The Middle Class In America

Download The Middle Class In America full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online The Middle Class In America ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

A New Contract with the Middle Class

Author : Richard V. Reeves
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815739133
Total Pages : 51 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (157 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis A New Contract with the Middle Class by : Richard V. Reeves

Download or read book A New Contract with the Middle Class written by Richard V. Reeves and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A better future for the middle class is no longer an aspiration. It is a necessity. The disintegration of the American Dream is more visible than ever before. The understanding—the contract—that existed between individuals willing to work and contribute and a society willing to support those individuals when they needed it is falling apart. Now is the time to draft a new contract with America's middle class. One that rewards work and service, improves upward mobility, and reduces inequality. In A New Contract with the Middle Class Brookings senior fellows Isabel Sawhill and Richard Reeves outline the foundations of what that new contract should be, based on discussions they had across the country with middle-class Americans. Sawhill and Reeves' recommendations provide solutions to issues that came up time and time again in these conversations: money, time, relationships, health, and respect. Some of the bold recommendations included in A New Contract with the Middle Class: • Eliminate virtually all income taxes paid by the middle class. • Raise the minimum wage and subsidize wages below the median with a worker tax credit. • Offer scholarships for those who undertake at least a year of national service. • Ensure four weeks of paid leave per year. • Align school and working hours and boost child care to help working parents. America is only as strong as the American middle-class. A New Contract with the Middle Class proposes a new way forward.

The Vanishing Middle Class, new epilogue

Author : Peter Temin
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262535297
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Vanishing Middle Class, new epilogue by : Peter Temin

Download or read book The Vanishing Middle Class, new epilogue written by Peter Temin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-03-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the United States has developed an economy divided between rich and poor and how racism helped bring this about. The United States is becoming a nation of rich and poor, with few families in the middle. In this book, MIT economist Peter Temin offers an illuminating way to look at the vanishing middle class. Temin argues that American history and politics, particularly slavery and its aftermath, play an important part in the widening gap between rich and poor. Temin employs a well-known, simple model of a dual economy to examine the dynamics of the rich/poor divide in America, and outlines ways to work toward greater equality so that America will no longer have one economy for the rich and one for the poor. Many poorer Americans live in conditions resembling those of a developing country—substandard education, dilapidated housing, and few stable employment opportunities. And although almost half of black Americans are poor, most poor people are not black. Conservative white politicians still appeal to the racism of poor white voters to get support for policies that harm low-income people as a whole, casting recipients of social programs as the Other—black, Latino, not like "us." Politicians also use mass incarceration as a tool to keep black and Latino Americans from participating fully in society. Money goes to a vast entrenched prison system rather than to education. In the dual justice system, the rich pay fines and the poor go to jail.

Dream Hoarders

Author : Richard V. Reeves
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815735499
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (157 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Dream Hoarders by : Richard V. Reeves

Download or read book Dream Hoarders written by Richard V. Reeves and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dream Hoarders sparked a national conversation on the dangerous separation between the upper middle class and everyone else. Now in paperback and newly updated for the age of Trump, Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard Reeves is continuing to challenge the class system in America. In America, everyone knows that the top 1 percent are the villains. The rest of us, the 99 percent—we are the good guys. Not so, argues Reeves. The real class divide is not between the upper class and the upper middle class: it is between the upper middle class and everyone else. The separation of the upper middle class from everyone else is both economic and social, and the practice of “opportunity hoarding”—gaining exclusive access to scarce resources—is especially prevalent among parents who want to perpetuate privilege to the benefit of their children. While many families believe this is just good parenting, it is actually hurting others by reducing their chances of securing these opportunities. There is a glass floor created for each affluent child helped by his or her wealthy, stable family. That glass floor is a glass ceiling for another child. Throughout Dream Hoarders, Reeves explores the creation and perpetuation of opportunity hoarding, and what should be done to stop it, including controversial solutions such as ending legacy admissions to school. He offers specific steps toward reducing inequality and asks the upper middle class to pay for it. Convinced of their merit, members of the upper middle class believes they are entitled to those tax breaks and hoarded opportunities. After all, they aren't the 1 percent. The national obsession with the super rich allows the upper middle class to convince themselves that they are just like the rest of America. In Dream Hoarders, Reeves argues that in many ways, they are worse, and that changes in policy and social conscience are the only way to fix the broken system.

