TY  - BOOK
AU  - Bussen,Thomas J.
AU  - Biggs,Henry
AU  - Bono,Tim
TI  - Enlightened self-interest: individualism, community, and the common good 
SN  - 9781647123901
PY  - 2024///]
CY  - Washington, DC
PB  - Georgetown University Press
KW  - Self-interest
KW  - Conduct of life
KW  - Common good
KW  - Individualism
KW  - United States
KW  - Civilization
KW  - 1970-
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-226) and index; A Cultural Toolbox : Social Conformity in a Culture of Individualism -- Lonely and Unequal : The Lose-Lose Consequences of Unrestrained Vertical Individualism -- Rigging, R-Evolution, and Redemption : From Rationalizing to Rectifying Extreme Inequality -- Status through Conformity : How to Fit In by Standing Out -- Materialism : Why Less Is More -- From Status-Seeking to Experience-Seeking : Spending Like a Horizontal Individualist -- From Hedonism to Collectivism : Spending Like a Horizontal Collectivist -- Power Plays and Pays : When Power Is Corrupting -- From Predatory to Prestigious : When Power Is Purifying -- Social Comparison, Superiority Complex, and Schadenfreude : When My Reputation Comes at Your Expense --  Comparison, Inclusion, and Mudita : When Admiring Another Improves the Self -- Altruistic to All : Tapping into the Horizontal Collectivist Global Identity -- Loving Billions to Love Oneself : Generating Inner Self-Esteem from Without -- Enlightened Self-Interest in Theory and Practice : Ubuntu and Ambition as Pathways -- Minting the Future : Jump-Starting Your Own Transition
N2  - "In the face of entrenched politics in a polarized society, ineffective economic policy in an unequal society, and environmental inaction in a world that is burning, many well-intentioned people are left feeling helpless, dispirited, and most importantly, apathetic, before an immovable force. They recognize the need for structural, legislative, and policy changes to address the legacy of slavery and deeply rooted inequality in the United States in particular, but they still may yearn to do something as individuals to promote change in these areas. What changes can individuals make in their personal lives that could foster a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society? Recovering lawyer and Miami University business professor Dr. Thomas J. Bussen, Washington University's Dr. Timothy Bono, and longtime academic-practitioner Dr. Henry Biggs address this question in a meticulously researched and empirically rooted book. Together they present a sharp critique of America's ruthlessly self-interested culture while offering a holistic understanding of "enlightened self-interest" as an actionable alternative.They first identify how our own taken-for-granted assumptions and societally sanctioned competitions for money, power, and fame promote selfishness, personal alienation, and widespread inequality. Crucially, however, they then propose a simple, specific, and immediately actionable alternative: acting with enlightened self-interest, in which self- and other- interests merge fluently.With the knowledge that individual actions are not enough, they ask the reader this question: For all that we cannot do, is it not time to ask what each of us can do? Is it not time to do the hard work, to move the proverbial needle - even if it does little more than quiver? Is it not time to know, with a certainty that is rare in this complex and confusing world, that to change any life is to change a universe? With humility, with patience and empathy for self and others, and with a clear lens through which to view each of our worlds, let us shake the foundations on which we stand"--
ER  -