Escape from Avarice

In Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde famously defined a cynic as ""a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing."" Tarcher (Leadership and the Power of Ideas) would probably argue that most Americans are cynics. He agrees with Keynes that so long as economics ""ignored the quality of life... we would remain `forever in the pit of want.'"" After a history of how the U.S. has come to a point where the quality of life is wanting when measured by any but materialistic criteria, Tarcher goes on to look at societal assumptions, and finally at possible solutions. In the middle (and most interesting) section, Tarcher forces readers to ask themselves questions (Are we, by nature, creatures of unlimited wants? Is individualism the willingness and ability to compete, or is it the exercise of one's responsibility for developing one's own capabilities and humanity?), then to offer possible new definitions of such concepts as freedom and individualism. His prescriptions for change are noble, if rather utopian. Education, he believes, must be reengineered to combine theory and practice, teaching and research; government must be reduced in size but not lose sight of its responsibility for long-term planning; and current economic disparity should be rectified by a combination of a short-term capital gains tax and an ""extremely progressive"" income tax. Unfortunately, the history section is the longest, the first and the least compelling. With many points being obvious, others unnecessarily repeated and few clearly tied to the overarching argument, it seems unlikely that many readers will make it to the pith of Tarcher's argument. (Dec.)