Stinking Rich

The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-5292-3910-2
Verlag: Bristol University Press

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, Format (B × H): 142 mm x 218 mm, Gewicht: 363 g

Billionaires are an ultra-elite social class whose numbers are growing alongside their obscene wealth while others struggle, suffer or even die.

They represent a scourge of economic inequality, but how do they get away with it? A set of dangerous and deceptive inter-connected myths portrays them as a ‘force for good’:

- the ‘heroic billionaire’ asserts they are gallant protagonists of the American Dream gone global

- the ‘generous billionaire’ pretends that their philanthropic efforts and personal good deeds should be lauded for generosity and benevolence

- the ‘meritorious billionaire’ insists that extreme wealth is a worthy reward for individual hard work and talent

- the ‘vigilante billionaire’ claims to be able to solve the world’s biggest problems where bureaucrats and politicians have failed.

Each of these myths enables billionaire wealth and power to set us back to old-style feudalism and plutocracy.

Offering a trenchant critique, this incisive book testifies to the growing international political will to take concrete actions in supporting economic justice and democratic equality.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rhodes, Carl

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Gruppen & Klassen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword by Joel Bakan

Preface

1. The Righteous Rich

2. Money and Power

3. The Myth of the Heroic Billionaire

4. The Myth of the Generous Billionaire

5. The Myth of the Meritorious Billionaire

6. The Myth of the Vigilante Billionaire

7. Reasons for Hope

Über Autor(innen)

Rhodes, Carl
Carl Rhodes is Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. He researches the ethical and democratic dimensions of business and work. Carl regularly writes for the mainstream and independent press on issues related to ethics, politics and the economy.

Carl Rhodes is Professor of Organization Studies and Dean of the Business School, University of Technology Sydney. He studies the ethical and democratic dimensions of business, the economy and work. He is author of the bestselling Woke Capitalism (Bristol University Press, 2021) and a frequent commentator for the press in publications such as The Guardian, The Times, Fast Company, Business Insider and The Conversation.