A review by csd17
Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times, by Jonathan Sacks
5.0
When Great Britain appointed Boris Johnson as prime minister, I took a screenshot and sent it to my husband and asked him who it reminded him of. His response was "Britain has one too??? As time passed, it became apparent that appearances were not the only similarities. But, as Sacks points out in this book, our unnaturally blond-thatched leaders are also not the only struggles our two nations(or, indeed, the Western world itself) face.
Our shared issues include:
-Global Warming
-Shattered Families
-Decline of Civility
-Rise in violence, racism, and hatred
-Our inability to see and care for the Other
-Unethical Businesses
-A Rise in Inequality
-Increased Loneliness
-Increased Victimisation
Somehow, they are all woven together to make one cohesive worldview. I particularly liked his reasoned indictment of inequality and capitalism. Not that he believes that Socialism(Marxism) works---don't accuse me of false advertising. His argument is rather that capitalism is created for a certain type of society and, where it may have functioned well in the past, given our current circumstances we are not that type of society.
Superb synthesis of years of personal research and observations, reasoned so that---even when you disagree---you at least understand. It was a book to be savored, which I did for over a month. I'm rather devastated that it's over.
Published in Great Britain as COVID19 was just barely crossing the continent, the US version (published months later) has the bonus of an added introduction and ending sections. I highly recommend that version. Fingers crossed that it isn't his final project and that he gets to finish that commentary on the books of Moses that he was talking about.
Jan 2021 update:
I'm heartbroken that this will be his last official book. But, more so, I'm wary for the future of our dialogue regarding our shared spaces as a society and a world. We have lost a powerful, brave, and courteous voice that was always loyal to the truth that he knew and lived. There is already a hauntingly empty space in my online social media feed.
Our shared issues include:
-Global Warming
-Shattered Families
-Decline of Civility
-Rise in violence, racism, and hatred
-Our inability to see and care for the Other
-Unethical Businesses
-A Rise in Inequality
-Increased Loneliness
-Increased Victimisation
Somehow, they are all woven together to make one cohesive worldview. I particularly liked his reasoned indictment of inequality and capitalism. Not that he believes that Socialism(Marxism) works---don't accuse me of false advertising. His argument is rather that capitalism is created for a certain type of society and, where it may have functioned well in the past, given our current circumstances we are not that type of society.
Superb synthesis of years of personal research and observations, reasoned so that---even when you disagree---you at least understand. It was a book to be savored, which I did for over a month. I'm rather devastated that it's over.
Published in Great Britain as COVID19 was just barely crossing the continent, the US version (published months later) has the bonus of an added introduction and ending sections. I highly recommend that version. Fingers crossed that it isn't his final project and that he gets to finish that commentary on the books of Moses that he was talking about.
Jan 2021 update:
I'm heartbroken that this will be his last official book. But, more so, I'm wary for the future of our dialogue regarding our shared spaces as a society and a world. We have lost a powerful, brave, and courteous voice that was always loyal to the truth that he knew and lived. There is already a hauntingly empty space in my online social media feed.