Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back

by Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly

Book Overview

'Unjust Desserts' is a lively synthesis of modern economic, technological and cultural research proving that economic output derives from collective knowledge. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595584862
• ISBN13: 9781595584861
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

The current scheme to redistribute wealth is unjust

First for those who attack the authors for misspelling 'deserts' need to get educated. The word 'deserts', in the sense of 'things deserved' has been used in English since at least the 13th century. The unseemly redistribution of wealth, from the workers/producers to the parasitic middlemen employer/investor/landlord class is now being exposed for what it is, an unjust system where greed and unearned income is protected more than earned, honest income. The system allowing 'legal' but immoral, unjust privatization of common knowledge and common natural resources cannot be sustained without a draconian fascist police state as we are now seeing built in the USA. Unbridled lazy unfair (oft spelled laissez faire) capitalism cannot exist and expand without protection of a coercive police state. The time of the 'opulent minority' who's true motto is "In Gold We Trust" is running out. It's high time the wage slaves were set free from the control of others, from the rich who declare 'their' money gives them the right as 'employers' to decide who eats and who will be eaten. It's time humans are allowed the basic rights all other animals enjoy - free access to nature's bounty, restoration of the commons. Benjamin Franklin, arguably the most able and intellectual of all the founding fathers of the USA, recognized the real source of wealth: "Superfluous Property is the Creature of Society. Simple and mild Laws were sufficient to guard the Property that was merely necessary. The Savage's Bow, his Hatchet, and his Coat of Skins, were sufficiently secured without Law by the Fear of personal Resentment and Retaliation. When by virtue of the first Laws Part of the Society accumulated Wealth and grew Powerful, they enacted others more severe, and would protect their Property at the Expence of Humanity. This was abusing their Powers, and commencing a Tyranny. If a Savage before he enter'd into Society had been told, Your Neighbour by this Means may become Owner of 100 Deer, but if your Brother, or your Son, or yourself, having no Deer of your own, and being hungry should kill one of them, an infamous Death must be the Consequence; he would probably have prefer'd his Liberty, and his common Right of killing any Deer, to all the Advantages of Society that might be propos'd to him." Franklin thus noted a tyrannical police state was in inextricably linked to the accumulation and maintenance of disparate shares of wealth while candidly admitting such 'unjust deserts' were the product of all society, not the loudmouthed greedy individuals that espoused the lie that THEY earned it. Franklin stated further: "...the Accumulation therefore of Property in such a Society, and its Security to Individuals in every Society must be an Effect of the Protection afforded to it by the joint Strength of the Society, in the Execution of its Laws; private Property therefore is a Creature of Society and is subject to the Calls of that Society whenever its Necessities shall requ

If you're a progressive, you need to read this book

Why? Because "Unjust Deserts" is one of the few serious political works that is asking the truly deep, systemic questions about American capitalism. What is the source of our growing wealth inequality? And what is the political case for the redistribution of wealth in 21st century America? Alperovitz and Daly argue that up to 90% of private earnings derive not from the conservative mythos of individual ingenuity, effort and investment - but from the unjust appropriation of our collective inheritance: namely, the scientific and technological knowledge that has built up over millennia. Before you dismiss this as just too radical a thesis for this day and age, consider the words of Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men in the world: "society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned." Really? Then doesn't society deserve a very significant share of what he has received? Or, as author Barbara Ehrenreich has put it: "Our celebrated entrepreneurs and moneymen are hoisting a cherry to the top of an already existing sundae - and then laying claim to the entire ice cream parlor." One can only hope that this extraordinary book lands on the desks of some of President Obama's financial advisors.

A major rethinking of economic justice

I agree with the endorsement of William Galston that "you will see the world differently after you have read this book." Unjust Deserts turns the whole debate about growing inequality and "socialistic" taxation on its head by demonstrating that, in contrast to the highly individualistic way we think about and talk about economic differences, the creation of wealth in today's economy is highly socialized and only a small fraction of what we "earn" and "own," likely less than 15 percent, comes from conventional economic activities such as labor effort and employer investment. Most of it comes from productivity gains generated by accumulating knowledge, a collective asset. In a clear and logical way, they further explain what this means for how we think about distribution and inequality. Marshaling the Bible, Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill and even the young Winston Churchill to their intellectual cause, the authors argue that, in an advanced economy like ours, a much larger share of income and wealth, particularly at the top, is morally accessible to serve the needs of society--a startling turnaround of the rhetoric and reality of the last thirty years.

Cause and Resolution of the US Economic Grief

Arrival timing of this super-illuminating expose of the US economic problems,and their solution, could not have been better. Wealth concentration increases, especially since Ronald Reagan's tax cuts for the wealthy, have brutally damaged the US. College tuitions have soared, middle class income has stagnated, jobs no longer exist, principles in financial dealings have been eliminated, the poor no longer hope,and injustice is the rule for these days. Wealth disparity between the upper two percent and the remaining population has never been greater. A US nation of masters and serfs is at hand unless wealth concentration is drastically reduced. Outrageous amounts of monetary payments from executive compensation, capital gains, estate inheritance, and other sources to the already super rich have thrown any semblance of economic rationale out the window. In this book Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly clearly explain why monetary distribution is so lopsided and hubris rules. They explain the injustice of wealth distribution and how it can be eliminated to get the US back on an even keel so all citizens have a shot at a decent life. Surprises abound in this book and make for exciting reading. If you have always been bored by economics, that will not happen here. Every page contains a new revelation and is understandable. This book is part of the spearhead for economic change in the US. It will not disappoint those who seek to renew this country and its promise.

If you weren't angry before...

You will be angry after reading this book. Alperovitz and Daly create a convincing argument that is difficult to deny. Exhaustively researched and yet so readable, the premise is that, "all of this knowledge-the overwhelming source of all modern wealth-comes to us today through no effort of our own." So if most of what we have today is attributable to advances we inherit in common, why is this gift of our collective history not benefiting all members of society. The top 1% of US Households receives more income than the bottom 120 million. Do they deserve it? Does a CEO of a major corporation deserve compensation 431 times that of an average worker? This book could not be timelier given the current state of the economy. If you weren't already angry at the unjust income distribution in this country and the fact that such a small percentage of Americans basically wallow in wealth while the rest of cant make ends meet, you will be very angry after reading this book. This is a readable, not just for economists, guide to getting back what is rightfully ours. This book doesn't just lay out the cold hard facts but also gives solutions. I am more convinced than ever, that not only are we getting shafted, but we can also now fight back. I highly recommend Unjust Deserts to anyone who is sick and tired of economic injustice and is ready for solutions.