Unjust Desserts

I think it is Newton I’m paraphrasing when I say that as a society we stand on the shoulder of giants. We have all of history to draw on as a blueprint for every invention we ever create. We learn from the experience of our ancestors. “Unjust Desserts” by Gar Alperovitz is a book that begins by explaining how collective knowledge leads to invention. He gives an example of the telephone which had three different inventors in three different areas. He shows that the invention was created because the accumulated knowledge of human civilization generated an environment where a device that allows you to talk to someone on the other side of the world is invented.

Gar brilliantly explains the concept of shared knowledge and “rent seeking”. He shows how there are individuals in society who have not generated any new product or created any new idea and who reap benefits due to their inheritance of ideas that were generated before they even existed.

Finally, he explains the contribution that society makes in creating new resources. He quotes Bill Gates Sr. and Warren Buffet’s assertions that they are where they are now because as much as because of the environment of the United States as their native abilities.

It is a must own book that contains a great deal of information. It is an essential part of your library.