The Sinking Middle Class

Author : David Roediger
Publisher : Haymarket Books
ISBN 13 : 1642597279
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (425 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Sinking Middle Class by : David Roediger

Download or read book The Sinking Middle Class written by David Roediger and published by Haymarket Books. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sinking Middle Class challenges the “save the middle class” rhetoric that dominates our political imagination. The slogan misleads us regarding class, nation, and race. Talk of middle class salvation reinforces myths holding that the US is a providentially middle class nation. Implicitly white, the middle class becomes viewed as unheard amidst supposed concerns for racial justice and for the poor. Roediger shows how little the US has been a middle class nation. The term seldom appeared in US writing before 1900. Many white Americans were self-employed, but this social experience separated them from the contemporary middle class of today, overwhelmingly employed and surveilled. Today’s highly unequal US hardly qualifies as sustaining the middle class. The idea of the US as a middle class place required nurturing. Those doing that ideological work—from the business press, to pollsters, to intellectuals celebrating the results of free enterprise—gained little traction until the Depression and Cold War expanded the middle class brand. Much later, the book’s sections on liberal strategist Stanley Greenberg detail, “saving the middle class” entered presidential politics. Both parties soon defined the middle class to include over 90% of the population, precluding intelligent attention to the poor and the very rich. Resurrecting radical historical critiques of the middle class, Roediger argues that middle class identities have so long been shaped by debt, anxiety about falling, and having to sell one’s personality at work that misery defines a middle class existence as much as fulfillment.

America’S Shrinking Middle Class

Author : Vahab Aghai Ph.D.
Publisher : AuthorHouse
ISBN 13 : 1491870745
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (918 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis America’S Shrinking Middle Class by : Vahab Aghai Ph.D.

Download or read book America’S Shrinking Middle Class written by Vahab Aghai Ph.D. and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2014-08-29 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a middle class nation do without a middle class? An abundance of evidence suggests that we here in the United States are about to find out. Americas Shrinking Middle Class documents trends that have been building not just since the Great Recession, but for over four decades. In 1970, the share of U.S. income that went to the middle class was 62 percent. By 2010 that figure had fallen to 45 percent. In that same year, the median income for middle class Americans had gone from $72,956 to $69,487 a decline of nearly 5 percent in just one year. A shrinking middle class would mean a shrinking economy and an America dominated by a growing lower class. Life would be less comfortable, less prosperous, and less secure. With less money coming in to government and businesses alike, tax burdens would become onerous. One example: Obamacare. It could cost the average taxpayer nearly $6,000 in extra taxes and create a total of 20 new taxes or tax hikes. For a weakened and shrinking middle class, it could be a fatal blow.

The Riches of This Land

Author : Jim Tankersley
Publisher : PublicAffairs
ISBN 13 : 1541767845
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (417 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Riches of This Land by : Jim Tankersley

Download or read book The Riches of This Land written by Jim Tankersley and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid character-driven narrative, fused with important new economic and political reporting and research, that busts the myths about middle class decline and points the way to its revival. For over a decade, Jim Tankersley has been on a journey to understand what the hell happened to the world's greatest middle-class success story -- the post-World-War-II boom that faded into decades of stagnation and frustration for American workers. In The Riches of This Land, Tankersley fuses the story of forgotten Americans-- struggling women and men who he met on his journey into the travails of the middle class-- with important new economic and political research, providing fresh understanding how to create a more widespread prosperity. He begins by unraveling the real mystery of the American economy since the 1970s - not where did the jobs go, but why haven't new and better ones been created to replace them. His analysis begins with the revelation that women and minorities played a far more crucial role in building the post-war middle class than today's politicians typically acknowledge, and policies that have done nothing to address the structural shifts of the American economy have enabled a privileged few to capture nearly all the benefits of America's growing prosperity. Meanwhile, the "angry white men of Ohio" have been sold by Trump and his ilk a theory of the economy that is dangerously backward, one that pits them against immigrants, minorities, and women who should be their allies. At the culmination of his journey, Tankersley lays out specific policy prescriptions and social undertakings that can begin moving the needle in the effort to make new and better jobs appear. By fostering an economy that opens new pathways for all workers to reach their full potential -- men and women, immigrant or native-born, regardless of race -- America can once again restore the upward flow of talent that can power growth and prosperity.

The Shrinking Middle Class

Author : Emanuel Collado
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 1450219675
Total Pages : 125 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (52 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Shrinking Middle Class by : Emanuel Collado

Download or read book The Shrinking Middle Class written by Emanuel Collado and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2010-03-22 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle class of our society has an important roleacting as the glue that holds the upper and lower classes together. But what will happen if the middle class crumbles? The Shrinking Middle Class is a comprehensive study of the economic meltdown and its long-term effects on the middle class. Emanuel Collado is a self-made businessman who focuses the results of his extensive research into a trend first detected in the 1980s. He provides fascinating case studies of middle class families, alarming statistics, and causes of the current economic crisis that both the United States and the world face. As Collado compares past decisions with current issues, he offers explanations for why America has such a disparity in our society and where the social fabric is being skewed to expand at both ends and grow thinner in the middle. Not so long ago, being middle class meant a reliable job with good pay, a home, access to health care, good education for youth, and a dignified retired life. Collado provides an in-depth look into why the United States is becoming a two-class society and what we can do now to prevent it from happening.

