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A review by grouchomarxist
Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves
3.0
Placeholder review
Some good observations and awful conclusions. I will write more later. But in the meantime I will note that this guy quotes the likes of Charles Murray (of The Bell Curve fame!) and implies that virtually anything people do to help their children is part of a malicious economic game. There's no room in his world for intrinsic values. His view of the world is one in which people only value pursuits insofar as they bring profit, in which people dropping millions to secure legacy college admissions are upper middle class, and in which parents should consider not reading to their children so as to ensure the proper amount of class self-flagellation. I was disappointed in this book.
Also, edited to add this important fact: He never once mentions health care costs or the ways that a serious illness or injury can absolutely bankrupt people even among the "dream hoarding" class. He never mentions that downward mobility via medical bankruptcy is basically a threat for everyone in America except the 1%. Even with the ACA, many people still face outrageous health care costs, especially if they require long-term care late in life. This is a fact he conveniently ignores in his quest to shame people with a certain combination of income, financial planning acumen / privilege, and personal values that happen to include education. He conflates the 1% with the "upper middle class" so often it's deceitful.
Some good observations and awful conclusions. I will write more later. But in the meantime I will note that this guy quotes the likes of Charles Murray (of The Bell Curve fame!) and implies that virtually anything people do to help their children is part of a malicious economic game. There's no room in his world for intrinsic values. His view of the world is one in which people only value pursuits insofar as they bring profit, in which people dropping millions to secure legacy college admissions are upper middle class, and in which parents should consider not reading to their children so as to ensure the proper amount of class self-flagellation. I was disappointed in this book.
Also, edited to add this important fact: He never once mentions health care costs or the ways that a serious illness or injury can absolutely bankrupt people even among the "dream hoarding" class. He never mentions that downward mobility via medical bankruptcy is basically a threat for everyone in America except the 1%. Even with the ACA, many people still face outrageous health care costs, especially if they require long-term care late in life. This is a fact he conveniently ignores in his quest to shame people with a certain combination of income, financial planning acumen / privilege, and personal values that happen to include education. He conflates the 1% with the "upper middle class" so often it's deceitful.