Includes bibliographical references (p. 597-620) and index.

Globalization and its discontents : convergence and conflict of four civilizations -- Aristotle's golden mean : attaining excellence and happiness amidst unreason -- Buddha's middle way : creating value and compassion amidst suffering -- Confucius's balanced order : restoring harmony and virtue amidst discord -- ABC geometry : golden mean, middle way, balanced order are deeply related -- Political extremes : polarized America and the absence of a common good -- Sacred and profane extremes : blind faith versus deaf doubt -- Tribal extremes : natural dispersion and cultural commingling in the global village -- Pandora's extremes : the politicization of sex difference -- Cognitive extremes : oral, written, visual, and digital traditions -- Educational extremes : global lag and the American gulag -- Economic extremes : overabundance and dire dearth -- Totemic extremes : mcfoods, mcdrugs, and brave new mcworlds -- Middle Eastern extremes : stinging scorpions and free figs -- Terrorist extremes : bombed if we do, and bombed if we don't -- Importing the ABCs into your life : exporting them into your environment.