《美好生活及其不满:权利时代的美国梦,1945-1995》

Q4 Social Sciences
K. Lamb
{"title":"《美好生活及其不满:权利时代的美国梦,1945-1995》","authors":"K. Lamb","doi":"10.5860/choice.33-5224","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995 by Robert J. Samuelson Times Books, 1995; 293pp. $25 One anachronism of contemporary American society is that widespread economic anxiety and discontent persists in such an advanced and prosperous country. Some argue that despite the quality of material goods and services, the \"American dream\" remains for many a \"pipe dream\" that is increasingly impossible to attain. This fosters cynicism and resentment among the American electorate, and not to mention political irresponsibility on the part of elected officials. Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson reflects upon this prevailing trend among the American public in his recent book, The Good Life and Its Discontents. Samuelson argues that despite these frustrations on the part of many Americans in their never-ending quest to live as comfortably as possible things could be much worse. The American public enjoys a lifestyle that most people around the world will never come to know. In the words of Raymond Cattell, \"poverty is relative. The woman on welfare today lives - in terms of housing, food, transport, medical attention and entertainment -- better than a queen in medieval times.\" Now more than ever, most Americans relish a greater range of comfort and luxury in their daily lives than previous generations of Americans could hardly have imagined. The Problem of \"Entitlesments\" Samuelson covers a vast amount of important material in trying to account for such widespread insecurity and maladjustment. As a pragmatist, he identifies one underlying aspect behind much of the public's unreasonable expectations: entitlements. For more and more Americans, a twentieth-century lifestyle means a large home, new car, generous salaries and bonuses, annual vacations and low cost-health coverage. What many would consider to be modern day luxuries, middle class Americans now view as sheer necessities. One of Samuelson's main points is that there are no guarantees in life; everything has its price and nothing comes without risk. The thread of Samuelson's thoughts echoes what General Douglas MacArthur once wrote, \"there is no security in this life. There is only opportunity\". The aftermath of the great depression and World War II generated a blind faith in the capacity of government to solve any national crisis or social problem on the horizon: poverty programs for the indigent, social security for the elderly, public housing for the homeless and civil rights for the disenfranchised. The hurdles that some considered as obstacles to opportunity were levelled in an effort to create an equal chance with minimal risk for all. One's level of affluence was no longer earned, but was \"entitled\" simply on the basis of one's own existence. The \"Elusive Quality\" Any fair reading of Samuelson's work cannot ignore his meticulous penchant for detail and lucid insight. One of the few shortcomings of Samuelson's analysis is his brief critique of egalitarianism. What the author identifies as \"elusive equality\" may in fact fuel much of the resentment and mistrust that Samuelson explores in the rest of his book. …","PeriodicalId":52486,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"1996-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"13","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995\",\"authors\":\"K. Lamb\",\"doi\":\"10.5860/choice.33-5224\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995 by Robert J. Samuelson Times Books, 1995; 293pp. $25 One anachronism of contemporary American society is that widespread economic anxiety and discontent persists in such an advanced and prosperous country. Some argue that despite the quality of material goods and services, the \\\"American dream\\\" remains for many a \\\"pipe dream\\\" that is increasingly impossible to attain. This fosters cynicism and resentment among the American electorate, and not to mention political irresponsibility on the part of elected officials. Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson reflects upon this prevailing trend among the American public in his recent book, The Good Life and Its Discontents. Samuelson argues that despite these frustrations on the part of many Americans in their never-ending quest to live as comfortably as possible things could be much worse. The American public enjoys a lifestyle that most people around the world will never come to know. In the words of Raymond Cattell, \\\"poverty is relative. The woman on welfare today lives - in terms of housing, food, transport, medical attention and entertainment -- better than a queen in medieval times.\\\" Now more than ever, most Americans relish a greater range of comfort and luxury in their daily lives than previous generations of Americans could hardly have imagined. The Problem of \\\"Entitlesments\\\" Samuelson covers a vast amount of important material in trying to account for such widespread insecurity and maladjustment. As a pragmatist, he identifies one underlying aspect behind much of the public's unreasonable expectations: entitlements. For more and more Americans, a twentieth-century lifestyle means a large home, new car, generous salaries and bonuses, annual vacations and low cost-health coverage. What many would consider to be modern day luxuries, middle class Americans now view as sheer necessities. One of Samuelson's main points is that there are no guarantees in life; everything has its price and nothing comes without risk. The thread of Samuelson's thoughts echoes what General Douglas MacArthur once wrote, \\\"there is no security in this life. There is only opportunity\\\". The aftermath of the great depression and World War II generated a blind faith in the capacity of government to solve any national crisis or social problem on the horizon: poverty programs for the indigent, social security for the elderly, public housing for the homeless and civil rights for the disenfranchised. The hurdles that some considered as obstacles to opportunity were levelled in an effort to create an equal chance with minimal risk for all. One's level of affluence was no longer earned, but was \\\"entitled\\\" simply on the basis of one's own existence. The \\\"Elusive Quality\\\" Any fair reading of Samuelson's work cannot ignore his meticulous penchant for detail and lucid insight. One of the few shortcomings of Samuelson's analysis is his brief critique of egalitarianism. What the author identifies as \\\"elusive equality\\\" may in fact fuel much of the resentment and mistrust that Samuelson explores in the rest of his book. …\",\"PeriodicalId\":52486,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"1996-07-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"13\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.33-5224\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"Social Sciences\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.33-5224","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 13

