The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi, explores the growing gap between the rich and poor in our country, especially in regard to the criminal justice system. A few have complained that this book lacks methodological rigor; it doesn’t have graphs and charts to provide evidence of this phenomenon. But they something crucial here: the author is writing journalism, and sticks to specific stories of people. Yes, he writes about wider trends, but the narrative is always story driven.
In a way, Taibbi is not telling a new story. Wealthy white men in American have always had laws that applied specifically to them, or did not apply, as the case may be, while people of color, particularly African-Americans, have been subject to a different, harsher set of laws. This has always been the case (as it is with all minorities, and women). What is new is the scale. In post Great Recession American, we have become a society ruled by oligarchs from Wall Street who operate above the law. Financial firms do pay fines for gross wrongdoing, but no one ever goes to jail. But in black neighborhood, stop and frisk laws, and “broken window” policing, keep minorities under the tight grip of a police state.
Taibbi’s prose presentation might be a bit adolescent at times, but that does not take away from the importance of his book. He is angry, as we all should be, about the state of our state. We are now a bifurcated as a society; and this divide is only getting worse, much to the determent of our democratic institutions. Shy of a vast progressive movement with widespread support, it may already be too late.
In a way, Taibbi is not telling a new story. Wealthy white men in American have always had laws that applied specifically to them, or did not apply, as the case may be, while people of color, particularly African-Americans, have been subject to a different, harsher set of laws. This has always been the case (as it is with all minorities, and women). What is new is the scale. In post Great Recession American, we have become a society ruled by oligarchs from Wall Street who operate above the law. Financial firms do pay fines for gross wrongdoing, but no one ever goes to jail. But in black neighborhood, stop and frisk laws, and “broken window” policing, keep minorities under the tight grip of a police state.
Taibbi’s prose presentation might be a bit adolescent at times, but that does not take away from the importance of his book. He is angry, as we all should be, about the state of our state. We are now a bifurcated as a society; and this divide is only getting worse, much to the determent of our democratic institutions. Shy of a vast progressive movement with widespread support, it may already be too late.
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