American democracy is informed by the 18th century's
most cutting edge thinking on society, economics, and
government. We've learned some things in the intervening
230 years about self interest, social behaviors, and how
the world works. Now, authors Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer
argue that some fundamental assumptions about
citizenship, society, economics, and government need
updating. For many years the dominant metaphor for
understanding markets and government has been the
machine. Liu and Hanauer view democracy not as a
machine, but as a garden. A successful garden functions
according to the inexorable tendencies of nature, but it
also requires goals, regular tending, and an
understanding of connected ecosystems. The latest ideas
from science, social science, and economics--the
cutting-edge ideas of today--generate these simple but
revolutionary ideas: True self interest is mutual
interest. (Society, it turns out, is an ecosystem that
is healthiest when we take care of the whole.) Society
becomes how we behave. (The model of citizenship depends
on contagious behavior, hence positive behavior begets
positive behavior.) We're all better off when we're all
better off. (The economy is not an efficient machine.
It's an effective garden that need tending. Adjust the
definition of wealth to society creating solutions for
all.) Government should be about the big what and the
little how. (Government should establish the ideas and
the goals, and then let the people find the solutions of
how to make it happen.) Freedom is responsibility. (True
freedom is not about living some variant of
libertarianism but rather an active cooperation a part
of a big whole society; freedom costs a little freedom.)
''The Gardens of Democracy'' is an optimistic,
provocative, and timely summons to improve our role as
citizens in a democratic society. |
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