The American Middle Class

Author : Lawrence R Samuel
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134624751
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (346 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The American Middle Class by : Lawrence R Samuel

Download or read book The American Middle Class written by Lawrence R Samuel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle class is often viewed as the heart of American society, the key to the country’s democracy and prosperity. Most Americans believe they belong to this group, and few politicians can hope to be elected without promising to serve the middle class. Yet today the American middle class is increasingly seen as under threat. In The American Middle Class: A Cultural History, Lawrence R. Samuel charts the rise and fall of this most definitive American population, from its triumphant emergence in the post-World War II years to the struggles of the present day. Between the 1920s and the 1950s, powerful economic, social, and political factors worked together in the U.S. to forge what many historians consider to be the first genuine mass middle class in history. But from the cultural convulsions of the 1960s, to the 'stagflation' of the 1970s, to Reaganomics in the 1980s, this segment of the population has been under severe stress. Drawing on a rich array of voices from the past half-century, The American Middle Class explores how the middle class, and ideas about it, have changed over time, including the distinct story of the black middle class. Placing the current crisis of the middle class in historical perspective, Samuel shows how the roots of middle-class troubles reach back to the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. The American Middle Class takes a long look at how the middle class has been winnowed away and reveals how, even in the face of this erosion, the image of the enduring middle class remains the heart and soul of the United States.

The 9.9 Percent

Author : Matthew Stewart
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982114207
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The 9.9 Percent by : Matthew Stewart

Download or read book The 9.9 Percent written by Matthew Stewart and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Promised Land

Author : David Stebenne
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982102713
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Promised Land by : David Stebenne

Download or read book Promised Land written by David Stebenne and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explains how the American middle class ballooned at mid-century until it dominated the nation, showing who benefited and what brought the expansion to an end"--

The Middle Class in America

Author : Joseph A. Brander
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781614704324
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (43 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Middle Class in America by : Joseph A. Brander

Download or read book The Middle Class in America written by Joseph A. Brander and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans consider themselves middle class. This raises the question, what does it mean to be middle class? Income levels alone do not define the middle class. Many very high and very low income persons report themselves as middle class. Social scientists have explained this by defining "middle class" as a combination of values, expectations and aspirations, as well as income levels. Middle class families and those aspiring to be part of the middle class want economic stability, a home and a secure retirement. This book examines various definitions, discusses middle class values and aspirations, and presents hypothetical budgets showing how these aspirations might be achieved with different incomes. Consideration is discussed as to whether or not it is harder to live a middle class lifestyle today that it was twenty years ago.

The American Middle Class

Author : Lawrence Samuel
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134624689
Total Pages : 183 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (346 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The American Middle Class by : Lawrence Samuel

Download or read book The American Middle Class written by Lawrence Samuel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle class is often viewed as the heart of American society, the key to the country’s democracy and prosperity. Most Americans believe they belong to this group, and few politicians can hope to be elected without promising to serve the middle class. Yet today the American middle class is increasingly seen as under threat. In The American Middle Class: A Cultural History, Lawrence R. Samuel charts the rise and fall of this most definitive American population, from its triumphant emergence in the post-World War II years to the struggles of the present day. Between the 1920s and the 1950s, powerful economic, social, and political factors worked together in the U.S. to forge what many historians consider to be the first genuine mass middle class in history. But from the cultural convulsions of the 1960s, to the 'stagflation' of the 1970s, to Reaganomics in the 1980s, this segment of the population has been under severe stress. Drawing on a rich array of voices from the past half-century, The American Middle Class explores how the middle class, and ideas about it, have changed over time, including the distinct story of the black middle class. Placing the current crisis of the middle class in historical perspective, Samuel shows how the roots of middle-class troubles reach back to the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. The American Middle Class takes a long look at how the middle class has been winnowed away and reveals how, even in the face of this erosion, the image of the enduring middle class remains the heart and soul of the United States.

War on the Middle Class

Author : Lou Dobbs
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101218754
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (12 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis War on the Middle Class by : Lou Dobbs

Download or read book War on the Middle Class written by Lou Dobbs and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-10-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lou Dobbs's bestselling exposé of the silent assault on the living standards of ordinary Americans Millions of TV viewers have known Lou Dobbs for years as the Walter Cronkite of economics coverage, and now the anchor has become the preeminent champion of the common man and the good of the national interest, who tells uncomfortable truths in a voice that can't be ignored. In this incendiary book, he presents a frontline report on the betrayal of America's middle class by interests that range from rapacious corporations to an out-of-touch political elite. The result is not only lost jobs but also dysfunctional schools and unaffordable health care. But War on the Middle Class also outlines a bold program for change. As essential as it is infuriating, this book furnishes the talking points for the national debate on income and class.

