ladder of opportunity. He proceeds to reflect on how businesses operate today with many obstacles to their functioning independently, including excessive regulation, monopolies, and limits on access to capital, among other factors, and how the new economy has bred a Darwinian environment. In order to correct these problematic aspects of society, it will require money and time--which Handy views as unrealistic in an environment based on materialism. He instead argues that people ultimately require a change of heart if any real progress is to be made. Handy closes the article highlighting the importance of Amitni Etzioni’s new bestseller release in America, The Spirit of Community, wherein the author argues for a sense of community to be revived in contemporary societies to balance the self-centeredness of individuality.
Handy, Charles B Galapagos Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 Boston (Mass.) Logan International Airport United States Capital Capitalism Individuality Selfishness Materialism Institute of Directors Second Amendment Etzioni, Amitni Community Darwinism Mobility
Source
Charles Handy article on the drawbacks of living under capitalism and how a self-centered, materialistic society reduces people's lives to creating profit, 1994; Charles Handy Papers; Box 20, Folder 8; 1 page
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