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Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Author : David Rothkopf Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux Manufacturer : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Description
Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time. Today’s superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? They control globalization more than anyone else. But has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? What happens behind closeddoor meetings in Davos or aboard corporate jets at 41,000 feet? Conspiracy or collaboration? Deal-making or idle self-indulgence? What does the rise of Asia and Latin America mean for the conventional wisdom that shapes our destinies? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws? Drawn from scores of exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, Superclass answers all of these questions and more. It draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our everyday lives. It is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live.
Customer reviews for 'Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making'
«bunch of unorganized words»
I borrowed this book from a public library. Otherwise, I would be regret ever buying this book. The author must be a powerful person as I can't see how the publisher would publish such a book with lot of words, with little meat. The flow of thoughts are poorly organized. The only take I have from this book is Davos is a cool place to be when all the big names are in town.
[Thursday, August 28, 2008]
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«Globalization - yes- but 'nationalism' now more so »
The world is ruled by an elite class , the superclass consisting in roughly six- thousand people, overwhelmingly male. This Superclass includes not only the Big Business elite, but heads of State, and even religious leaders like the Pope, and crime - bosses. These people, the one in a million who influence many millions are part of a global structure in which they trade and deal with each other.
They are the few who influence the many.
Rothkopf takes a tour around the world with them, speaks privately and interviews many. He goes to their famous meeting grounds, perhaps most famously, Davos and learns how they operate with global and not national concerns in mine.
In the course of the exploration Rothkopf provides a great deal of information, and insight. He provides portraits of figures most of us have never heard anything about, no matter how powerful they be.
All this is fine, but my sense is the central thesis is somewhat exaggerated and mistaken. Another world- affairs analyst Fred Kagan has recently written about how old national rivalries are as alive as ever, how competition between states still rules the world. The picture of these Davos people does not exactly expunge that of the Chinese now staging their grand show in Beijing. Old- style nationalism and national pride is helping drive them to leadership in the world. There are forces at work in history beyond those which Rothkopf attributes as being in the hands of elite.
One can learn much from this book, but it only tells a small part of the whole story of how the world moves and decides.
[Tuesday, August 19, 2008]
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«Tedious Fluff»
I read this book hoping for some insight into the dynamics of the global power divide, and what those at the top of the power pile are doing to exacerbate the have/have not split or (possibly) ameliorate certain aspects of it. That's not what I got. Instead, I plodded through 300+ vapid pages that told me exactly two things: the modern aristocracy enjoy hanging around with people like themselves, and so does the author of the book.
Mr. Rothkopf makes a couple of mild points that are accurate enough, as when he points to 'conspicuous conscience' (think the Gates Foundation) as a modern manifestation of the more familiar term 'conspicuous consumption,' and when he notes--almost nervously, I thought--that maybe the rich/poor divide wouldn't be getting worse in so many places today if this super-powerful bunch of people *really* wanted to try doing something effective about the structural reasons for global poverty. But such criticisms are rare and hold no sting. Mr. Rothkopf is a cheerleader for markets, markets, markets, at one point even ballyhooing the vigorous international arms trade; in his strange and scary world, "the benefits cascade outward" from rising arms sales in southeast Asia. Really?
And, thank you anyway, Mr. Rothkopf, but it is possible to oppose globalization in its current form without being some sort of xenophobic freak or knuckle-dragging troglodyte. That straw man won't stand.
Reading this book is a huge waste of time. If you haven't picked it up already, substitute Naomi Klein's _Shock Doctrine_ for this self-indulgent silliness; you'll be glad you did.
[Tuesday, August 12, 2008]
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