The 9.9 percent : the new aristocracy that is entrenching inequality and warping our culture / Matthew Stewart.
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionDescription: vii, 341 pages ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781982114183
- 1982114185
- 9781982114190
- 1982114193
- Nine.nine percent
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 305.5209 S851 | Available | 33111010677389 | ||||
Adult Book | Main Library | NonFiction | 305.5209 S851 | Available | 33111010579155 | ||||
Adult Book | Northport Library | NonFiction | 305.5209 S851 | Checked out | 07/19/2024 | 33111009857638 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A "brilliant" ( The Washington Post ), "clear-eyed and incisive" ( The New Republic ) analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making life miserable for everyone--including themselves.
In 21st-century America, the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90% have lost ground. What's left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9% that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country--and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system.
They log insane hours at the office and then turn their leisure time into an excuse for more career-building, even as they rely on an underpaid servant class to power their economic success and satisfy their personal needs. They have segregated themselves into zip codes designed to exclude as many people as possible. They have made fitness a national obsession even as swaths of the population lose healthcare and grow sicker. They have created an unprecedented demand for admission to elite schools and helped to fuel the dramatic cost of higher education. They channel their political energy into symbolic conflicts over identity in order to avoid acknowledging the economic roots of their privilege. And they have created an ethos of "merit" to justify their advantages. They are all around us. In fact, they are us--or what we are supposed to want to be.
In this "captivating account" (Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone ), Matthew Stewart argues that a new aristocracy is emerging in American society and it is repeating the mistakes of history. It is entrenching inequality, warping our culture, eroding democracy, and transforming an abundant economy into a source of misery. He calls for a regrounding of American culture and politics on a foundation closer to the original promise of America.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-327) and index.
Who We Are -- Why We Have Such Amazing Children -- Why We Get Along So Well with the Other Sex -- Why We Are So Highly Educated -- Why Our Neighborhoods Are the Best -- Why Other People Are So Racist -- Why We Are So Fit -- Why We Believe in Merit -- Why We Make So Much Money -- Why Everyone Is So Unreasonable -- How We Might Get a Clue.
"A trenchant analysis of how the wealthiest 9.9 percent of Americans -- those just below the tip of the wealth pyramid -- have exacerbated the growing inequality in our country and distorted our social values"-- Provided by publisher.