Skip to main content
Taylor & Francis Group Logo
    Advanced Search

    Click here to search products using title name,author name and keywords.

    • Login
    • Hi, User  
      • Your Account
      • Logout
      Advanced Search

      Click here to search products using title name,author name and keywords.

      Breadcrumbs Section. Click here to navigate to respective pages.

      Book

      Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich
      loading

      Book

      Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich

      DOI link for Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich

      Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich book

      Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich

      DOI link for Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich

      Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich book

      ByJason Brennan
      Edition 1st Edition
      First Published 2020
      eBook Published 23 September 2020
      Pub. Location New York
      Imprint Routledge
      DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032250
      Pages 224
      eBook ISBN 9781003032250
      Subjects Humanities
      Share
      Share

      Get Citation

      Brennan, J. (2020). Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032250

      ABSTRACT

      Finger-wagging moralizers say the love of money is the root of all evil. They assume that making a lot of money requires exploiting others, and that the best way to wash off the resulting stain is to give a lot of it away.

      In Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich, Jason Brennan shows that the moralizers have it backwards. He argues that, in general, the more money you make, the more you already do for others, and that even an average wage earner is productively “giving back” to society just by doing her job. In addition, wealth liberates us to have the best chance of leading a life that’s authentically our own.

      Brennan also demonstrates how money-based societies create nicer, more trustworthy, and more cooperative citizens. And in another chapter that takes on the new historians of capitalism, Brennan argues that wealthy nations became wealthy because of their healthy institutions, not from their horrific histories of slavery or colonialism.

      While writing that the more money one has, the more one should help others, Brennan also notes that we weren’t born into a perpetual debt to society. It’s OK to get rich and it’s OK to enjoy being rich, too.

      ---

       Key Features

      • Shows how the desire to become wealthy in an open and fair market helps maximize cooperation and lessens the chance of violence and war
      • Argues that it is much easier for the average for-profit business to add value to the world than it is for the average non-profit
      • Demonstrates that the kinds of virtues (e.g., conscientiousness, thoughtfulness, hard work) that lead to desirable personal and civic states (e.g., happy marriages, stable families, engaged citizens) also make people richer
      • Argues that living in small clans for most of their history has given humans a negative attitude towards anyone acquiring more than her "fair share," an attitude that’s ill-suited for our market-driven, globally connected world
      • In a final, provocative chapter, maintains that ideal economic growth is infinite.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      chapter One|17 pages

      The Root of All Evils

      chapter Two|31 pages

      For the Love of Money

      chapter Three|22 pages

      Is Money Dirty? Does Money Corrupt?

      chapter Four|28 pages

      It’s OK to Make Money

      chapter Five|35 pages

      Rich Country, Poor Country

      chapter Six|26 pages

      Give It Away Now?

      chapter Seven|18 pages

      Riches, Repugnance, and Remaining Doubts

      T&F logoTaylor & Francis Group logo
      • Policies
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms & Conditions
        • Cookie Policy
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms & Conditions
        • Cookie Policy
      • Journals
        • Taylor & Francis Online
        • CogentOA
        • Taylor & Francis Online
        • CogentOA
      • Corporate
        • Taylor & Francis Group
        • Taylor & Francis Group
        • Taylor & Francis Group
        • Taylor & Francis Group
      • Help & Contact
        • Students/Researchers
        • Librarians/Institutions
        • Students/Researchers
        • Librarians/Institutions
      • Connect with us

      Connect with us

      Registered in England & Wales No. 3099067
      5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG © 2022 Informa UK Limited