Never Enough

Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit

Neil Gilbert

Removes the veil of scientific authority that has obscured the prevailing assumptions about the severity and implications of poverty, inequality, and social mobility in the U.S., along with the presumed benefits of universal social policies.
Highlights the distortions of international comparisons on these issues and illustrates the significant variations in the definition and measurements of them by drawing a firm distinction between relative and absolute measures of poverty and social mobility.
Illustrates the tendency for progressive academics studying social problems such as poverty, rape, hunger, or inequality to reframe the definition and measurement of these problems.
Uses hard data, stripped of subjective filters, to come to controversial and counterintuitive conclusions about social mobility, income inequality, social welfare spending, and other core elements of the progressive agenda.
Likely to cause a stir within the academy, generating some controversy and ruffling some feathers.
Proposes a neo-progressive agenda that would focus on the true challenges we face in the 21st century.

Never Enough

Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit

Neil Gilbert

Description

In this landmark work, Neil Gilbert addresses the long-standing tensions between capitalism and the progressive spirit. Challenging the contemporary progressive outlook on the failures of capitalism, Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit analyzes the empirical evidence for conventional claims about the real level of poverty, the presumed causes and consequences of inequality, the meaning and underlying dynamics of social mobility, and the necessity for more social welfare spending and universal benefits. A careful reading of the research reveals that these issues are far less serious than contemporary progressive claims would have the public believe. Progressive leaders, however, remain firmly wedded to the established social agenda, which conveys a vision of the good society that disregards the historically unprecedented and wide-spread abundance in the advanced post-industrial countries. Meanwhile, the progressive agenda inadvertently caters to the corrosive effects of insatiable consumption and the commodification of everyday life, from which modern capitalism profits. The analysis suggests that it is time to resist the material definition of progress that stands so high on the current agenda and envision alternative ways for government to advance society.

Never Enough

Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit

Neil Gilbert

Introduction
1. The Progressive Spirit
Poverty
2. The Affluent Society: Poverty Amid Abundance
3. No Longer A Massive Affliction: Are you Blind?
Inequality
4. The Root of All Evil: Poverty to Inequality
5. Inequality Amid Abundance: What's the Harm?
Social Mobility
6. Social Mobility: Going Up and Coming Down
7. The Arc and Ladder of Mobility
Universalism
8. Universalism: Taxing and Spending
9. A Neo-Progressive Agenda

Never Enough

Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit

Neil Gilbert

Author Information

Neil Gilbert, Chernin Professor of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkleey

Neil Gilbert, PhD, MSW, is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley. He served as a Senior Research Fellow at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships, and served as a Visiting Scholar at the International Social Security Association, where he was a member of the Advisory Board on Social Security Research. Gilbert is Chair of the Board of Directors of Seneca Family of Agencies. His numerous publications include 14 books and 17 edited volumes.