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Winners Take All

The Elite Charade of Changing the World

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Winners Take All

Written by: Anand Giridharadas
Narrated by: Anand Giridharadas
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About this listen

 The New York Times bestselling, groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite's efforts to "change the world" preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve. An essential read for understanding some of the egregious abuses of power that dominate today’s news.

Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. We see how they rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; how they lavishly reward "thought leaders" who redefine "change" in winner-friendly ways; and how they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm. We hear the limousine confessions of a celebrated foundation boss; witness an American president hem and haw about his plutocratic benefactors; and attend a cruise-ship conference where entrepreneurs celebrate their own self-interested magnanimity.

Giridharadas asks hard questions: Why, for example, should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes? He also points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions and truly changing the world. A call to action for elites and everyday citizens alike. Economics Ideologies & Doctrines Philanthropy & Charity Politics & Government Social Sciences Sociology Economic disparity Capitalism Socialism Gilded Age Business Economic Inequality Equality Taxation Social justice
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A very thought-provoking book on the type of changes we see in our society that is celebrated. In a society where the winners take all, they are also giving back at an unprecedented scale. Americans gave $410B in 2017 larger than the GDP of countries like Israel and Ireland. However, the very fact of giving lets them dictate the types of change they will effect in the world. A change that must help the winners or at least not harm the winners when effecting that change. This is likely to perpetuate if not accelerate trends we have seen over the last 30 years where we have seen the gap between the rich and poor widen. A world where the top 26 people have as much as the bottom 50% of the world. Should it be the winners in place of government who should be affecting this change? Does all change need to be "win-win"?

does all change need to be Win Win?

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I find that as I grow older there are fewer and fewer books that leave me with new thoughts or reframe my approach to an issue. Winners Take All did that for me, at least to a degree. I've spent a considerable amount of time over the past several years thinking about how to effectively use my resources to do the most good, and my thoughts had been much influenced by the Effective Altruism community, and 80,000 hours in particular. They focus on causes and careers with high impact, while this book focuses on systems and politics as means of change. Well worth considering for anyone who is looking to make the world a better place - maybe that should be done or can be done most effectively by individuals doing good things, but by groups acting together, and societies operating well. In any case, this book identified some assumptions I wasn't aware I was making and premises I had so taken for granted that I wasn't aware of them, like the proverbial fish who doesn't understand what water is. This book identifies and discusses the water in which many of us swim, and even if I choose to keep some of the premises I am now aware underly my ideas, it is still valuable to do that consciously rather than unconsciously.

Very thought provoking

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Anand sums up some of the large, looming thoughts in my head, and articulates it all so clearly. As an environmental worker, these concepts are something I think about all the time, but do internalize.

This book was a breath of fresh air, and some of the most informed, thought out opinions I’ve heard in years.

My only criticism is moreso of the issue at hand, and it is that there is no solution presented.

Too notch progressive thinking, with well thought out real life relevance.

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I really appreciated this book. I had recently listened to The retreat of Western Liberalism by Edward Luce. There is a clear connexion between the two books in that both, at a basic level, address the effects of growing inequality and the disregard of elites for the poor and lower middle class. Giridharadas’ book is focused on the US, unlike Luce’s; this allows him to drill down into the thinking of US élites, mostly philanthropists, when they are actually doing their best to do good. The central message, developed through detailed accounts of conversations with many members of the élite, is that the system that allows some to acquire vast wealth does a great deal of harm; and that it is not enough for wealthy people to give back through philanthropy, they should be much more heavily taxed, so that the government can do what it is supposed to do, democratically and accountably, to the benefit of the great majority. As the author acknowledges at the end, as a part of that system he is himself complicit with it, as no doubt (I would add) many if not all of us with above median incomes are. What is needed is political involvement so that the system can be profoundly reformed, so that it better serves more people. And thus, returning to Luce’s book, the impetus for populism would be, if not eliminated, at least mitigated.

Important, interesting and enjoyable

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This book speaks to so many important points regarding dysfunctions in society. I get so disheartened with the current movement of populism taking place, and this book speaks to the fact of elitism being the deeper issue that drives the poverty, inequality, and anger that fuels such populism. I also appreciated the feminist nod.
A couple critiques:
1) Listening to rather than reading the book made it sometimes hard to discern when the author was quoting someone else, rather than speaking in his own voice.
2) I feel as though this book might be slightly unapproachable for people who don’t already agree with its premises or if they don’t have a somewhat solid knowledge base of the topic. It was inspiring and pleasant to listen to prose but not very straightforward prose.

A must-read for our current times

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