Summary of Kurt Andersen's Evil Geniuses

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Kurt Andersen's Evil Geniuses in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: During the twentieth century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. All boats rose together. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled. The clock was turned back on a century of economic progress, making greed good, workers powerless, and the market all-powerful while weaponizing nostalgia, lifting up an oligarchy that served only its own interests, and leaving the huge majority of Americans with dwindling economic prospects and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669342847

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Kurt Andersen's Evil Geniuses

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The author noticed how the world had changed since he was young, and how the world is still changing. The author believes that American society has changed dramatically since the 1960s, and not for the better.

#2

Today, the top 1% own more than the bottom 99%. This is not the America in which we grew up.

#3

The author wrote an article in The New York Times in which she discussed how America has become completely divided between the very rich and the rest of society, which has created a new political movement against the economic elite.

#4

The second aha moment for the author was in 2007, when he noticed how everything had become so similar. Americans all at once started looking back in time at the good old days.

#5

The 1970s and ’80s saw a switch in American culture, where people began to idealize the past and romanticize it, instead of trying to create something new. This led to a grisly old-fashioned political economy, and a constantly familiar culture.

#6

Inequality is the buzzword today, but it has been growing worse for a long time.

#7

The 1980s saw a shift in economic policies, with the wealthy being given even greater tax cuts. This was done in the guise of returning to a mythical past where the poor were happy and the middle class thrived.

#8

The 1970s and 1980s saw a wholesale plunge into nostalgia, as the country began to look and feel just like it did in the 1940s and 1950s, when economic security was at its peak. But now, forty years later, the country is still feeling the effects of those policies.

#9

Americans have always been open to change and new ideas, and this has led to many of the country’s successes. But the past few decades have shown how this openness can also be exploited by politicians looking to divide the country.

#10

There are lessons to be learned from the response to the pandemic, and from the way in which the rich and powerful have always controlled our country.

#11

America is at an inflection point, and it will either continue down the same path of dysfunction and decline, or make the changes necessary to create a new, improved America.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

America has always been the land of tomorrow, and the young country was no different. It was the land of opportunity, and anyone could succeed here.

#2

The inhabitants of the United States are never fettered by the prejudices of their profession; they are not more attached to one line of operation than another. They are constantly improving, and believe that everything is still improving.

#3

The birth of America and the American Dream coincided with the birth of the modern age, which was characterized by a sudden proliferation of technology and economics.

#4

America’s exceptional western expanses made it possible for the new political economy to grow and flourish. Millions of people left their old homes to start