This book is dedicated to my children, Orion and Zora, and to yours, who deserve the new age that is coming.
A NOTE ON SOURCES
This is a work of reportage. In general, the people I write about and quote at length are people I have interviewed, with some exceptions indicated in the text. Similarly, the scenes I describe in detail are scenes that I have witnessed or attempted to reconstruct from the testimonies of people who were there. Where I have relied heavily on books, I have cited them directly in the text wherever possible. Thus what follows is a list of substantial sources that I did not cite in the text, to avoid cluttering the narrative and slowing down the reader. Not everything is covered. Where in the book there are small quotations easily searched on the Internet or facts of self-evident origin, I have not necessarily included them.
PROLOGUE
On American scientists’ leading the world in biomedical research, see “Globalization and Changing Trends of Biomedical Research Output,” by Marisa L. Conte, Jing Liu, Santiago Schnell, and M. Bishr Omary (JCI Insight, June 2017). On the average American’s health remaining “worse and slower-improving than that of peers in other rich countries,” see “U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2013). On American life expectancy declining, see “Mortality in the United States,” by Jiaquan Xu et al. (National Center for Health Statistics data brief no. 267, December 2016). On the decline in the average twelfth grader’s reading level, see “The Condition of Education 2017,” by Joel McFarland et al. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). On the incidence of obesity and related conditions, see “Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey,” by B. W. Ward, T. C. Clarke, C. N. Nugent, and J. S. Schiller (National Center for Health Statistics, May 2016); and various resources at http://stateofobesity.org. On the drop in young entrepreneurship, see “Endangered Species: Young U.S. Entrepreneurs,” by Ruth Simon and Caelainn Barr (Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2015). On Google Books, see “Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria,” by James Somers (Atlantic, April 2017). On American literacy, see “The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn’t Changed in 10 Years” (Huffington Post, September 6, 2013); and data from the National Center for Education Statistics. On the reading of literature, see “The Long, Steady Decline of Literary Reading,” by Christopher Ingraham (Washington Post, September 7, 2016). On trust in government, see “Public Trust in Government Remains Near Historic Lows as Partisan Attitudes Shift” (Pew Research Center, May 3, 2017).
On the uneven spread of the “fruits of change,” see “Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States,” by Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 22945, December 2016). On the changing realities of social mobility and the “opportunity to get ahead,” see “The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Mobility Since 1940,” by Raj Chetty et al. (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 22910, December 2016). On the rich/poor life expectancy gap, see “The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014,” by Raj Chetty et al. (Journal of the American Medical Association, April 26, 2016). On the billionaire growth rate versus others’ and the wealth of the richest 10 percent, see “How Business Titans, Pop Stars and Royals Hide Their Wealth,” by Scott Shane, Spencer Woodman, and Michael Forsythe (New York Times, November 7, 2017).
CHAPTER 1: BUT HOW IS THE WORLD CHANGED?
The further data from Piketty et al. is from the same “Distributional National Accounts” paper cited above. On Bill Clinton’s time at Georgetown, see On the Make: The Rise of Bill Clinton, by Meredith L. Oakley (New York: Regnery, 1994). The David Harvey quotes on neoliberalism are from his book A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). For Yascha Mounk’s ideas on the shifting meaning of “responsibility,” see The Age of Responsibility: Luck, Choice, and the Welfare State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017). For Jonathan Haidt’s conversation with Krista Tippett, see “Capitalism and Moral Evolution: A Civil Provocation,” an episode of the radio show and podcast On Being (June 2, 2016).
CHAPTER 2: WIN-WIN
For the African Development Bank’s take on so-called vulture funds, see its website: www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/african-legal-support-facility/vulture-funds-in-the-sovereign-debt-context (accessed September 2017). For more of the Economic Policy Institute’s work on wage stagnation and rising productivity, see “Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivity and a Typical Worker’s Pay,” by Josh Bivens and Lawrence Mishel (EPI Briefing Paper No. 406, September 2015). The first Adam Smith quote comes from The Wealth of Nations, book I, chapter 2; the second, from The Theory of Moral Sentiments, part IV, chapter 1. Michael Porter’s quote on the power of business to solve problems comes from his essay “Creating Shared Value,” coauthored with Mark R. Kramer (Harvard Business Review, January–February 2011). Craig Shapiro’s writings and Venn diagram come from the website of his Collaborative Fund: www.collaborativefund.com/about (accessed September 2017).
