The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power
Feb 2015 · Sold by Little, Brown
4.7star
6 reviews
Ebook
480
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
A groundbreaking investigation of how and why, from the 18th century to the present day, American resistance to our ruling elites has vanished.
From the American Revolution through the Civil Rights movement, Americans have long mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. Hierarchies based on inheritance, wealth, and political preferment were treated as obnoxious and a threat to democracy. Mass movements envisioned a new world supplanting dog-eat-dog capitalism. But over the last half-century that political will and cultural imagination have vanished. Why?
The Age of Acquiescence seeks to solve that mystery. Steve Fraser's account of national transformation brilliantly examines the rise of American capitalism, the visionary attempts to protect the democratic commonwealth, and the great surrender to today's delusional fables of freedom and the politics of fear. Effervescent and razorsharp, The Age of Acquiescence is provocative and fascinating.
From the American Revolution through the Civil Rights movement, Americans have long mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. Hierarchies based on inheritance, wealth, and political preferment were treated as obnoxious and a threat to democracy. Mass movements envisioned a new world supplanting dog-eat-dog capitalism. But over the last half-century that political will and cultural imagination have vanished. Why?
The Age of Acquiescence seeks to solve that mystery. Steve Fraser's account of national transformation brilliantly examines the rise of American capitalism, the visionary attempts to protect the democratic commonwealth, and the great surrender to today's delusional fables of freedom and the politics of fear. Effervescent and razorsharp, The Age of Acquiescence is provocative and fascinating.
Ratings and reviews
4.7
6 reviews
A Google user
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September 18, 2016
If we dont like the way things ARE then its UP TO US, WE THE PEOPLE to STAND UP for what we KNOW IN OUR SOUL IS RIGHT, and MAKE IT BETTER. True positive change happens GRADUALLY. So. We should STOP WHINING and START positive peaceful ACTION. GOD BLESS! We create our OWN REALTIES.
1 person found this review helpful
Dakota Cary
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June 17, 2015
Great comparative history of labor in America, from the first Gilded Age to our own. Rather anachronistically organized in discussion of events, but still thoughtfully organized by theme. Key differences are drawn between the two time periods, which help the reader understand our own era of acquiescence and its origin. I would recommend this book to politicos, history fiends, or otherwise disenchanted Americans with our current economic system.
2 people found this review helpful
About the author
Steve Fraser is the author of Every Man a Speculator, Wall Street, and Labor Will Rule, which won the Philip Taft Award for the best book in labor history. He also is the co-editor of The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Nation, the American Prospect, Raritan, and the London Review of Books. He has written for the online site Tomdispatch.com, and his work has appeared on the Huffington Post, Salon, Truthout, and Alternet, among others. He lives in New York City.
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