Chuck Collins, Burned by billionaires: how concentrated wealth and power are ruining our lives and planet. New York: The New Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781620979099.
In a nutshell, the author exposes the constant and often reckless and cruel damage that the uber rich inflict on society as a whole. In a time when ordinary people are showing resentment and a desire to deal with billionaires, this book is timely.
The book is organized in three major parts:
- Part One defines "the wealthy." It explains how people become billionaires, and a lot of it is privilege and unfair advantages, but that is explained further in the book, and how billionaires were created.
- Part Two is the core of the book where it explains how billionaires impoverish the rest of us, and they pretty much don't give a damn about the rest of us. From trashing the planet to making us pay more taxes to buying and stealing votes and government, the uber rich are truly toxic for the rest of society. This chapter illustrates well George Carlin's term "the real owners."
- Part Three offers some solutions, or attempts at solutions. This is the part of the book where I am highly skeptical. The usual reforms, in my humble estimation, are not going to get us out of this hole. Billionaires are started to forget that if they keep exploiting the regular people for greed's sake it will be a matter of time before revolution happens. It may be a while given how anesthetized and lazy Americans can be, but give it time. Anyhow the author sees small signs that change may be possible. I am not that optimistic, but your mileage may vary.
This is a book to read a bit at a time. It is timely, and it is informative. If you want to learn more about how billionaires got where they are now, how they stay there, and what they do to keep their dynasties going, then you need to read this book. It is a straightforward exposition of how our common enemy operates and stays entrenched.
The book is a relatively easy read, so anyone can read it. The book also includes charts and graphs to reinforce points. In addition it also features a few cartoons to add a little humor to what is a heavy topic.
If you know someone who falls for the myth that billionaires are "self-made men" and/or are special in some way, hand them this book to read so they can dispel that myth.
Your odd uncle who swears Trump is a financial genius? Hand them this book to read and tell them to shut up.
Billionaires are not special. Very often they just had luck, maybe a good idea, privilege, and fortunes to draw on whether from family or government subsidies. Meanwhile society pays the true costs. This book shows and explains what those social true costs are.
The book is not always an easy read, but I still recommend it for public and academic libraries. I'd say it is one to borrow then pass on so others can read it and learn as well. For me, it was worth reading, even if I have already read similar books. Barons comes to mind as a book with similar appeal factors.
4 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
The focus of the book according to the author:
"Still, the focus here is not on wealthy individuals; there are both scoundrels and generous souls among the lot. Instead, this book argues that an economy that is growing billionaires at all, much less at their current rate of increase, is not a sign of prosperity but of policy failure, resulting in a systematic problem with hugely consequential and negative impacts for society" (3).
Where the author is finding those "generous souls" I am not sure since the scoundrels clearly have abundant numbers. And while he views the phrase "abolishing billionaires" as "extremist," I certainly don't have a problem with it, and I get the feeling more people may be willing to consider bringing back guillotines. These are Hard Times, and being polite is not cutting it. However, I do agree with the authors that focusing on "abolishing a system of economic laws, rules, and practices" that keeps billionaires flush and the rest of us suffering is a good idea. However, that takes a degree of will a lot of Americans lack, in part because so many of them see themselves as temporarily inconvenienced millionaires. Until Americans change that view, roll up their sleeves, and work for a common good the author's idea is mostly pie in the sky.
The drivers of billionaire expansion:
"There are essentially three economic forces driving the billionaire expansion: the suppression of wages for average working people (even as those workers became more productive); the meteoric rise in the stock market; and massive tax cuts for the wealthiest households that accelerated in the Reagan era and have continued to the present day" (48).
If you have been around at least a while and paid attention, you know the above to be true. Costs keep going up while wages stagnate. When your groceries, rent, and other daily living costs keep going up but your wages don't, you do notice. Politicians and economists can make all kinds of arguments and excuses, but in the end people do note higher prices and wages that don't keep up. At some point, as the author mentions in the book, oligarchies breed revolutions. That revolution may be slower to come in the United States, but give it time. Time can be a great equalizer.
Why you would be better off living in Canada or northern Europe, and why I wish I could afford to move to one of those places:
"Because these countries make government investments in early childhood education, broad access to health care, debt-free higher education, and job and skills training-- all drivers of economic mobility" (56).
This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge:
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