CHAPTER 3: REBEL-KINGS IN WORRISOME BERETS
Blair Miller’s quote comes from an interview series called “Tastemakers,” published by the New York clothing boutique Otte (no longer available online). Danah Boyd’s critique of the tech barons is from her essay “It’s Not Cyberspace Anymore” (Points blog on Medium, February 2016).
On the campaign against discrimination on Airbnb, see “Airbnb Has a Discrimination Problem. Ask Anyone Who’s Tried to #Airbnbwhileblack,” by Aja Romano (Vox, May 6, 2016). Airbnb’s report in response to the accusations is titled “Airbnb’s Work to Fight Discrimination and Build Inclusion,” by Laura W. Murphy (September 8, 2016): http://blog.atairbnb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/REPORT_Airbnbs-Work-to-Fight-Discrimination-and-Build-Inclusion.pdf?3c10be (accessed September 2017). The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s allegations against Airbnb are contained here: www.dfeh.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2017/06/04-19-17-Airbnb-DFEH-Agreement-Signed-DFEH-1-1.pdf (accessed September 2017). Airbnb’s response to California’s charges is also contained in the above document.
For Judge Chen’s ruling on Uber, see his “Order Denying Defendant Uber Technologies, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment” in O’Connor v. Uber, Case No. C-13-3826 EMC, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Docket No. 211. For Judge Chhabria’s ruling on Lyft, see his “Order Denying Cross-motions for Summary Judgment” in Cotter v. Lyft, Case No. 13-cv-04065-VC, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Dockets No. 69 and 74.
On Bill Gates’s faith in technology’s leveling powers, see his book The Road Ahead (New York: Viking, 1995). On Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s faith in the Internet’s powers, see their “Letter to Our Daughter” (Zuckerberg’s Facebook page, December 2015).
David Heinemeier Hansson’s critique of the Silicon Valley ethic comes from his essay “Reconsider” (Signal v. Noise blog on Medium, November 5, 2015). Maciej Ceglowski’s critique is quoted in “California Capitalism Is Starting to Look a Lot Like Polish Communism,” published on Quartz (September 24, 2015), or in its original form here: http://idlewords.com/talks/what_happens_next_will_amaze_you.htm. The Hobbes quotes come from his Leviathan, book I, chapter 13.
CHAPTER 4: THE CRITIC AND THE THOUGHT LEADER
Amy Cuddy’s research papers can be found on her Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1kdjewoAAAAJ. Her paper on men and perceptions of independence and interdependence is “Men as Cultural Ideals: How Culture Shapes Gender Stereotypes” (Harvard Business School Working Paper 10-097, 2010). Andrew Zolli’s essay is “Learning to Boun
ce Back” (New York Times, November 2, 2012).
Regarding the statistics on job security: The tenure data come from “Higher Education at a Crossroads,” a report by the American Association of University Professors (March–April 2016): www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/2015-16EconomicStatusReport.pdf (accessed September 2017). The newsroom data come from “Newsonomics: The Halving of America’s Daily Newsrooms,” by Ken Doctor (Nieman Lab, July 28, 2015).
The Adam Grant quotes are from his book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (New York: Viking, 2016). The quotes from Brené Brown come from “The Power of Vulnerability,” her talk at TEDxHouston (June 2010). Carol Hanisch’s quote comes from her 1969 essay “The Personal Is Political,” available at her website: www.carolhanisch.org/CHwritings/PIP.html (accessed September 2017). Malcolm Gladwell’s discussion of the ethical quandary of paid speaking can be found in a “Disclosure Statement” on his website: http://archive.li/HGUJn (accessed September 2017). The Stephen Marche criticism of Niall Ferguson is from “The Real Problem with Niall Ferguson’s Letter to the 1%” (Esquire, August 2012). Gautam Mukunda’s observation is originally from his essay “The Price of Wall Street’s Power” (Harvard Business Review, June 2014).
