{"product_id":"2940173669827","title":"The Decadent Society : How We Become the Victims of Our Own Success","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ecolumnist and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBad Religion\u003c\/i\u003e, a powerful portrait of how our turbulent age is defined by dark forces seemingly beyond our control \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday the Western world seems to be in crisis. But beneath our social media frenzy and reality television politics, the deeper reality is one of drift, repetition, and dead ends. \u003ci\u003eThe Decadent Society \u003c\/i\u003eexplains what happens when a rich and powerful society ceases advancingamp;mdash;how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline creates a strange kind of \"sustainable decadence,\" a civilizational languor that could endure for longer than we think.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRanging from our grounded space shuttles to our Silicon Valley villains, from our blandly recycled film and televisionamp;mdash;a new \u003ci\u003eStar Wars \u003c\/i\u003esaga, another \u003ci\u003eStar Trek \u003c\/i\u003eseries, the fifth \u003ci\u003eTerminator \u003c\/i\u003esequelamp;mdash;to the escapism we're furiously chasing through drug use and virtual reality, Ross Douthat argues that many of today's discontents and derangements reflect a sense of futility and disappointmentamp;mdash;a feeling that the future was not what was promised, that the frontiers have all been closed, and that the paths forward lead only to the grave.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this environment we fear catastrophe, but in a certain way we also pine for itamp;mdash;because the alternative is to accept that we are permanently decadent: aging, comfortable and stuck, cut off from the past and no longer confident in the future, spurning both memory and ambition while we wait for some saving innovation or revelations, growing old unhappily together in the glowing light of tiny screens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCorrecting both optimists who insist that we're just growing richer and happier with every passing year and pessimists who expect collapse any moment, Douthat provides an enlightening diagnosis of the modern conditionamp;mdash;how we got here, how long our age of frustration might last, and how, whether in renaissance or catastrophe, our decadence might ultimately end.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ray Perreault","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47103275532528,"sku":"2940173669827","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940173669827_p0.jpg?v=1763857377","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940173669827","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}