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The Decadent Society
- How We Became a Victim of Our Own Success
- Narrated by: Ross Douthat
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the New York Times columnist and best-selling author of Bad Religion, a powerful portrait of how our wealthy, successful society has passed into an age of gridlock, stalemate, public failure, and private despair.
The era of the coronavirus has tested America, and our leaders and institutions have conspicuously failed. That failure shouldn’t be surprising: Beneath social-media frenzy and reality-television politics, our era’s deep truths are elite incompetence, cultural exhaustion, and the flight from reality into fantasy. Casting a cold eye on these trends, The Decadent Society explains what happens when a powerful society ceases advancing - how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemate, and demographic decline creates a unique civilizational crisis.
Ranging from the futility of our ideological debates to the repetitions of our pop culture, from the decline of sex and childbearing to the escapism of drug use, Ross Douthat argues that our age is defined by disappointment - by the feeling that all the frontiers are closed, that the paths forward lead only to the grave. Correcting both optimism and despair, Douthat provides an enlightening explanation of how we got here, how long our frustrations might last, and how, in renaissance or catastrophe, our decadence might ultimately end.
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- Narrated by: Andrew Bacevich, Rob Shapiro
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Washington establishment felt it had prevailed in a world-historical struggle. Our side had won, a verdict that was both decisive and irreversible. For the world’s “indispensable nation”, its “sole superpower”, the future looked very bright. History, having brought the United States to the very summit of power and prestige, had validated American-style liberal democratic capitalism as universally applicable.
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Needs an update
- By Scott Burton on 05-24-20
By: Andrew Bacevich
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The People vs. Democracy
- Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The world is in turmoil. From India to Turkey and from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result democracy itself may now be at risk. Two core components of liberal democracy - individual rights and the popular will - are at war with each other. As the role of money in politics soared and important issues were taken out of public contestation, a system of "rights without democracy" took hold. Populists who rail against this say they want to return power to the people. But in practice they create a system of "democracy without rights."
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Not worth it
- By DailyShopper on 06-07-18
By: Yascha Mounk
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How Democracy Ends
- By: David Runciman
- Narrated by: David Runciman
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the end of World War II, democracy's sweep across the globe seemed inexorable. Yet today, it seems radically imperiled, even in some of the world's most stable democracies. How bad could things get? In How Democracy Ends, David Runciman argues that we are trapped in outdated 20th-century ideas of democratic failure. By fixating on coups and violence, we are focusing on the wrong threats. Our societies are too affluent, too elderly, and too networked to fall apart as they did in the past. We need new ways of thinking the unthinkable....
By: David Runciman
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The Upswing
- How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
- By: Robert D. Putnam, Shaylyn Romney Garrett - contributor
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism — Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times. But we’ve been here before. During the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarized, and deeply fragmented, just as it is today.
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For Progressives only. Won't make sense otherwise
- By Dennis G. on 12-19-20
By: Robert D. Putnam, and others
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Suicide of the West
- How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Only once in the last 250,000 years have humans stumbled upon a way to lift ourselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, hunger, and war that defines most of history. If democracy, individualism, and the free market were humankind’s destiny, they should have appeared and taken hold a bit earlier in the evolutionary record. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle.
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Put some gratitude in your attitude
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-18
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Lee Kuan Yew
- The Grand Master’s Insights on China, United States, and the World
- By: Graham Allison, Robert D. Blackwill, Ali Wyne
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie, Francis Chau
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
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Lee, the founding father of modern Singapore and its prime minister from 1959 to 1990, has honed his wisdom during more than fifty years on the world stage. Almost single-handedly responsible for transforming Singapore into a Western-style economic success, he offers a unique perspective on the geopolitics of East and West. American presidents from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama have welcomed him to the White House.
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Thought-provoking
- By Jean on 12-11-14
By: Graham Allison, and others
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The Age of Entitlement
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- By: Christopher Caldwell
- Narrated by: Christopher Caldwell
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
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A major American intellectual makes the historical case that the reforms of the 1960s, reforms intended to make the nation more just and humane, instead left many Americans feeling alienated, despised, misled - and ready to put an adventurer in the White House. Christopher Caldwell has spent years studying the liberal uprising of the 1960s and its unforeseen consequences. Even the reforms that Americans love best have come with costs that are staggeringly high - in wealth, freedom, and social stability - and that have been spread unevenly among classes and generations.
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Do laudable ends justify unconstitutional means?
- By LBJ on 02-08-20
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When the Facts Change
- Essays, 1995-2010
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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In When the Facts Change, Tony Judt's widow and fellow historian Jennifer Homans has assembled an essential collection of the most important and influential pieces written in the last 15 years of Judt's life, the years in which he found his voice in the public sphere. Included are seminal essays on the full range of Judt's concerns, including Europe as an idea and in reality, before 1989 and thereafter; Israel, the Holocaust and the Jews; American hyperpower and the world after 9/11.