For more on the “identifiable-victim effect,” see “Helping a Victim or Helping the Victim: Altruism and Identifiability,” by Deborah Small and George Loewenstein (Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, January 2003). Jonathan Haidt’s criticism of people who expect “way too much” comes from the same On Being interview quoted above.
CHAPTER 5: ARSONISTS MAKE THE BEST FIREFIGHTERS
The Open Society Foundations’ 2016 budget can be found online here: www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/open-society-foundations-2016-budget-overview-2016-01-21.pdf. Kavita Ramdas’s criticism of the technocratic takeover of the nonprofit world is from her essay “Philanthrocapitalism Is Not Social Change Philanthropy” (Stanford Social Innovation Review, December 2011). The letter to the world’s Bahá’ís is from the 2010 installment of the Universal House of Justice’s annual Ridván Message, available here: http://universalhouseofjustice.bahai.org/ridvan-messages/20100421_001.
CHAPTER 6: GENEROSITY AND JUSTICE
The quotes from Darren Walker come, unless otherwise indicated, from my interviews with him. For a magazine profile of Walker and his remarkable life, see also “What Money Can Buy,” by Larissa MacFarquhar (New Yorker, January 4, 2016). The late historian Peter Dobkin Hall’s account of the origins of American philanthropy is from a book chapter he wrote, “A Historical Overview of Philanthropy, Voluntary Associations, and Nonprofit Organizations in the United States, 1600 to 2000”; the book is The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, 2nd ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006). Jonathan Levy’s quotes are from his chapter in the Philanthropy in Democratic Societies book mentioned in the text. Walker’s letter, “Toward a New Gospel of Wealth,” can be found at the Ford Foundation website: www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/toward-a-new-gospel-of-wealth (accessed September 2017).
The section on the Sacklers, Purdue Pharma, and the opioid epidemic is, unlike most of the book, a work of historical synthesis built entirely on the primary reporting of others. The publications are quoted in the text, but let me record my gratitude for the reporting of, among others, Bruce Weber and Barry Meier at the New York Times, Katherine Eban at Fortune, and David Armstrong for his sustained and heroic work at STAT. John Brownlee’s quotes about Purdue come from congressional testimony he gave, in a session titled “Ensuring That Death and Serious Injury Are More Than a Business Cost: OxyContin and Defective Products” (Senate Judiciary Committee, July 31, 2007).
CHAPTER 7: ALL THAT WORKS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Niall Ferguson’s quotes about the globalists are from his essay “Theresa May’s Abbanomics and Brexit’s New Class War” (Boston Globe, October 10, 2016). The Lawrence Summers quote is from his column “Voters Deserve Responsible Nationalism Not Reflex Globalism” (Financial Times, July 9, 2016). Jonathan Haidt’s analysis is from “When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism” (American Interest, July 10, 2016).
I interviewed Bill Clinton twice for this book. The first instance was in September 2016, via email. The second was in May 2017, a ninety-minute conversation conducted in person at his foundation’s offices in New York.
The analysis by Aaron Horvath and Walter Powell about philanthropy being “contributory” or “disruptive” of democracy comes from their chapter in the Philanthropy in Democratic Societies book.
EPILOGUE: “OTHER PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR CHILDREN”
The extensive quotes from Chiara Cordelli are from an interview with me. For more on her ideas, see her chapter in the Philanthropy and Democratic Societies book, which she also coedited.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anand Giridharadas is the author of The True American and India Calling. As a foreign correspondent and columnist for The New York Times from 2005 to 2016, he filed dispatches from Italy, India, China, Dubai, Norway, Japan, Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, Nigeria, Uruguay, and the United States. He has also written for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The New Republic. He is a visiting scholar at New York University, an on-air political analyst for NBC News, and has spoken on the main stage of TED. His writing has been honored by the Society of Publishers in Asia, the Poynter Fellowship at Yale, and the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Award. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he lives in New York City.
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Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World Page 31
