They Rule The 1% vs. Democracy [Paperback]

They Rule reflects on key political questions raised by the Occupy movement, showing how similar questions have been raised by previous generations of radical activists: who really owns and rules the US? Does it matter that the nation is divided by stark class disparities and a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few? Along the way, this book sharpens readers' sense of who the US oligarchy are, including how their fortunes have changed over the course of US history, how they live and think and how to detect and de-cloak them. They Rule is a masterful historical and political analysis, revealing what lies beneath the surface of US society and what ordinary people can do to bring about social change.Introduction John Carpenter's Magic Sunglasses and the Real Choice Chapter 1 They Own the Place Scenes from America's Unelected Dictatorship, 2009-2013 Chapter 2 Richistan and the Rest of Us The Second Gilded Age and Why It Matters Chapter 3 Political Economy How They Got So Rich Chapter 4 Dismantling Domestic Development The Global Age of Finance Chapter 5 How They Rule The Many Modes of Moneyed Class Power Chapter 6 No Crystal Ball On What Might and Must Be Done In They Rule, Street's canvas is larger than those of his earlier books, which focused on Obama and on the Tea Party. Here, he takes a step back. Rather than documenting Obama's betrayals of liberal hopes or deconstructing the American right, he asks how the political system that produced both an Obama and a Tea Party came to be during four decades of neoliberal rule. To build his case, he marshals an impressive array of social science research and Marxist-influenced analysis.
socialistworker.org

Paul Street is the most acute observer and insightful analyst of the 'Obama Phenomena.' This book gets beneath the political smoke and mirrors to reveal the pervasive rule of big money that drives the American Empire and global capitalist economy. Streets coulc§