Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream
- Downloads：8407
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-11-03 13:21:44
- Update Date：2025-09-08
- Status：finish
- Author：David Leonhardt
- ISBN：B0BVSJ1S6X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Julie
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In US culture the glorification of capitalism went beyond being inextricably tied to the virtues of Democracy。 My ‘Xennial’ experience was indoctrination via small town public school education that ‘capitalism’ was synonymous with ‘democracy。’ At 18yo I was mocked as unpatriotic by teachers and peers when I registered to vote as a socialist in the late 90s。 As the spouse of a Union member， I hear secondhand the similar but even stronger （aka Rightwing polarized） vitriol espoused by a shocking am In US culture the glorification of capitalism went beyond being inextricably tied to the virtues of Democracy。 My ‘Xennial’ experience was indoctrination via small town public school education that ‘capitalism’ was synonymous with ‘democracy。’ At 18yo I was mocked as unpatriotic by teachers and peers when I registered to vote as a socialist in the late 90s。 As the spouse of a Union member， I hear secondhand the similar but even stronger （aka Rightwing polarized） vitriol espoused by a shocking amount of Union brothers towards equity in pay and even general solidarity amongst the working class。 More baffling is their desire to see their very own （workers’） rights diminished further and aggressively。 Add then the comorbidity of these anti-workers’ rights Union members considering themselves American ‘patriots’ while they are utterly disinterested in how their massive Union and many others are now run like corporations with the brother/sisterhood having little to no say while those running the Union are multimillionaires。 A myriad of these kinds of personal anecdotes puzzle me and no doubt contributed to why I jumped at the chance to receive this book。 Lured in by “Pulitzer Prize-winning writer” initially， the title and brief summation promising to explore the Rise and Fall of the American Dream resonated and enticed me。 However when I received an advanced reader copy （TY to the publisher and author！） all the nerdy-wordy vibes of the illustrious Pulitzer award combined with the sheer size of the tome about US history intimidated me。 Would I be able to read it all， relate to and learn from， without sinking into my own lengthy ‘Great Depression’？（TL/DR: Read it， related and learned from it， and it didn’t destroy my mental health！ Woohoo！）David Leonhardt won his Pulitzer after writing about economics for the NY Times for years。 So while obtuse suits me well here admittedly by 120 pages or so into the book， I realized this guy had hooked me into reading about a topic that I have avoided readily since the mind-numbing boring Economics foisted upon teenage me。 I was riveted reading because Leonhardt treats everything/everyone so even-handedly and respectfully。 Maybe my impression of economists being arrogant and condescending was pulled out of thin air？ But here is one writing in such a way that the history of the US and its economy is not just comprehensible and incredibly interesting。 Leonhardt’s book helped me make sense of what has led the US to Stagnation。 Not only has it helped me to appreciate and process how complex our economy is， but it has helped me develop more compassion towards other US citizens today （and those who came before us） in terms of how blindspots and good intentions alike have hurt the populace and so readily can be misinterpreted or miscorrelated by intelligent and well-meaning folks。 Leonhardt took a wildly complicated subject and wrangled into tangibles for his audience。 Tangibles being #1 major factors or influences on the economy （ie unions， civil rights， consumer rights， immigration） and #2 influential humans who played pivotal roles in those major factors。 Leonhardt took an incredibly ‘dense’ topic （as in “hard to understand because of its complexity of ideas”） namely the Floundering of the American Dream and in gentle and still graphic detail unpacked how the heck things went sideways。 I found "Our Was the Shining Future" to be a magnificently dense work of nonfiction where ‘dense’ follows its foremost definition “closely compacted in substance。” It is a thick volume until you open it up and Leonhardt tickles your brains with so much fascinating and relevant information through page after page of storytelling historical facts at ya！ This book took me months to fully consume but I appreciated it from Page One and continue to benefit from Leonhardt’s innovative approach to explaining the US economic narrative as it does renew the embers of hope that flourishing in the United States may be a dream worth dreaming someday。 。。。more
Peter Tillman
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There's a nice extended excerpt here: "The hard truth about immigration，"https://www。theatlantic。com/ideas/arc。。。Recommended reading。 Sensible stuff。 I plan to take a look at the book when the library gets a copy。 There's a nice extended excerpt here: "The hard truth about immigration，"https://www。theatlantic。com/ideas/arc。。。Recommended reading。 Sensible stuff。 I plan to take a look at the book when the library gets a copy。 。。。more
Nancy
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I took an elective in economics in high school after a teacher recommended it。 What I most remember was being told that a high national debt was the result of a growing economy， and since it was money we owe to ourselves， we shouldn’t be worried about a high debt。When I took that class， the economy was still good。 My dad had a union job with great benefits。 We had two cars and a house in the suburbs。 He talked about his international lab at Chrysler， with engineers from India and Lebanon。But soc I took an elective in economics in high school after a teacher recommended it。 What I most remember was being told that a high national debt was the result of a growing economy， and since it was money we owe to ourselves， we shouldn’t be worried about a high debt。When I took that class， the economy was still good。 My dad had a union job with great benefits。 We had two cars and a house in the suburbs。 He talked about his international lab at Chrysler， with engineers from India and Lebanon。But society was also under strain。 We watched helicopters flying overhead， taking National Guard to Detroit in ’67。 Kids from my high school class went to an antiwar protest and fhad to run from the police。 Inflation and lines at gas stations plagued my early marriage， and when we bought a house the mortgage had a 15。5% interest rate。 Fast forward to 2008， and when our son graduated from college， it took two years to find a job。What happened？David Leonhardt’s take on the American Dream is a comprehensive history of the social and political influences that drove the growth of the middle class and later drove huge business profits at the expense of workers。Yes， there is a lot of information， but I found it interesting reading。He breaks the book down into “The Rise” and “The Fall。” A central theme of The Rise is the importance of unions to workers。 President F。 D。 Roosevelt supported living wages and unions。 After WWII， business believed that well paid workers was good for the economy， therefore good for business。 In The Fall， he shows how the breakdown in society into separate interest groups， especially those with ‘elite’ concerns over working/middle class concerns， impacted politics and the economy， and how social disorder and crime drove people to switch political allegiance。I found the book to be balanced， engaging， and very informative。Thanks to the publisher for a free book。 。。。more
Steven
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I thought it was very interesting。 I agree with most of it。 But I haven't finished it yet。 I thought it was very interesting。 I agree with most of it。 But I haven't finished it yet。 。。。more
Melissa
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