✯✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic
Arrogant Capital by Kevin Phillips was published in 1994. While reading this book in 2019, I had to keep pinching myself to be reminded that this book was written 25 years ago. The whole way through, I kept saying, "Honey, you ain't seen nothing yet!"
All of the corruption, backdoor deals, elite privilege, class separations, inflation, Wall St abuses, derivative banking scandals, extreme lobbying, nepotism, destruction of the Middle Class, unfair tax levies, broken political structures and many other areas involving political economics have only excelled at a shockingly exponential rate since then. By comparison, today makes 1994 look like the good old days.
Phillips makes the point that this tends to be the natural cycle of advanced societies as they grow and become ensconced in a system that protects and rewards its elite at the expense of the average citizen. He makes comparisons to ancient Rome, 18th century Netherlands and the fall of the Spanish Empire as well as various periods of rebellion and busts in American and English history.
Phillips offers what he believes would be changes we (specifically, in the USA) could make to prevent such troubles and make the country equitable for all. Some seem feasible while others I'm not all that sure of. My favorite was the "None of the above" choice for our elections. I know that's one I'd certainly make at times from the highest Federal elections to the smallest local area communities.
Definitely worth reading if you have an interest in US Politics and/or Economics. Don't let the date fool you because it's as relevant today as it was when it was published.
Nonfiction
Economics, Politics
Hardcover 231 pages
0316706183 (ISBN13 9780316706186)
Published September 1st, 1994 by Little Brown and Company
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