Wages of Sin

This is an incisive book about what has gone wrong with the social fabric of American society. Jon Huer postulates two models of society: one that pursues profit and self-interest, and the other that cherishes community values. Huer holds that these two types of ethics cannot coexist in a truly just society. One prominent result of the current dominance of the profit-driven model of behavior is that American society increasingly substitutes reality with illusion, happiness with pleasure, strength with brute force--highlighted by the now-obsessive demands for entertainment and overconsumption, and frequent calls for warlike ventures.

The Wages of Sin is a major work of American cultural analysis that gives historical insights and suggests remedies to the current societal malaise. Calling attention to the United States' original purpose and resolve, the author challenges the generally accepted views in the United States. He is critical of American society--but expresses his view hopefully, regretfully, and sympathetically. Huer passionately uncovers the underpinnings of the unhappiness and dissatisfaction rampant in America--while at the same time providing historical and sociological insights and facts. This book will be of great interest to the educated or general reader, scholars, and students in sociology, American studies, political science, philosophy, psychology, and even literary criticism.

JON HUER is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He is also the author of Tenure for Socrates: A Study in the Betrayal of the American Professor (Bergin & Garvey, 1990), The Great Art Hoax, The Fallacies of Social Science, and The Dead End.