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Essential
- By Herman Utik on 09-19-16
By: Tony Judt
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The Fourth Revolution
- The Global Race to Reinvent the State
- By: John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling authors of The Right Nation, a visionary argument that our current crisis in government is nothing less than the fourth radical transition in the history of the nation-state. Dysfunctional government: It' s become a cliché, and most of us are resigned to the fact that nothing is ever going to change. As John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge show us, that is a seriously limited view of things. In fact, there have been three great revolutions in government in the history of the modern world.
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A must read for everyone wondering whats going?
- By Truth-be-told on 03-30-15
By: John Micklethwait, and others
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How the World Works
- By: Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian - interviewer, Arthur Naiman - editor
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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According to The New York Times, Noam Chomsky is "arguably the most important intellectual alive." But he isn't easy to read...or at least he wasn't until these books came along. Made up of intensively edited speeches and interviews, they offer something not found anywhere else: pure Chomsky, with every dazzling idea and penetrating insight intact, delivered in clear, accessible, listener-friendly prose.
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Insightful Content
- By Amazon Customer on 01-30-21
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
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What listeners say about The Decadent Society
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cg
- 06-11-20
Glad I listened to this book -
The author makes some interesting points that need to be considered. Unfortunately, he skips over historical/political and scientific facts when they don’t support his position. His case would be stronger if he addressed them. Overall, a good book. His ideas gave me a lot to think about.
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- J. Michael Lowry
- 03-26-20
Thoughtful and Challenging
The breath and width of Douthat’s insight will open new vistas of thought for attentive readers. While clear about his own positions, the author is exceedingly careful to present a wide spectrum of reflections and options. I strongly recommend this book.
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- Tom Millan
- 05-04-20
Brilliant insight
The author makes his point of our country resting on its laurels since the time we landed on the moon and built the interstate highways. He accurately describes how we are in decay and have run off course from our great achievements prior to 1970. We are in a state of decay simply put. However, the author makes it a point to not blame any political party or president. All are equality at fault and he even suggests that this decadence may be a natural occurrence in the evolution of civilizations. Very well presented and thought provoking.
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- Pascal
- 07-24-20
Excellent book!!
A profound analysis of the limits of our perceived successes and what has brought B us here.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-12-21
Timing
The timing of this work is incredible. Full of insight and on point references
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- Cherith Cutestory
- 04-29-22
Captivating book, and very well written
One thing I came out with after listening to this book is how good a writer Ross Douthat is. His style is unique and captivating, though at times that may veer off into the too-abstract and make understanding slightly challenging. Still, I'm impressed with his skill with words.
The book is immensely pleasurable, and full of fascinating observations on the state of the Western world today, where it may be headed, what it's going through, and what options appear on the horizon. What does it mean when the Pentagon releases what it claims to be possible UFOs? Will it turn to Islam as the final savior from the abyss of malaise, dread and confusion? Why are there so many manifestations of fatigue and decadence in our civilization that we still don't see clearly, and just blithely dismiss? How is the rise of China and Africa going to affect the political, cultural and religious characters of Western society? And other fascinating topics.
Douthat's observations are original and enjoyable to think about. His thoughts are meaningful and make a lot of sense, you will find it impossible to stop listening/reading, and will continue till the end thanks to his originality and entertaining writing style (oh and great narration too). What a pleasure this book is.
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- nms25
- 02-28-23
A look in the mirror, and into the future
I have often found myself thinking about this book and bringing it up in conversations since listening to it. I hope that we can right the ship and find our way out of decadence.
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- Maxemilio Jimenez
- 03-03-20
Excellent 👍
loved it from start to finish. A prescient examination and just comparison of decline and likely solutions posited. Wonderful to hear in the author's own voice!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jared Henderson
- 03-07-20
A piercing look at our present moment
Ross Douthat cements his place as one of my favorite cultural commentators.
We keep repeating the recent past; technological innovation has slowed, with nothing as life-altering as running water being invented in the tech era; our politicians are feckless; institutions have weakened and turned sclerotic. These are some of the problems of a decadent society, a society that has become too comfortable with its own success.
Douthat’s book joins other recent conservative books in trying to diagnose our current political moment with ideas that go beyond the typical left/right binary. For an American conservative he’s quite suspicious of free markets, but he’s also suspicious of statism from the American left. He certainly thinks the decline of American religion is a problem, but unlike other religious conservatives he doesn’t assume that us becoming more secular has been what has caused our problems. But he’s also not within the ‘post-liberal’ camp, calling for a new right that’s protectionist, socially conservative, and supplies a generous social safety net.
Most interesting are the final chapters, where Douthat focuses on the cures for decadence. He moderates his pessimism by outlining a few different ways we might become less decadent. Some are catastrophic, where the West collapses. Some are hopeful, where a thriving Africa supplies a new way forward for the rest of the world. In all of them, the role of the West must change.
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- Yuliya Danilova
- 05-24-20
Yuliya
I found this book by chance and am glad to have read it. I like the way author expresses his thoughts of the society, the analogies he draws and the literary means he uses (something like “all dreams evaporate into the warming air”- about global climate change). The narrative provides a positive outlook despite the grim title.
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1 person found this helpful