What is "The Zero-Sum Society"? And what does it mean to bypass it?

In the mathematical theory of games (deriving from John von Neumann (x-y)), a game such as "Matching Pennies" is a "zero-sum game". By giving a correct call ("Heads" or "Tails"), a person wins a penny from the other. Winnings plus losses equals zero. That describes any "zero-sum gme".

Capitalism is not supposed to be "a zero-sum game". But, in 1980, MIT economist, Lester Thurow, was so depressed by the decline of opporunities in the American economy that he feared it was becoming a zero-sum game -- a person gained only if another lost. Hence, the title of his book, The Zero-Sum Society. In 1985, Thurow published a book qualifying this pessimism,