Charles A. Murray Knihy

Žádný sociální program se nemůže vymanit z pasti, kterou bychom mohli nazývat Murrayho paradoxem. Čím účinnější je program, tím více podporuje chování, které chtěl původně eliminovat. Představme si, že existuje zázračná pilulka na narkomanie. Každý by ji chtěl vyzkoušet, protože by měl zajištěno vyléčení, což by vedlo k nárůstu užívání drog. Pokud by sociální programy fungovaly jako taková pilulka, staly by se kontraproduktivními. Lidé by se nezajímali o práci, pokud by měli jistotu rychlého vyřešení svých problémů. Ekonomové by to nazvali morálním hazardem. Naopak, pokud program nefunguje, daňoví poplatníci by utráceli peníze jen proto, aby si "koupili čisté svědomí". Murray dokládá svůj paradox na programu pomoci svobodným matkám, který byl tak štědrý, že se tisíce matek rozhodly nevdávat, aby si udržely podporu. Po letech existence programu se počet dětí žijících pouze s matkou nejenže nesnížil, ale vzrostl. Program také morálně oslabil děti, které se naučily spoléhat na sociální dávky, což vedlo k nezaměstnanosti a chudobě, čemuž měl program původně zabránit. Murray ukazuje, že vynaložené prostředky často neodpovídají kvalitě výsledků, a jeho kniha by měla být povinnou četbou pro tvůrce sociálních programů a politiky.

Murray identifikoval čtyři podmínky potřebné k tomu, abychom mohli svůj život považovat za dlouhodobě šťastný: pevná rodina, přátelé nebo fungující sousedská komunita, náboženství (nebo filozofie, která jej nahrazuje) a práce, která nás naplňuje. Hmotné zabezpečení je důležité, pokud nám pomáhá vést takový život. Sociální programy, které se pokoušejí kteroukoliv z těchto institucí nahradit, se nakonec ukážou jako destruktivní. Ch. Murray je autorem kontroverzním, jeho knihy vyvolávají bouřlivé a protikladné reakce, je předmětem ideologických útoků a profesionální kritiky stejně jako vysokého obdivu. Předmluvou vybavil Roman Joch.

Set in a small town in southwest Alabama, the narrative revolves around a family's life in a midsize house surrounded by a sprawling three-acre lot filled with pine trees. The protagonist reflects on their childhood task of collecting pine cones to prevent them from being shredded during lawn mowing, highlighting themes of family responsibility and the connection to nature. This seemingly simple chore serves as a backdrop for deeper explorations of family dynamics and the passage of time.

The best and most ambitious book about Jimi Hendrix, being reissued with a revised introduction on the 70th anniversary of Hendrix's birth.

Provides an inside look at the birth of the lithium-ion battery, from its origins in academic labs to its transition to its new role as the future of automotive power. The book chronicles the piece-by-piece development of the battery, from its early years to its emergence in Japan where it served in camcorders, laptops, and cell phones.

"The most talked-about education book this semester." —New York Times From the author of Coming Apart, and based on a series of controversial Wall Street Journal op-eds, this landmark manifesto gives voice to what everyone knows about talent, ability, and intelligence but no one wants to admit. With four truths as his framework, Charles Murray, the bestselling coauthor of The Bell Curve, sweeps away the hypocrisy, wishful thinking, and upside-down priorities that grip America’s educational establishment. •Ability varies. Children differ in their ability to learn, but America’s educational system does its best to ignore this. •Half of the children are below average. Many children cannot learn more than rudimentary reading and math. Yet decades of policies have required schools to divert resources to unattainable goals. •Too many people are going to college. Only a fraction of students struggling to get a degree can profit from education at the college level. •America’s future depends on how we educate the academically gifted. It is time to start thinking about the kind of education needed by the young people who will run the country.

"In this provocative book, acclaimed social scientist and bestselling author Charles Murray shows us why we can no longer hope to roll back the power of the federal government through the normal political process. Murray describes how civil disobedience backstopped by legal defense funds can make large portions of the 180,000-page Federal Code of Regulations unenforceable, through a targeted program that identifies regulations that arbitrarily and capriciously tell us what to do." --

All people are equal but, as Human Diversity explores, all groups of people are not the same -- a fascinating investigation of the genetics and neuroscience of human differences.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A fascinating explanation for why white America has become fractured and divided in education and class, from the acclaimed author of Human Diversity. “I’ll be shocked if there’s another book that so compellingly describes the most important trends in American society.”—David Brooks, New York Times In Coming Apart, Charles Murray explores the formation of American classes that are different in kind from anything we have ever known, focusing on whites as a way of driving home the fact that the trends he describes do not break along lines of race or ethnicity. Drawing on five decades of statistics and research, Coming Apart demonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in core behaviors and values that they barely recognize their underlying American kinship—divergence that has nothing to do with income inequality and that has grown during good economic times and bad. The top and bottom of white America increasingly live in different cultures, Murray argues, with the powerful upper class living in enclaves surrounded by their own kind, ignorant about life in mainstream America, and the lower class suffering from erosions of family and community life that strike at the heart of the pursuit of happiness. That divergence puts the success of the American project at risk. The evidence in Coming Apart is about white America. Its message is about all of America.

The narrative explores the fragility of American values centered on individual freedom and minimal governmental intervention. It delves into the challenges facing these principles, highlighting societal and political shifts that threaten their survival. Through critical analysis, the book emphasizes the urgent need to reassess and revitalize the foundational ideals that have shaped the nation.