The Rich Don't Always Win : The Forgotten Triumph Over Plutocracy That Created the American Middle Class, 1900-1970

The Occupy Wall Street protests have captured America's political imagination. Polls show that two-thirds of the nation now believe that America's enormous wealth ought to be "distributed more evenly." However, almost as many Americans--well over half--feel the protests will ultimately have "little impact" on inequality in America. What explains this disconnect? Most Americans have resigned themselves to believing that the rich simply always get their way. Except they don't. A century ago, the United States hosted a super-rich even more domineering than ours today. Yet fifty years later, that super-rich had almost entirely disappeared. Their majestic mansions and estates had become museums and college campuses, and America had become a vibrant, mass middle class nation, the first and finest the world had ever seen. Americans today ought to be taking no small inspiration from this stunning change. After all, if our forbears successfully beat back grand fortune, why can't we? But this transformation is inspiring virtually no one. Why? Because the story behind it has remained almost totally unknown, until now. This lively popular history will speak directly to the political hopelessness so many Americans feel. By tracing how average Americans took down plutocracy over the first half of the 20th Century--and how plutocracy came back-- The Rich Don't Always Win will outfit Occupy Wall Street America with a deeper understanding of what we need to do to get the United States back on track to the American dream. The Occupy Wall Street protests have captured America's political imagination. Polls show that two-thirds of the nation now believe that America's enormous wealth ought to be "distributed more evenly." However, almost as many Americans--well over half--feel the protests will ultimately have "little impact" on inequality in America. What explains this disconnect? Most Americans have resigned themselves to believing that the rich simply always get their way.

Except they don't.

A century ago, the United States hosted a super-rich even more domineering than ours today. Yet fifty years later, that super-rich had almost entirely disappeared. Their majestic mansions and estates had become museums and college campuses, and America had become a vibrant, mass middle class nation, the first and finest the world had ever seen.

Americans today ought to be taking no small inspiration from this stunning change. After all, if our forbears successfully beat back grand fortune, why can't we? But this transformation is inspiring virtually no one. Why? Because the story behind it has remained almost totally unknown, until now.

This lively popular history will speak directly to the political hopelessness so many Americans feel. By tracing how average Americans took down plutocracy over the first half of the 20th Century--and how plutocracy came back-- The Rich Don't Always Win will outfit Occupy Wall Street America with a deeper understanding of what we need to do to get the United States back on track to the American dream.

The Occupy Wall Street protests have captured America's political imagination. Polls show that two-thirds ofthe nation now believe that America's enormous wealth ought to be "distributed more evenly." However,almost as many Americans well over half feel the protests will ultimately have "little impact" on inequality inAmerica. What explains this disconnect? Most Americans have resigned themselves to believing that the richsimply always get their way. Except they don't. A century ago, the United States hosted a super-rich even more domineering than ours today. Yet fifty yearslater, that super-rich had almost entirely disappeared. Their majestic mansions and estates had becomemuseums and college campuses, and America had become a vibrant, mass middle class nation, the first andfinest the world had ever seen. Americans today ought to be taking no small inspiration from this stunning change. After all, if our forbearssuccessfully beat back grand fortune, why can't we? But this transformation is inspiring virtually no one. Why? Because the story behind it has remained almost totally unknown, until now. This lively popular history will speak directly to the political hopelessness so many Americans feel. By tracinghow average Americans took down plutocracy over the first half of the 20th Century, and how plutocracycame back, The Rich Don't Always Win will outfit Occupy Wall Street America with a deeper understanding ofwhat we need to do to get the United States back on track to the American dream. A century ago, just like today, the rich dominated America, but by the 1950s the rich no longer ruled. The United States had become the first middle class nation the world had ever seen. This interesting history examines what brought about this transformation, and recounts the battle against plutocracy that turned the wealth of the few into opportunity for the many