Customer Reviews

The Rich and the Super-Rich: A Study in the Power of Money Today

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3 star:		(1)
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Mr. Lundberg's deconstruction of the relationships of powerful families in the United States is fascinating reading. Power seeks power incestuously and the web of power isn't just wealth. It is boards of corporations, memberships in clubs, and the bonds of marriages. This isn't just a screed against money; it is an anthropological study of the rulers of this country. They seldom seek publicity. That would be so nouveau riche. Even though this is a snapshot taken in the middle of the last century, the social structures revealed had been established since the beginning of the Republic and there is no reason to doubt that they persist today. Read and learn.

Loaded with facts and figures, this gigantic book seems at first
intimidating -- but it is really quite easy to read and under-stand. Being able to "swallow" what's there is a different thing, however -- one is horrified to learn that our US Democracy isn't truly a democracy at all....that it's ruled by
a powerful ogliarcy that keeps its power -- and most of the identities of its members, truly secret.

Since this book was published in the 1960s, there is info
that is absent....but also some secret info that isn't in
more modern books, as the power elite have since covered some
of the tracks herein listed.

For me, the most valuable part of the book is the description of the "common (mass) man" vs. the elite. (See the wonderfully annotated index -- as the page numbers are different between the paperback and hard-cover.) The rich really ARE
different from you and I -- but Mr. Lundberg's reasonings why
are 1000 times more accurate, (and 1000 times more frightening),
than F. Scott Fitzgerald's! The reasons given make terrible,
logical sense -- and make one not only appreciate their accuracy,
but also appreciate, greatly, such "traitors to their class" as
Robert Kennedy and (to me, anyway), John Kerry -- people who,
despite their wealth, see "mass men", (and women), as nothing
more, (and nothing less), than fellow human-beings! It's too
bad there are not more of them!

Mr. Lundberg died a few years ago. I found this out
searching the New York Times database. I did not find his
obituary -- but I did find that of his wife, who died even
more recently. Sadly -- and tellingly -- hers was NOT a
"feature" obituary -- but one which, instead, had to be
inserted, (and paid for), by her family. Although it is
possible that Mrs. Lundberg preferred it this way -- wanting
to be one of the "mass" of humanity to the end, it is also
quite possible that the "powers that be" wanted to "bury"
the name of Lundberg, (and Ferdinand Lundberg's crusading
books!), as much as possible! As long as his books remain
buyable -- and especially if this wonderful classic is
someday soon reprinted -- I will know we haven't fallen into
a dictatorship, (yet!) I am glad that I bought a copy when
it first came out, and I am super-glad to have been able to
have bought a newish copy on Amazon! Lundberg -- and all
of us freedom-loving, knowlege-questing "Lundbergians",
live!

The more things change the more they stay the same. What we really need is for Ferdinand Lunberg to give us an up-to-date version. This book showed us where all the money was and how they kept it and controlled it. If you are a capitalist, you will want to read this and will want an updated version. Incredible new fortunes are being made today, but what happened to all the old money?

As a previous reviewer noted, The Rich and Superrich is a very readable book despite its size. It is very edifying to see the money power structure in the US. Ferdinand Lundberg was a brilliant scholar and writer, living from 1905 to 1995.

I would also recommend his previous book, written in 1937, but reissued in 2007--America's 60 Families. From this one can see that the concentration of power is nothing new.

I would recommend two more books that show how democratization of the US economy can be achieved.

I would also recommend Thom Hartmann's books on the constitution, which explain all the obstacles to a true democracy put in place by our founders. The US constitution was a compromise between those who wanted a plutocracy (Adams and Hamilton, for example) and those who wanted a true people's democracy (Franklin, Jefferson, Thomas Paine). We must remember that the US was the first modern democracy. Unfortunately, the compromises our founders made has led to a plutocracy, rather than a democracy.

I also recommend: SHARING THE PIE by Stephen Brouwer, Owl Books.

Sharing The Pie "Offers a far more lucid presentation of economic trs than you are likely to find anywhere."--Barbara Ehrenreich

Even though it was published in 1998, the material is still relevant since it analyzes the structure of the economy, rather than the current picture of who owns what.

As one reviewer noted about Sharing The Pie, it is an invaluable resource for those who want to make sense of the economy, Sharing the Pie is also a passionate plea for greater economic equality and a revitalization of American democracy.

As recently as 2004, a reviewer noted Sharing The Pie "gives a good history of how America's economy has gotten to the point it is now and where it may be going in the future."

I read this book as an undergraduate in Nigeria. It was a brown coloured hard back and was in the reference section of the library. This meant that I had to keep going back to read those 1000 pages. Absolutely brilliant read. I will recommend to anyone wanting to get beyond the level of conspiracy theories.

Lemmings,

Listen to your gurus of b s (limbodomy; hasn'tany; beck; levine; etc, etc.)

Then. Read this book and think for yourself...........if you can.

swagongoda

This book is full of fact and figures detailing the families and corporations that truly own and control America and how they did it. It is over 40 years old and it size may seem intimidating. If you want to understand the who, when, why and the how America is financed I recommend reading it.

This book is old but I have no doubt that nothing much has changed. When you start asking "where's the money" you invariably end up reading books like Mr. Lundburg's. This book and this author should be considered as companion volumes with Gustavus Myers and his History of Great American Fortunes. These two authors provide a tremendous arsenal of information, facts and figures supporting the case against the "Rich and the Famous". We all aspire to one day becoming rich and famous but when and if you get there you certainly do not want to continue the customs and traditions of your predecessors - not if you aspire to living in a "better world" at least.
Both of these authors need to be reprinted. Their books are disappearing fast and they are a very important part in the process of presenting a balanced historical picture for future generations.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."

This is a great histtory of the super rich familuies in America...although it is quite dated, this makes a great histroical book as well.

Sorry but Mr Lundberg is died. But this is one of the best books I ever read.