Beyond Capitalism To Post-capitalsim: Conceiving A Better Model Of Wealth Acquisition To Supersede Capitalism (Mellen Studies in Economics)

Contrary to conventional wisdom about capitalism, the pervasive norm to acquire wealth and the zealous mission to fight poverty have their double sides often unsaid, in that there is no wealth without poverty, just as there is no poverty without wealth, such that more wealth also creates more poverty. Consider, for instance, America, which is regarded by many as the "wealthiest" country on Earth at the turn of the 21st century. Yet, this "wealthiest" country on Earth is also the most hated one around the world, as a soul-searching question after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is, Why do they hate us so? Isn't it paradoxical, Dr. Baofu asks, that this enormous accumulation of wealth ends up creating more hatred and violence around the world, instead of contributing to a more prosperous, humane one? Is there something fundamentally wrong in this seductive idea of wealth acquisition in capitalism? The wealth paradox disappears, as Dr. Baofu goes to great length to explain, if it is understood that a civilization which prides itself on acquiring wealth as the central focus of life meaning is too inadequate to fulfill fully the domains of life on material, relational and spiritual concerns. It is so, since capitalism, as a historical contingency to fight the material impoverishment of pre-modernity, overdoes itself as a historical solution to the problem of poverty and will not last, to be superseded by what Dr. Baofu originally proposed as its successor, "post-capitalism".Peter Baofu is the author of 'Beyond Capitalism To Post-capitalsim: Conceiving A Better Model Of Wealth Acquisition To Supersede Capitalism (Mellen Studies in Economics)', published 2005 under ISBN 9780773461529 and ISBN 0773461523.