Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America - Hardcover

Callahan, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 047017711X ISBN 13: 9780470177112

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2010

Synopsis

Packed with fascinating data that paints a provocative picture of the new rich In Fortunes of Change , David Callahan contends that something big is happening among the rich in America: they’re drifting to the left. When Callahan set out to write a book on the new upper class, he expected to profile a greedy and reactionary elite—the robber barons of a second Gilded Age. Instead, he discovered something else. While many of the rich still back a GOP that stands against taxes and regulation, liberalism is spreading fast among the wealthy. In Fortunes of Change , we meet an upper class increasingly filled with super–educated professionals and entrepreneurs who work in “knowledge” industries and live in the bluest parts of America. This cosmopolitan elite takes for granted such key liberal ideas as multiculturalism and active government, and have ever less in common with an extremist GOP based in small–town America and dominated by Tea Party activists and the likes of Sarah Palin. Fortunes of Change explores: Why some of America’s wealthiest people backed Barack Obama’s presidential bid and are pouring record sums into the Democratic Party and liberal organizations, even though they stand to see their taxes go up. How a few big donors have spent millions to create the modern gay rights movement and how environmental activists have tapped a river of new liberal cash. Why Hollywood, rolling in new profits thanks to globalization, has more money than ever to back Democratic candidates and push politics to the left. Why Silicon Valley is turning more liberal and how tech money—including Bill Gates’s vast fortune—is funding a growing array of liberal groups and politicians. How the upper class is likely to get more liberal as young heirs are inculcated with liberal ideas in America’s most elite prep schools and universities. David Callahan is a co–founder of the think tank Demos, where he is now a senior fellow. He is author of the Cheating Culture , among other books, and his articles have appeared in such places as USA Today , the New York Times , the Nation , and the Washington Monthly . Packed with surprising facts and behind–the–scene stories, Fortunes of Change is a must–read book if want to understand how America′s politics and culture are changing—and what the future may hold.

About this title

About the Author

DAVID CALLAHAN is a cofounder of the think tank Demos, where he is now a senior fellow. He is the author of several books, including The Cheating Culture. His articles have been published in such places as USA Today, the New York Times, the Nation, and the Washington Monthly.

From the Back Cover

Advance praise for Fortunes of Change “Reading Fortunes of Change is like finding the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle. Sweeping economic changes are profoundly reshaping our politics—and not in ways we usually think. These shifts are reshaping the beliefs of the upper class and creating a new and very potent political force—the liberal wealth elite. Callahan’s must–read book provides a whole new perspective on our economy and political culture.” —Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class “David Callahan delivers an eye–opening and deeply informed examination of a trend he spotted first: how the rise of wealth based on intellectual firepower is challenging the narrow–minded antagonisms fostered by the old economy’s industrial oligarchs and creating a broader, richer democracy. Fortunes of Change breaks new ground and should be read by anyone who wants to understand America’s changing political landscape.” —David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Perfectly Legal and Free Lunch “In losing support among the working class, but gaining new traction with the wealthy and well–educated, has American progressivism sold its soul? David Callahan’s study of the rise of the liberal rich is as thought–provoking as it is timely.” —Michael Lind, author of Up from Conservatism: Why the Right Is Wrong for America “ Fortunes of Change is delightfully written and engaging and makes a compelling case for the centrality of the liberal rich. They are a symptom of the big changes in the two parties, but they are more than a curiosity. By the end, you feel compelled to accept his challenge—how do we advance a progressive project for these times, including ameliorating inequality, when the liberal rich are so central to all we do?” —Stanley B. Greenberg, CEO, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, and author of Dispatches from the War Room

From the Inside Flap

In Fortunes of Change, David Callahan contends that something big is happening among the rich in America: they′re drifting to the left. When Callahan set out to write a book on the new upper class, he expected to profile a greedy and reactionary elite—the robber barons of a second Gilded Age. Instead, he discovered something else. While many of the rich still back a GOP that stands against taxes and regulation, liberalism is spreading fast among the wealthy. In Fortunes of Change, we meet an upper class increasingly filled with super–educated professionals and entrepreneurs who work in “knowledge” industries and live in the bluest parts of America. This cosmopolitan elite takes for granted such key liberal ideas as multiculturalism and active government, and have ever less in common with an extremist GOP based in small–town America and dominated by Tea Party activists and the likes of Sarah Palin. With groundbreaking research and profiles of key wealthy liberals, Callahan explains why the ranks of the liberal rich will keep growing, thanks to ongoing changes in the economy and the liberalism of elite educational institutions, and why this group will become ever more powerful. In the process, he busts myths, slays sacred cows, and topples the conventional wisdom about who really runs America and what they think. Fortunes of Change will cause heated debate as many Republicans find their biases confirmed and debate how to recapture an upper class that used to side squarely with the GOP. Liberal activists will read the book with excitement, but also apprehension, as they grapple with new allies who may care more about polar bears than janitors, or more about legalizing gay marriage than controlling CEO pay. Packed with surprising facts and behind–the–scene stories, Fortunes of Change is a must–read book if you want to understand how America′s politics and culture are changing—and what the future may hold.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 047017711X
• ISBN 13: 9780470177112
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320