Read in 2021, holds up very well. Hayes describes the rise of the meritocracy and its consequences in a fascinating story. He explains its advantages and its downsides and how it was captured by the elites.

I listened to the audiobook and Chris Hayes narrated it. He did a fine job.

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a perfectly fine book. definitely worth a read. maybe would've rated it higher had i read it a few years ago. but all of his arguments have been bouncing around so much in the past 5 years that nothing felt new. ( )

This book discusses a wide range of problems facing America today, but I never got the sense that there's an easy or actionable effective way to institute any necessary changes. Perhaps simple recognition by enough people is enough. Hayes seems to tie many of the problems to our unwarranted respect for the "elites", and "meritocracy", and points out several problems with this approach. He makes several decent points, but I found myself losing interest by the time I reached the end. ( )

A bit of a rant, seeping with sad helplessness. ( )

I first learned of this book when the author was interviewed on The Majority Report podcast (majority.fm).

This is an excellent analysis of one of the central factors in the breakdown of so many of our social and political structures. The author (correctly, I believe) identifies the loss of trust by the majority of people in the institutions that have been the pillars support society.

I believe you can trace the rise of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders to this one factor. The difference is how they propose to address this distrust. Because he is part of the elite, Trump wants to blame the loss of trust on "other people" and build a wall around the country, essential turning the U.S. into a Trump resort. Sanders wants to reconstitute society around new pillars based on an egalitarian ideals, where we take care of each other and everybody contributes to the common good.