The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 2,055 ratings

Price: 13.78

Last update: 01-25-2025


About this item

From the best-selling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, an urgent analysis of how the "rigged" systems of American politics and power operate, how this status quo came to be, and how average citizens can enact change.

Millions of Americans have lost confidence in our political and economic system. After years of stagnant wages, volatile job markets, and an unwillingness by those in power to deal with profound threats such as climate change, there is a mounting sense that the system is fixed, serving only those select few with enough money to secure a controlling stake. With the characteristic clarity and passion that has made him a central civil voice, Robert B. Reich shows how wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy, eviscerate the middle class, and undermine democracy.

Using Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase as an example, Reich exposes how those at the top propagate myths about meritocracy, national competitiveness, corporate social responsibility, and the "free market" to distract most Americans from their accumulation of extraordinary wealth, and power over the system. Instead of answering the call to civic duty, they have chosen to uphold self-serving policies that line their own pockets and benefit their bottom line.

Reich's objective is not to foster cynicism, but rather to demystify the system so that we might instill fundamental change and demand that democracy works for the majority once again.


Top reviews from the United States

  • tomkowt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read laying out the truth of what ails American economic prosperity for the 90%.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2022
    We've heard the terms "rigged" and "oligarchy" over the last several years, but I doubt the average American citizen knows what they actually mean. Mr. Reich offers a concise and very readable understanding of the root cause to so many of our woes, even beyond our economic well-being. He does not pull punches when he criticizes how our current system is weighted heavily toward the very rich and powerful. In fact, he even mentions a few of these oligarchs by name. Over the last several decades, they have tilted the playing field ever more in their direction, capturing bigger and bigger slices of the pie and leaving regular folks with crumbs. A general feeling of discontent, even downright anger, has been aflame for quite some time and I fear a boiling point will be reached unless we rise up and demand real change before it's too late and a social breakdown will occur, causing many more to suffer. What will happen? Near the end of the book, Mr. Reich offers a ray of hope, stating that Americans have overcome adversity before and will seek to rebalance again. I hope he is right. For me, I have lived most of my life in this current system of ours and wasn't around to experience the past upheavals the country has endured. I am counting on Mr. Reich's optimism since he has indeed lived through those past times and has the wisdom to make a better-informed prediction. But I admit that I'm cynical. I see too many people disengaged from their civic duties. Their lives are surrounded by a cacophony of noise that makes them disinformed and misinformed and they'd rather be glued to every detail regarding the Kardashian's than taking the time to educate themselves on what is really happening and how it's affecting their lives. They can start by reading this book by Mr. Reich.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2025
    Happy with my purchase!
  • Kelley Ridings
    5.0 out of 5 stars Countering a Have vs. Have Nots Society
    Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2020
    Robert Reich has written a brilliant new book in The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It. His premise is the United States system over the last 40 years has been highjacked by the ultra-wealthy who he calls the oligarchy (rule of the few). He convincingly asserts the oligarchs (the wealthiest 10% of the US population) have turned the wheels of government, finance, and economy totally to their full advantage. On the other hand the lower 90% of the population have seen almost no economic advantage in the last 40 years while the oligarchs wealth has exploded to astronomical proportions.

    Throughout the book I was reminded of other fantastic books that have similar conclusions. Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson stunningly insightful book, Why Nations Fail, comes to mind with their thesis that countries fail because of extractive leadership that exploit a nation’s economy to the advantage of a few oligarchs. A Warning by Anonymous shows how the current US presidency is both incompetent, inept, and the definition of oligarchical. Janesville: Am American Story shows the plight of those regular Americans left behind in the economy meltdown of the Great Recession. Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty First Century shows how many Americans are one step away from homelessness searching for itinerant seasonal jobs while living in their vehicles. Even Democracy, Inc. by the Washington Post shows how Congress has created a plethora of laws to benefit the members of Congress through what is in essence legalized corruption. All these authors, Reich included as the most famous of them, all show how an oligarchic America has dramatically failed every day people in stubbornly blocking their opportunities to get ahead in a economy rigged at all levels for the nearly exclusive benefit of the wealthy few.

    Reich believes that it’s an active and well-informed electorate can check the power and greed of the oligarch class. I agree. We have seen that power in the 2018 mid-term elections, but if that carries forward to the 2020 election remains to be seen. He also sees this struggle as not just being a Republican vs. Democratic struggle but instead being one of the haves vs. have nots. Reich’s last book, The Common Good, shows how important it is for us as a people to work toward improving society for the good of all, another example of being active in bettering society. Reich is one of the great political thinkers of our times, and this book clearly shows why. This is a provocative read well worth reading.

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