Larry Gonick has written and illustrated some fun books in his "Cartoon Guide Series," such as The Cartoon History of the United States and The Cartoon History of the Modern World. His newest offering, in which he teams up with psychology professor Tim Kasser, looks at the vast and complex world of modern economics.
If the title, Hyper-Capitalism: The Modern Economy, Its Values, and How to Change Them, doesn't give a big enough hint, let me tell you: they are no fans of modern capitalism. Their perspective fits very well in the Occupy movement and the reactionary, Bernie Sanders political left. Let's just say that as a conservative-libertarian free-market idealist, I had some problems with their perspective.
I will say that as a practical, realistic person, I really appreciate and embrace some of their action steps. I mean, who can really argue with some of these suggestions: "seek higher pay and better working conditions, buy mindfully, share services, invest responsibly, opt out of materialism, buy little, live simply." I wish the consumerist mindset weren't so strong, and I agree that credit card debt is out of control in our country.
My problem is that the overall emphasis of Hyper-Capitalism demonizes corporations completely and only brushes over the fact that modern capitalism has been responsible for bringing more people out of poverty that at any time in world history. Yes, there are problems with corporations who gobble up more power and resources than they should and abuse the public trust. But Gonick and Kasser put too much trust in government to address these problems. In their world corporations are evil and rapacious, while government is selfless and pure.
These guys demonize big business, while celebrating such idiocy as the WTO protests in Seattle and the Occupy movement. I'm no economist, but I'd be more interested in seeing an economic analysis of the issues they raise, even from a leftist position, than this relatively weak psychological treatment. It seems incomplete and unbalanced. But, as I said, they have some good suggestions for people to avoid getting to eaten up with consumerism.
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