Books like The common good by Robert B. Reich

David Brooks examines the shift from external accolades to internal virtues, using historical leaders to show how humility, self‑discipline, and moral depth guide true character and life fulfillment.

John Rawls’s classic argues that principles of justice, chosen behind a veil of ignorance, would guide free, rational peoples toward equality and fairness in society.

Someone who knows and gives a damn. Do read this please.

Should the idea of economic man-the amoral and self-interested Homo economicus-determine how we expect people to respond to monetary rewards, punishments, and other incentives? Samuel Bowles answers with a resounding "no." Policies that follow from this paradigm, he shows, may "crowd out" ethical and generous motives and thus backfire. But incentives per se are not really the culprit. Bowles shows that crowding out occurs when the message conveyed by fines and rewards is that self-interest is expected, that the employer thinks the workforce is lazy, or that the citizen cannot otherwise be trusted to contribute to the public good. Using historical and recent case studies as well as behavioral experiments, Bowles shows how well-designed incentives can crowd in the civic motives on which good governance depends.