The Privatization of Everything
How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Privatization of Everything
How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back
About this book
The book the American Prospect calls “an essential resource for future reformers on how not to govern,” by America’s leading defender of the public interest and a bestselling historian
“An essential read for those who want to fight the assault on public goods and the commons.” —Naomi Klein
A sweeping exposé of the ways in which private interests strip public goods of their power and diminish democracy, the hardcover edition of The Privatization of Everything elicited a wide spectrum of praise: Kirkus Reviews hailed it as “a strong, economics-based argument for restoring the boundaries between public goods and private gains,” Literary Hub featured the book on a Best Nonfiction list, calling it “a far-reaching, comprehensible, and necessary book,” and Publishers Weekly dubbed it a “persuasive takedown of the idea that the private sector knows best.”
From Diane Ravitch (“an important new book about the dangers of privatization”) to Heather McGhee (“a well-researched call to action”), the rave reviews mirror the expansive nature of the book itself, covering the impact of privatization on every aspect of our lives, from water and trash collection to the justice system and the military. Cohen and Mikaelian also demonstrate how citizens can—and are—wresting back what is ours: A Montana city took back its water infrastructure after finding that they could do it better and cheaper. Colorado towns fought back well-funded campaigns to preserve telecom monopolies and hamstring public broadband. A motivated lawyer fought all the way to the Supreme Court after the state of Georgia erected privatized paywalls around its legal code.
“Enlightening and sobering” (Rosanne Cash), The Privatization of Everything connects the dots across a wide range of issues and offers what Cash calls “a progressive voice with a firm eye on justice [that] can carefully parse out complex issues for those of us who take pride in citizenship.”
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Part I. Understanding Privatization
- Part II. Public Goods for Life: The Dangers of Privatizing Public Health, Water, and Food Safety
- Part III. The Public Gets Us There: Transportation, Communication, and Economies That Work for All
- Part IV. Privatizationâs Slow Coup: The Undermining of Democracy and Justice
- Part V. Every Last Dime: Shredding the Social Safety Net, Generating Inequality
- Part VI. Things in Common: Privatization and the Erosion of Community
- Part VII. Privatization Doesnât Want You to Know: The Corruption of Public Education
- Part VIII. âThe Cash Just Pours Outâ: The Privatization of Public Science and Research
- Part IX. Becoming Pro-Public
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
- About the Authors
- Copyright