Voltaire's Bastards The Dictatorship of Reason in the West

What flaw in Western democracies leaves so many of their citizens feeling frustrated and disempowered? How did the arms trade become the single largest industry in a world that is ostensibly at peace? Why have Washington, Wall Street, and Hollywood all failed? These are just some of the unnerving questions that John Ralston Saul poses in 'Voltaire's Bastards', a phosphorescently intellingent search-and-destroy mission against the foundations of contemporary civilization.