In this intelligent and subtle analysis of the linked ideas of poverty and wealth, Jeremy Seabrook argues that our capitalist culture’s obsession with perpetual economic expansion “impoverishes us all”. In an age of plenty, we are all “prey to insufficiency” as there is always something we cannot afford. “A morbid desire for more” is driving the world economy. And in this headlong race for increasing economic growth, the planet is being destroyed and a “global monoculture” created. Seabrook’s fascinating book – part intellectual history, part heartfelt polemic – is a plea to redefine wealth and poverty in a less materialistic way. By pursuing the “reductive ideology” of economic reason for the last two centuries, we have succeeded in creating a more affluent society but at the cost of our psychological and spiritual wellbeing. A wealth-oriented culture idolises “the greedy and covetous” and “impoverishes people from within”. In a world where no one understands the meaning of enough, “we are all poor”.
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