Squeezed

Author : Alissa Quart
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062412272
Total Pages : 326 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (624 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Squeezed by : Alissa Quart

Download or read book Squeezed written by Alissa Quart and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of TIME’s Best New Books to Read This Summer “Brilliant—a keen, elegantly written, and scorching account of the American family today. Through vivid stories, sharp analysis and wit, Quart anatomizes the middle class’s fall while also offering solutions and hope.” — Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed Families today are squeezed on every side—from high childcare costs and harsh employment policies to workplaces without paid family leave or even dependable and regular working hours. Many realize that attaining the standard of living their parents managed has become impossible. Alissa Quart, executive editor of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, examines the lives of many middle-class Americans who can now barely afford to raise children. Through gripping firsthand storytelling, Quart shows how our country has failed its families. Her subjects—from professors to lawyers to caregivers to nurses—have been wrung out by a system that doesn’t support them, and enriches only a tiny elite. Interlacing her own experience with close-up reporting on families that are just getting by, Quart reveals parenthood itself to be financially overwhelming, except for the wealthiest. She offers real solutions to these problems, including outlining necessary policy shifts, as well as detailing the DIY tactics some families are already putting into motion, and argues for the cultural reevaluation of parenthood and caregiving. Writtenin the spirit of Barbara Ehrenreich and Jennifer Senior, Squeezed is an eye-opening page-turner. Powerfully argued, deeply reported, and ultimately hopeful, it casts a bright, clarifying light on families struggling to thrive in an economy that holds too few options. It will make readers think differently about their lives and those of their neighbors.

The American Middle Class [2 volumes]

Author : Robert S. Rycroft
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1610697588
Total Pages : 1087 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (16 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The American Middle Class [2 volumes] by : Robert S. Rycroft

Download or read book The American Middle Class [2 volumes] written by Robert S. Rycroft and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 1087 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the "American Dream"? This book's author argues that contrary to what many believe, it is not achieving the wealth necessary to enter the top one percent but rather becoming members of the great middle class by dint of hard work and self-discipline. Americans of all classes consider themselves to be "middle class." There are Americans who by any objective standard should be considered poor who would insist they are middle class, just as other Americans who should be considered wealthy also insist they are middle class. Thinking of yourself and being thought of by others as middle class is the "American Dream" for tens of millions of people. But an enduring problem of the American middle class is the worry that the "Dream" is coming apart—that forces are lurking in the shadows waiting to steal their progress and throw them back into "poverty." This thought-provoking reference explores a disparate multitude of issues associated with being middle class in America. It addresses a range of questions and subtopics, including the meaning of the term "middle class"; how middle class status is expressed by both the majority and the various minorities that make up the American mosaic; what economic pressures are bearing down on the middle class; and how economists and others attempt to make sense of the economic issues of the day. Readers will also better understand how political institutions and public policies are shaping the way the middle class views the world; how labor, housing, education, and crime-related issues have influenced the development and growth of the middle class; the norms of the middle class versus those of other classes in society; and the role of culture and media in shaping how members of the middle class view themselves—and how they are viewed by others. This two-volume set provides a comprehensive look at the American middle class that supports student research in economics, social studies, cultural studies, and political history. The content supports teachers in their development of lesson plans and assignments that directly align with the Common Core State Standards and the recommendations of the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS) with respect to all ten NCSS themes.

White Working Class

Author : Joan C. Williams
Publisher : Harvard Business Press
ISBN 13 : 1633693791
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (336 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis White Working Class by : Joan C. Williams

Download or read book White Working Class written by Joan C. Williams and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I recommend a book by Professor Williams, it is really worth a read, it's called White Working Class." -- Vice President Joe Biden on Pod Save America An Amazon Best Business and Leadership book of 2017 Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite—journalists, managers, and establishment politicians--are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, described as having "something approaching rock star status" by the New York Times, explains why so much of the elite's analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in class cluelessness. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor"--but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality. Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities--just with more money. While white working-class motivations are often dismissed as racist or xenophobic, Williams shows that they have their own class consciousness. White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters.

The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution

Author : Ganesh Sitaraman
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0451493923
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (514 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution by : Ganesh Sitaraman

Download or read book The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution written by Ganesh Sitaraman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class is a prerequisite for America’s constitutional system. A New York Times Notable Book of 2017 For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable—and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America’s republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising economic inequality and risk oligarchy or will we rebuild the middle class and reclaim our republic? The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution is a tour de force of history, philosophy, law, and politics. It makes a compelling case that inequality is more than just a moral or economic problem; it threatens the very core of our constitutional system.