Review of “The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed
America’s Politics and Culture”  I just finished one of the best
books I’ve read in a long time, so even though it’s been out
since 2007 I’m going to review it: “The Age of Abundance: How
Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture” by Brink
Lindsey.  A second subtitle reads, “Why the Culture Wars Made Us
More Libertarian.” It would be a shame if that subtitle put off
some potential readers because the book isn’t a libertarian
tract, not by a long shot. It’s a fine piece of sociological
analysis, rigorous yet readable.  I lived through the post-war
transformation of America but that doesn’t mean I really
understood what was going on. I understand a whole lot better
now thanks to Lindsey’s book. My mother struggled through the
Great Depression, by necessity developing a scarcity mentality,
some of which rubbed off on me. But as postwar abundance spread,
overcoming scarcity was the driving motivation for fewer and
fewer people. Instead, mass