摘要

《美好生活及其不满:权利时代的美国梦,1945-1995》,罗伯特·j·萨缪尔森著,时代出版社,1995;293页。25美元当代美国社会的一个时代错误是,在这样一个先进和繁荣的国家里,普遍存在的经济焦虑和不满仍然存在。一些人认为,尽管物质产品和服务的质量,“美国梦”对许多人来说仍然是一个“白日梦”,越来越不可能实现。这助长了美国选民的玩世不恭和怨恨,更不用说当选官员的政治不负责任。《新闻周刊》的专栏作家罗伯特·萨缪尔森在他的新书《美好生活及其不满》中反思了美国公众中盛行的这种趋势。萨缪尔森认为,尽管许多美国人在追求尽可能舒适地生活的过程中遇到了这些挫折,但情况可能会更糟。美国公众享受的生活方式是世界上大多数人永远不会知道的。用雷蒙德·卡特尔的话来说,“贫穷是相对的。今天靠福利生活的女性——在住房、食物、交通、医疗和娱乐方面——比中世纪的女王生活得更好。”现在,大多数美国人比以往任何时候都更喜欢在日常生活中享受舒适和奢侈,这是前几代美国人几乎无法想象的。“权利问题”萨缪尔森在试图解释这种普遍存在的不安全感和不适应时,涵盖了大量重要材料。作为一个实用主义者,他指出了公众许多不合理期望背后的一个潜在方面:权利。对越来越多的美国人来说,20世纪的生活方式意味着大房子、新车、丰厚的薪水和奖金、年假和低成本的医疗保险。许多人认为是现代奢侈品的东西,现在被美国中产阶级视为纯粹的必需品。萨缪尔森的主要观点之一是,生活中没有保证;凡事都有代价,凡事都有风险。萨缪尔森的思路与道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟将军曾经写过的一句话不谋而合:“生命中没有安全感。只有机会。”大萧条和第二次世界大战的余波使人们盲目相信政府有能力解决任何国家危机或即将出现的社会问题:针对贫困人口的贫困计划、针对老年人的社会保障、为无家可归者提供的公共住房以及为被剥夺公民权的人提供的公民权利。一些人认为是阻碍机会的障碍被消除,目的是努力为所有人创造一个风险最小的平等机会。一个人的富裕程度不再是挣来的,而是“有资格”的,仅仅是基于他自己的存在。“难以捉摸的品质”任何对萨缪尔森作品的公正解读都不能忽视他对细节的一丝不苟和清晰的洞察力。萨缪尔森的分析为数不多的缺点之一是他对平均主义的简短批判。作者所说的“难以捉摸的平等”实际上可能助长萨缪尔森在书中其余部分探讨的怨恨和不信任。…
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995
The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995 by Robert J. Samuelson Times Books, 1995; 293pp. $25 One anachronism of contemporary American society is that widespread economic anxiety and discontent persists in such an advanced and prosperous country. Some argue that despite the quality of material goods and services, the "American dream" remains for many a "pipe dream" that is increasingly impossible to attain. This fosters cynicism and resentment among the American electorate, and not to mention political irresponsibility on the part of elected officials. Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson reflects upon this prevailing trend among the American public in his recent book, The Good Life and Its Discontents. Samuelson argues that despite these frustrations on the part of many Americans in their never-ending quest to live as comfortably as possible things could be much worse. The American public enjoys a lifestyle that most people around the world will never come to know. In the words of Raymond Cattell, "poverty is relative. The woman on welfare today lives - in terms of housing, food, transport, medical attention and entertainment -- better than a queen in medieval times." Now more than ever, most Americans relish a greater range of comfort and luxury in their daily lives than previous generations of Americans could hardly have imagined. The Problem of "Entitlesments" Samuelson covers a vast amount of important material in trying to account for such widespread insecurity and maladjustment. As a pragmatist, he identifies one underlying aspect behind much of the public's unreasonable expectations: entitlements. For more and more Americans, a twentieth-century lifestyle means a large home, new car, generous salaries and bonuses, annual vacations and low cost-health coverage. What many would consider to be modern day luxuries, middle class Americans now view as sheer necessities. One of Samuelson's main points is that there are no guarantees in life; everything has its price and nothing comes without risk. The thread of Samuelson's thoughts echoes what General Douglas MacArthur once wrote, "there is no security in this life. There is only opportunity". The aftermath of the great depression and World War II generated a blind faith in the capacity of government to solve any national crisis or social problem on the horizon: poverty programs for the indigent, social security for the elderly, public housing for the homeless and civil rights for the disenfranchised. The hurdles that some considered as obstacles to opportunity were levelled in an effort to create an equal chance with minimal risk for all. One's level of affluence was no longer earned, but was "entitled" simply on the basis of one's own existence. The "Elusive Quality" Any fair reading of Samuelson's work cannot ignore his meticulous penchant for detail and lucid insight. One of the few shortcomings of Samuelson's analysis is his brief critique of egalitarianism. What the author identifies as "elusive equality" may in fact fuel much of the resentment and mistrust that Samuelson explores in the rest of his book. …
求助全文
通过发布文献求助,成功后即可免费获取论文全文。 去求助
来源期刊
Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies
Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies Social Sciences-Political Science and International Relations
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
期刊介绍: The quarterly Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies (ISSN 0193-5941), which has been published regularly since 1976, is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to scholarly papers which present in depth information on contemporary issues of primarily international interest. The emphasis is on factual information rather than purely theoretical or historical papers, although it welcomes an historical approach to contemporary situations where this serves to clarify the causal background to present day problems.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信