Ok, It’s Not an Appropriate Illustration, but It’s Provocative
Deirdre McCloskey has a new essay out on “Bourgeois Virtues” in the latest Cato Policy Report. It’s a short extract from her forthcoming book Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce.
Without doubt, a sound article…although there are sentences which put on trial the logic of McCloskey such as “Another bourgeois virtue is the Temperance to save and accumulate, of course. But it is also the temperance to educate oneself in business and in life, to listen to the customer, to resist the temptations to cheat, to ask quietly whether there might be a compromise here–Eleanor Roosevelt negotiating the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948”
Was this the best example to defend one of the virtues of the classical liberal society?
Well, not in my book, but I didn’t write the essay. Overall, I think that the essay deals with an important topic and (although I agree that Eleanor Roosevelt is not the best example) does so well.
I agree entirely with your observation. DeirdreÃ?Â??Ã?Â?Ã?´s article is one of the best on the subject…I am expecting to read the book and to review it in the Spanish classical liberal newspaper: Libertad Digital (www.libertaddigital.com)