In these turbulent times when wars, religious strife, stifling bureaucracy and urban decay threaten our very humanity, reducing us to social statistics, a fresh approach to the creation of a truly viable society is desperately needed.

In this intellectual tour de force, Swami Kriyananda analyzes with deep insight the views expressed by many of the great thinkers in the West, including Plato, Copernicus, Machiavelli, Malthus, Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. He studies their conceptions and misconceptions about the individual's relationship to himself and to society. He shows where the influence of these thinkers has proved adverse, then offers deeply considered, fresh alternatives. Kriyananda urges the reader to resist the hypnosis of "intellectual authority." Seek the key to a happy and fulfilled life, he says, in personal integrity.

In his last chapter he draws on his own experience in developing cooperative communities. He describes how these communities can encourage a commonsense way of life, deepen human relationships, and inspire people to fulfill their own higher potentials. Hope for a Better World! offers compelling solutions to many of the challenges that face humanity today. Indeed, it succeeds—originally and excitingly—in offering real hope for a better world.