Press and Reviews |
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Class Counts, written by Prof. Orstein, warns that "we have allowed the government to ignore income gaps between the superrich and ordinary Americans; and by remaining indifferent, we are witnessing the slow and steady decline in the standard of living of the vast majority of Americans. Failure to understand that the recent past and present have seared the American dream in terms of class, opportunity and mobility—and could consign us to a terrible future" "We just seem unable to make an issue out of growing inequality, or the decimation of the middle class, fearing that it sounds un-American or like class warfare. It is puzzling why the rich should not be asked to bear their full share of government burdens, especially now with the government in deep debt." The author insists that "we are at crossroads as to whether this nation—envisioned by its Founding Fathers as the new Athens and a country dearest to the Enlightenment has lost, or is about to lose, its reason and humanism." Source AFL-CIO |
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"Class Counts...ranges widely in subject matter, displaying both passion and erudition, based around Prof. Ornstein’s core themes. Those themes include the ongoing struggle between elitism and egalitarianism in the American experiment, and how that conflict frames today’s unprecedented assault on the middle class." "Class Counts is not a partisan political book or media critique, however. It looks at a bigger picture: How do today’s political actions reflect greater historical, economic, and cultural forces? What, if anything, can be done to change things? Prof. Ornstein musters an impressive array of statistics, cites a wide range of sources, and offers enough provocative arguments to start a good healthy debate with anyone - including me." "The unspoken taboo against discussing class has been extremely useful to the architects of today’s radical upward redistribution of wealth. Prof. Ornstein has performed a valuable service by breaking that taboo, and by bringing a wealth of facts, citations, and ideas to the debate." Source: Fire Dog Lake Book Salon |
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"We would like to believe in the image of a person who rose from nothing and who owed nothing to parentage," Ornstein writes. "This is part of the American dream and the notion of the self-made person (usually a man); and there is just enough possibility and truth in these stories, a testimony to American democracy. But the humblest and poorest rarely rise to the top. Statistically the odds do not coincide with popular literature or folklore. For every poor or working-class person that becomes a captain of industry or a super athlete, hundreds of thousands are doomed to live out their life in the same quintile they started, or slightly move, an inch or two higher." "Ornstein presents his case with such compelling and cogent arguments that I hate to waste review space with my own words. So here are some more of his: "We are living in an 'upside-down' economy where new inventions and technology have increased productivity on a national level and lowered the standard of living for most Americans, because the economic gains have been gobbled up by the wealthy top 1/2 percent of the populace." "Just one more quote' "Like (the Romans) we are engaging in conspicuous consumption and military overreach, and we have lost our sense of self-restraint and sense of fairness. I am not alone in my belief that we are witnessing the slow decline of America and the evaporation of the American dream - where education and excellence play less and less of a factor in the achievement and reward systems."" Source: Capital Times |