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

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. the New York Times - Allen D. Boyer in more Equal Than Others , An Up-to-the-minute Critique Of Modern American Life, The British Historian Godfrey Hodgson Combines Intelligent Discussions Of Pressures That Have Shaped American Society During The Last Quarter-century (emerging Feminism, Booming Immigration, The Drawn-out Struggle For Racial Equality And The Dawning Computer Age) With A Factoid-packed Jeremiad Against The Triumph Of The Suburb -- The Demographic Zone Where Half The Population Now Lives, Where Two-thirds Of New Jobs Are Located, Whose Voting Strength Overawes Congress And Which, He Writes, Has Become ''the Normal And Perhaps Also The Normative American Environment.'' He Argues That The Development And Marketing Of Suburbia Has Led To A Stratification Of Wealth And Interest Among Communities Of Like-minded Residents, Even To A Politicized Class Struggle Between ''the Democratic Cities And The Republican Suburbs.'' 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......Page 8 FOREWORD......Page 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENT......Page 14 INTRODUCTION: Disappointment and Denial......Page 18 1 State of the Union......Page 28 2 New Politics......Page 56 3 New Technology......Page 88 4 New Economics......Page 114 5 New Immigrants......Page 139 6 New Women......Page 166 7 New South, Old Race......Page 199 8 New Society......Page 230 9 New World......Page 276 10 New Century......Page 315 NOTES......Page 332 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 376 A......Page 388 B......Page 389 C......Page 390 E......Page 392 F......Page 393 G......Page 394 I......Page 395 K......Page 397 M......Page 398 P......Page 400 R......Page 401 S......Page 402 U......Page 404 W......Page 405 Z......Page 406 This book is an attempt to understand what has happened in the United States over the last quarter of the twentieth century.