Is much of the world better off now than it was, say, 200 years ago? Yes, undoubtedly, says Thomas Piketty. He does not use the words “the arc of justice,” but I would. The transcendentalist theologian Theodore Parker was quite right when, around 1840, he perceived the arc of justice. The great moral emergency of Parker’s time was slavery. And the exploitations of colonialism were just getting started in Parker’s time.
To see this progress in perspective, it’s necessary to be aware of just how terrible things have been for most people for most of history. That’s what the first half of Piketty’s book is about. The title of this book could as easily be “A Brief History of INequality.” If we failed to learn about historical inequality in school, it may not be entirely the fault of our educations. There is a great deal of new research on inequality. For example, Piketty several times refers to inheritance archives from 19th Century France. The bottom 50 percent of the population, even today, inherit nothing and own almost nothing. In fact they may be deeply in debt. At this stage of history, those who have benefited most from a reduction in inequality are the 40 percent between the bottom 50 percent and the top 10 percent — the middle class.
The top 10 percent, and especially the top 1 percent, are obscenely rich, as always. The gains of the middle class are quite new, with most of that progress owed to the type of reforms that Franklin Roosevelt introduced in the U.S. after the Great Depression. There has been some backsliding since 1980, as the age of Reaganism, Thatcherism, and neoliberalism gained control. Piketty writes that neoliberalism is now discredited, especially after the financial crisis of 2008. But little progress has been made beyond neoliberalism because of political gridlock. It was, of course, the political struggles of organized progressives, going back for more than 200 years, that have made possible the gains in equality and social justice.
It is sometimes hard for caring human beings to believe that there actually are people — lots of them — who hate the idea of equality, democracy, and justice, and who fight for a jackboot world that is unequal, undemocratic, unfair, and unjust. It’s easier now, post-Trump. We know who they are, we know what they want, and we’ve had a glimpse of just how they would use power to keep people down. The ironic thing is that many of the bottom-rung infantry in the fight against justice are in the bottom percentiles of prosperity, but through the magic of authoritarianism they buy into a politics that benefits only the top 10 percent.
In the second half of this book, Piketty outlines his thoughts on what must be done if progress is to continue. Progressive taxation, with heavy taxes on the filthy rich, is essential, as is investment in education and health care. But Piketty describes many other ideas still to be invented — for example, a universal inheritance, in which the wealth of the super-rich is taxed to provide a modest “inheritance” even for the poorest, to be paid at the age of 25, so that everyone has the means of getting a start in life.
Piketty’s ideas, I believe, provide an important and pragmatic piece of a pretty much complete theory of politics and activism. That politics, acknowledging the advances of the Enlightenment, would be heavily based on John Rawls’ "A Theory of Justice." The next step is to consider William A. Edmundson’s argument that only democratic socialism can meet the requirements of "A Theory of Justice." From there forward, Piketty provides not only a historical base that justifies the need for a new kind of economics, but also the outlines of a blueprint on how to continue that work.
It is not polite to quote an author’s last paragraph. But in this case I’m going to do it, because it captures so well why I think it is important to read this book:
"This … will also require active citizens. The social sciences can contribute to this, but it goes without saying that they will not suffice. Only powerful social mobilizations, supported by collective movements and organizations, will allow us to define common objectives and transform power relationships. By what we ask of our friends, our networks, our elected officials, our preferred media, our labor union representatives, and by our own actions and participation in collective deliberation and social movements each of us can make socioeconomic phenomena more comprehensible and help grasp the changes that are occurring. Economic questions are too important to be left to others. Citizens’ reappropriation of this knowledge is an essential stage in the battle for equality. If this book has given readers new weapons for this battle, my goal will have been fully realized."
It’s true that Piketty’s densely academic style is not easy to read. But this book, unlike Piketty’s massive previous books, is only 274 pages.
