Elizabeth Anderson (1) (1959–)

Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic against Workers and How Workers Can Take It Back, by Elizabeth Anderson, is an extremely well-researched and argued look at how what had once (to some) been a positive has been turned into a weapon and thus a negative. Unless, of course, you're either one of the super-rich or one of those brainwashed by them.

I think what makes this such an engrossing read is that a lot of what Anderson highlights isn't so much unknown to us, but we have been show more raised, for generations now, to view things a certain way, even if it makes little or no sense once we stop and really think about it. I enjoy when a book brings things together in a way that makes them make sense and disrupts the things we have ended up taking at face value from those benefitting from the misunderstanding and misappropriation.

Reading this at the same time as I was reading Taming the Street helped give even more depth to that book, which focused on FDR trying to reign in Wall Street and the capitalism that was destroying the country and most of the citizens. I suspect that being armed with this new perspective will help me, and most other readers, connect the dots between many movements and coalitions that seem to not only work against most citizens but works against even those championing the cause. Once we accepted that there is such a thing as a "work ethic" we then had to figure out for whose benefit it was directed and, along similar lines, how broadly the benefits would be distributed. Unfortunately, a small percentage have diverted whatever good was in the ideal and made themselves the sole beneficiaries of everyone else's hard work, while making us feel guilty or worthless if we aren't putting enough profit into their pockets.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in how we ended up working ourselves to death so a select few can not do any work at all yet reap the benefits. This is also a call to action and, if need be, perhaps a call to consider further action if we can't make society more equitable within these parameters. Whatever means necessary.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

very tightly argued and empirically grounded. avoids over emphasis on go-nowhere historical and ideological disputes on race as such, and instead cuts straight to a here-and-now assessment of black/white inequality in america, compares it to other kinds of persisting segregation (using a very general framework adapted from charles tilly), canvasses potential solutions and the usual arguments pro/con, and simply does deeper and better thinking on the topic than you see elsewhere.

Meticulously researched and cogently argued analysis of the advantages of integration to everyone affected by it.

Recommended for policy-makers, activists, and educators. I skimmed enough to be able to tell that it's well worth reading in full by people who truly can make a difference.

From the title, and an opening anecdote that I'll never forget*, through the working out of the ideas, to the following quotes from the last chapter, this is a concise, thoughtful, and readable work of political philosophy that matters.

From 9.2, "The Limits of Multiculturism:"
"Integration is not the same as show more assimilation."
"[R]acial equality requires not just propositional knowledge but practical knowledge.... Only by working and thinking *together* can *we* work out mutually respectful and cooperative habits of interaction."

Enough said. But if you want more, here you go:

(Earlier the author does address, with a certain degree of respect if not empathy, segregationists who think of 'others' as distasteful.)

(btw, the author uses the simple words black and white... after all, her ideas are applicable in parts of the world where 'african-american' would not make sense...)

The main point is one I totally agree with. If blacks and whites don't know each other because of self-segregation, ideas of respect, diversity, multiculturalism, are just abstractions. For example, I do know that Black Lives Matter, but having never known a black person, I have no idea how to talk about that, much less support the movement.

*The author opens with her experience in moving to Detroit, where she was shown a home infested with cockroaches, because the real estate agent assumed that living with those pests would be preferable to living with black neighbors. The agent had bragged that they're 'holding the line at 10th.' show less