Summary of Christopher Lasch's The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The threat to social order today comes from those at the top of the social hierarchy, not the masses. The elites who control the international flow of money and information, and who manage the instruments of cultural production, have lost faith in the values of the West.

#2 Upper-class liberals have a difficult time understanding why their hygiene-obsessed lifestyle doesn’t appeal to everyone. They have tried to sanitize American society, but they fail to understand why people don’t want to be sanitized.

#3 The new elites, the professional classes, view the masses with both contempt and apprehension. They are both arrogant and insecure, and they regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension.

#4 The global disparity between wealth and poverty is clear evidence of the historic reversal. The crisis of the middle class, and not simply the growing chasm between wealth and poverty, needs to be emphasized in a sober analysis of our prospects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669393153

IRB Media

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Insights on Christopher Lasch's The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The threat to social order today comes from those at the top of the social hierarchy, not the masses. The elites who control the international flow of money and information, and who manage the instruments of cultural production, have lost faith in the values of the West.

#2

Upper-class liberals have a difficult time understanding why their hygiene-obsessed lifestyle doesn’t appeal to everyone. They have tried to sanitize American society, but they fail to understand why people don’t want to be sanitized.

#3

The new elites, the professional classes, view the masses with both contempt and apprehension. They are both arrogant and insecure, and they regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension.

#4

The global disparity between wealth and poverty is clear evidence of the historic reversal. The crisis of the middle class, and not simply the growing chasm between wealth and poverty, needs to be emphasized in a sober analysis of our prospects.

#5

The changing class structure in the United States is reflected in the fact that the top 20 percent of income earners now control half the country’s wealth. The middle class, which was 65 percent of the population in 1970, has decreased to 58 percent in 1985.

#6

The upper middle class, which makes up the majority of the country’s 20 percent, is defined by a way of life that differs from the rest of the population. They are professionals and managers who rely on two-career marriages to provide them with an