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The second lesson is that since the end of the eighteenth century there has been a long-term movement toward equality.Highlighted by 287 Kindle readers- Human progress never evolves “naturally”: it is subject to historical processes and specific social battles.Highlighted by 214 Kindle readers
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Since I first heard about Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, I have been on a mission to understand just what that means. I read several chapters and what I could grasp captivated me, but the information was so layered and so dense that I soon abandoned the effort but vowed to come back, eventually. Then the second book came out, and I bought that and made vows again to read them both. But I never did. Then, this book came out last year. Finally, I had something a little more manageable and easier to absorb, especially for a non-numbers sort of person (me X 10). I could hold it in my hands and it seemed an achievable read, and it was. Although the information was still dense and filled with much data, it was presented in a way that this compartmentalized learner could grasp. I could keep most of the eggs in the basket (of my brain) without too much spilling out. I took notes in the margins, googled economics lingo like “censitary” (which I’m still fuzzy on) and plodded on.I love the multiple approaches that Piketty takes in this text to explain complex systems and the effects of and influences on those systems. I also love the graphs which I tell my own students, “should help the reader access the information,” and they certainly do. But this text is not simply an economics primer; it’s much, much more. Piketty pulls in multiple disciplines to tell this story, and this is indeed a narrative of how we (all of us) came to be (in terms of economics) and how we are presently and why. He tells the history, influence, and damaging effects of colonialism on the world since the 18th century through 2021. Those multiple disciplines that weave this harsh tale are economic, historical, sociological, anthropological, political, religious, and more. There’s an extended discussion of how political and economic transformations happen, through crisis and revolution.Piketty writes clearly about solutions, and he explains why there might be reason for optimism for the future, based on the progress the world has made in the last 300 years, particularly in health care, education, and financial systems. His detailed solutions include progressive taxation on the wealthiest (billionaires and multinationals), a welfare state, education equality, and a strong push for democratic socialism. Piketty also makes clear that a significant part of the solution must include a dramatic and systematic plan to fight climate change. In fact, this theme is paramount throughout this text.I don’t know if Piketty’s solution would work, but he does give historical precedent and evidence in the effect that a crisis or violent revolution has on lawmakers in bringing about a more equitable outcome for those less privileged. My concern is that Piketty’s solutions require much collaboration, deliberation with universal and global objectives for equality. With the intense thirst for nationalism, authoritarianism, scapegoating of immigrants, and fictionalized “news,” this “coming together” seems unlikely, for now. But the catastrophic effects of climate change (which increase hourly) and potential for a worldwide revolt against the excess and exploitation by the wealthiest (who have the lion’s share of everything in freakish proportion to the lower 90% of folks) may create a change in mindset. But you know, in my experience as a teacher, I see a natural attraction for collaboration, the acceptance of diversity, and an overwhelming desire for social justice in this generation. This generation may very well correct or find solutions to solve the mistakes of my generation. This generation may very well save us.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 28, 2022
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 4, 2022
Since I first heard about Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, I have been on a mission to understand just what that means. I read several chapters and what I could grasp captivated me, but the information was so layered and so dense that I soon abandoned the effort but vowed to come back, eventually. Then the second book came out, and I bought that and made vows again to read them both. But I never did. Then, this book came out last year. Finally, I had something a little more manageable and easier to absorb, especially for a non-numbers sort of person (me X 10). I could hold it in my hands and it seemed an achievable read, and it was. Although the information was still dense and filled with much data, it was presented in a way that this compartmentalized learner could grasp. I could keep most of the eggs in the basket (of my brain) without too much spilling out. I took notes in the margins, googled economics lingo like “censitary” (which I’m still fuzzy on) and plodded on.
I love the multiple approaches that Piketty takes in this text to explain complex systems and the effects of and influences on those systems. I also love the graphs which I tell my own students, “should help the reader access the information,” and they certainly do. But this text is not simply an economics primer; it’s much, much more. Piketty pulls in multiple disciplines to tell this story, and this is indeed a narrative of how we (all of us) came to be (in terms of economics) and how we are presently and why. He tells the history, influence, and damaging effects of colonialism on the world since the 18th century through 2021. Those multiple disciplines that weave this harsh tale are economic, historical, sociological, anthropological, political, religious, and more. There’s an extended discussion of how political and economic transformations happen, through crisis and revolution.
