More Equal Than Others: America from Nixon to the New Century (Politics and Society in Modern America Book 61)

During the past quarter century, free-market capitalism was recognized not merely as a successful system of wealth creation, but as the key determinant of the health of political and cultural democracy. Now, renowned British journalist and historian Godfrey Hodgson takes aim at this popular view in a book that promises to become one of the most important political histories of our time. __More Equal Than Others__ looks back on twenty-five years of what Hodgson calls "the conservative ascendancy" in America, demonstrating how it has come to dominate American politics. Hodgson disputes the notion that the rise of conservatism has spread affluence and equality to the American people. Quite the contrary, he writes, the most distinctive feature of American society in the closing years of the twentieth century was its great and growing inequality. He argues that the combination of conservative ideology and corporate power and dominance by mass media obsessed with lifestyle and celebrity have caused America to abandon much of what was best in its past. In fact, he writes, income and wealth inequality have become so extreme that America now resembles the class-stratified societies of early twentieth-century Europe. __More Equal Than Others__ addresses a broad range of issues, with chapters on politics, the new economy, immigration, technology, women, race, and foreign policy, among others. A fitting sequel to the author's critically acclaimed __America In Our Time__, __More Equal Than Others__ is not only an outstanding synthesis of history, but a trenchant commentary on the state of the American Dream. "During the past quarter century, free-market capitalism was recognized not merely as a successful system of wealth creation but as the key determinant in the health of political and cultural democracy. Now, renowned British journalist and historian Godfrey Hodgson takes aim at this popular view in a book that promises to become one of the most important political histories of our time. More Equal Than Others looks back on twenty-five years of what Hodgson calls "the conservative ascendancy" in America, demonstrating how a conservative agenda has come to dominate American politics." "More Equal Than Others addresses a broad range of issues, with chapters on politics, the new economy, immigration, technology, women, race, and foreign policy, among others."--Jacket. Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: Disappointment and Denial 1. State of the Union 2. New Politics 3. New Technology 4. New Economics 5. New Immigrants 6. New Women 7. New South, Old Race 8. New Society 9. New World 10. New Century Notes Select Bibliography Index This book is an attempt to understand what has happened in the United States over the last quarter of the twentieth century.