Poor Richard's principle : [electronic resource] recovering the American dream through the moral dimension of work, business, and money / Robert Wuthnow.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-426) and index.

Introduction: The Question of Moral Restraint -- Ch. 1. Having It All - and Wanting More: The Social Symptoms of Cultural Distress -- Ch. 2. Making Choices: From Short-Term Adjustments to Principled Lives -- Ch. 3. Moral Tradition: The Lost Ambivalence in American Culture -- Ch. 4. Shifting Perspectives: The Decoupling of Work and Money -- Ch. 5. Accounts: The Changing Meanings of White-Collar Work -- Ch. 6. (Not) Talking about Money: The Social Sources and Personal Consequences of Subjectivization -- Ch. 7. Getting and Spending: The Maintenance and Violation of Symbolic Boundaries -- Ch. 8. The Working Class: Changing Conditions and Converging Perspectives -- Ch. 9. Family LIfe: The New Challenges of Balancing Multiple Commitments -- Ch. 10. Rediscovering Community: The Cultural Potential of Caring Behavior and Voluntary Service -- Ch. 11. The Quest for Spirituality: Ambiguous Voices from America's Religious Communities.

The American Dream is in serious danger, according to Robert Wuthnow - not because of economic conditions, but because its moral underpinnings have been forgotten. In the past this vision was not simply a formula for success, but a moral perspective that framed our thinking about work and money in terms of broader commitments to family, community, and humanitarian values. Nowadays, we are working harder than ever, and yet many of us feel that we are not realizing our higher aspirations as individuals or as a people. Here Wuthnow examines the struggles in which American families are now engaged as they try to balance work and family, confront the pressures of consumerism, and find meaning in their careers. He suggests that we can find economic instruction and inspiration in the nation's past - in such figures as Benjamin Franklin, for instance, who was at once the prudent Poor Richard, the engaged public person, and the enthusiastic lover of life.