Piketty writes clearly about solutions, and he explains why there might be reason for optimism for the future, based on the progress the world has made in the last 300 years, particularly in health care, education, and financial systems. His detailed solutions include progressive taxation on the wealthiest (billionaires and multinationals), a welfare state, education equality, and a strong push for democratic socialism. Piketty also makes clear that a significant part of the solution must include a dramatic and systematic plan to fight climate change. In fact, this theme is paramount throughout this text.
I don’t know if Piketty’s solution would work, but he does give historical precedent and evidence in the effect that a crisis or violent revolution has on lawmakers in bringing about a more equitable outcome for those less privileged. My concern is that Piketty’s solutions require much collaboration, deliberation with universal and global objectives for equality. With the intense thirst for nationalism, authoritarianism, scapegoating of immigrants, and fictionalized “news,” this “coming together” seems unlikely, for now. But the catastrophic effects of climate change (which increase hourly) and potential for a worldwide revolt against the excess and exploitation by the wealthiest (who have the lion’s share of everything in freakish proportion to the lower 90% of folks) may create a change in mindset. But you know, in my experience as a teacher, I see a natural attraction for collaboration, the acceptance of diversity, and an overwhelming desire for social justice in this generation. This generation may very well correct or find solutions to solve the mistakes of my generation. This generation may very well save us.
I love the multiple approaches that Piketty takes in this text to explain complex systems and the effects of and influences on those systems. I also love the graphs which I tell my own students, “should help the reader access the information,” and they certainly do. But this text is not simply an economics primer; it’s much, much more. Piketty pulls in multiple disciplines to tell this story, and this is indeed a narrative of how we (all of us) came to be (in terms of economics) and how we are presently and why. He tells the history, influence, and damaging effects of colonialism on the world since the 18th century through 2021. Those multiple disciplines that weave this harsh tale are economic, historical, sociological, anthropological, political, religious, and more. There’s an extended discussion of how political and economic transformations happen, through crisis and revolution.
Piketty writes clearly about solutions, and he explains why there might be reason for optimism for the future, based on the progress the world has made in the last 300 years, particularly in health care, education, and financial systems. His detailed solutions include progressive taxation on the wealthiest (billionaires and multinationals), a welfare state, education equality, and a strong push for democratic socialism. Piketty also makes clear that a significant part of the solution must include a dramatic and systematic plan to fight climate change. In fact, this theme is paramount throughout this text.
I don’t know if Piketty’s solution would work, but he does give historical precedent and evidence in the effect that a crisis or violent revolution has on lawmakers in bringing about a more equitable outcome for those less privileged. My concern is that Piketty’s solutions require much collaboration, deliberation with universal and global objectives for equality. With the intense thirst for nationalism, authoritarianism, scapegoating of immigrants, and fictionalized “news,” this “coming together” seems unlikely, for now. But the catastrophic effects of climate change (which increase hourly) and potential for a worldwide revolt against the excess and exploitation by the wealthiest (who have the lion’s share of everything in freakish proportion to the lower 90% of folks) may create a change in mindset. But you know, in my experience as a teacher, I see a natural attraction for collaboration, the acceptance of diversity, and an overwhelming desire for social justice in this generation. This generation may very well correct or find solutions to solve the mistakes of my generation. This generation may very well save us.
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Top reviews from other countries
C.
Piketty is back, fascinating and informative.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2022
C.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2022
What's different in this one is that Piketty seems a lot more optimistic. In the past, he stressed what has made inequality persist and deepen. Now he reminds us that over the past 200 years the overall movement in the West has been towards greater equality (income, gender, race). And recently the rest of the world has been catching up, shrinking inequality among nations. He tells us what policies and institutions have driven this, and what more could be done.
Its more concise than the prior books, but more accessible for it. Piketty builds new material on top of the summarised findings of his previous books, so its a book for new Piketty readers to begin with, but also with new ideas for those already familiar with his work.
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Leon Miura
Book sleeve wrinkled and damaged
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 26, 2022
Leon Miura
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 26, 2022
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