Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on the Civil Religion

by Lewis H. Lapham

Book by Lapham, Lewis H.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Sociology, Politics, Social Science, Money, Class

311 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Lewis Henry Lapham was the editor of Harper's Magazine from 1976 until 1981, and again from 1983 until 2006. He is the founder and current editor of Lapham's Quarterly, featuring a wide range of famous authors devoted to a single topic in each issue. Lapham has also written numerous books on politics and current affairs.

Lapham's Quarterly
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/

Reviews

[Mark McTague · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Kirkus review published the same year as the book criticized it for lacking a strong central thesis. The book's subtitle, "Notes and Observations on Our Civil Religion," perhaps should have told the reviewer what to expect. A prolific writer, the recently deceased Lapham wrote many essays during his time as editor of Harper's magazine, whole sections of which he would from time to time incorporate into his books. That might account for a bit of the Kirkus reviewer's sense of a diffuse center to "Money and Class in America," but I found the book quite enlightening and, as with all of Lapham's essays I have read over the years, quite engaging and well-written. As a child of the 1% (great grandfather a founder of Texaco, grandfather a mayor of S.F. in the 1940s), Lapham grew up in the Pacific Heights section of S.F. and was educated at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut (a list of alumni of which reads like a who's who of the upper reaches of American corporate, educational, financial, and artistic society), then Yale, and afterward spent a year studying medieval history at Cambridge. He also spent his professional life in journalism, and given his patrician background, like Gore Vidal, he seemed to know everyone. Given this lifelong insider's observation of the wealthy in this country, and his thorough grounding in history and literature, I was disposed to accept his observations. I couldn't see what he stood to gain by lifting the curtain so that we might see Oz, the ... Great and ... Powerful.

But unlike the Wizard in the Judy Garland film, who admits to being a fraud once he was found behind the curtain, the 1% in Lapham's telling seem for the most part to believe their own press releases, that they are special because of their wealth, but more importantly, and this is where I see Lapham's thesis, they are more than self-deluded. They have become like born-again pagans in thrall to the magic of money, seeing this abstract system of value in almost religious terms. The worship of Mammon afflicts them, and in various ways, which Lapham points out, they have abandoned their very selves, their human souls, for the abstraction of money (gold, diamonds, real estate, corporate advancement, all the various means of showing high status in the world of the 1%). They are in truth quite lost.

Money itself is not good or evil. What one does with it is, and making it a god is perhaps the worst evil. I recommend this book quite highly. Though published in 1988, sadly enough it has lost none of its application.

[Justin Lee Hanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of great quotes in this book. It's a bit gossipy but I enjoyed the concept.

[Rebecca Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came off my shelf and seemed a sort of prequel to The Ascent of Money that I read in December. I actually first read this book in 1992. It was written in 1988. I finished it on January 8, 2017 which was the author's (and Elvis) 82nd birthday. Lapham was the editor of Harper's magazine for a number of years and I always liked his editorials. I don't remember exactly what I thought about the book in 1992 but there were mentions of Bush Sr. and Clinton in the margins. It is an even more disturbing book now 30 years later. Lapham speaks about the sins of Reagan and the focus on money during that regime but in looking at our future, it becomes evident that Reagan was a child compared to what Trump will bring to the American economy and culture. Trump is mentioned several times in this book as it was really in the 80's that he became a commonplace name in areas other than New York City due especially to his book about deal making. If one had true insight, it might have been apparent at that time that of course eventually Trump would be the successor to all that Reagan sowed. A quote that I have carried around for all these years was "behind every great fortune stands the brooding presence of a great crime." The problem is that in the 1980's we were all still a little shocked at the crimes but we have learned in the last 30 years to just look the other way. Lapham describes in great detail what he calls "the equestrian class." The very rich, now called the 1%, of whom Trump is a member. Narcissism seems to be rampant in this group and Trump is a prime example. Americans worship money and hence Trump is a god and therefore equal to the job of leader. I did find a quote that helps to understand why Trump never could provide his tax forms. "To ask the rich for money is literally to ask for blood. Having lost the capacity to distinguish between money as luxury and power, they imagine that a loss of the third car or the second sailboat will cause them to vanish. When preoccupied with the existential question of their net worth, the expression in their eyes narrows into a lizard's stare." That describes Trump right down to the stare. The reason he couldn't come up with his tax papers is that it would disprove the illusion of his wealth and therefore himself. He would cease to exist because he is his money. Those with money have always been in charge in the US and now they really have come from behind the scenes into the open. Trump's cabinet or billionaire boys club and their eager lapdog servants the Republicans in Congress will have center stage. The GOP is said to be the party of self-enrichment. Let's watch as they put their hands into the biggest cookie jar ever. "Wealth translates so readily into the pleasures of despotism that the rich come to imagine that they can ignore the civil as well as the moral law." And finally, "the lack of imagination of men who serve the interests of money leads them to think themselves incapable of evil intent. They cannot understand how they can be accused of employing illegitimate means to acquire what belongs to them by right."

[Michael McCue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do people who are already impossibly rich cheat steal and defraud? Because there is always somebody else who has even more. The best look at the dishonest rich ever written.

[Monzenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another book that, had I been reading it in a different context, I would have appreciated more. Had it been the 90s or even the 2000s, the breadth of references may have been interesting additions to this generally philosophical take on money and class. Nowadays, it's a bit trite and wholly distracting from the bits of wisdom that is in the book. Also it's written specifically for the American audience (as it should) so the enjoyment factor is lessened. I would be okay to borrow this but not to buy it - even at the cheap.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, scathing, and uncannily sharp account of our national age-old obsession with wealth for wealth's sake. Far too many wonderful passages to quote. Belongs, with 'Bonfire of the Vanities', 'Closing of the American Mind,' and the collective works of PJ O'Rourke, as one of the definitive accounts of that strange and perilous time in history: 1980s USA. Prophetic, hilarious, and profound, the best observations on 'homo dives americanus' ever written.

[Mary Wagner Schnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

For sure, the dishonest rich people who acquire sums of money and are not any better than the folks who scam people out of their money on the internet… maybe they’re the same folks? Actually, the book was a bit repetitious and boring, but good if you want to fall asleep?

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, still as relevant today as it was when it was written.

[Alex Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewis Lapham is a perfect example of a "adroit" writer. He is everything that word implies and that which most writers described thus are not: quick-witted, facile, possessed of a broad vocabulary, and clear with his points. "Money and Class In America" is both a showcase of Lapham's definite talent, and a fine example of amateur socioeconomics. The details he uses may not fit contemporary America circa mid-2007, but his ease on the page makes this irrelevant.

[Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever but ranty essay, the thesis of which is in the subtitle: in the US, money plays the role that religion plays in many other nations. Lewis' strength is his ability to articulate his idea to the aphorisms and arguments of the classical thinkers, so it's odd that his obviously broad command of literature didn't teach him how to structure his thoughts better.

[chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

repetitive, predictable, still at times interesting.

see also Lapham's 2007 "dramatic documentary musical" film, "The American Ruling Class"; similar in tone and ideology, but much more fun and celeb-cameo-filled!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not often do we get to hear about class issues in the United States from one who grew up among the elite, yet now steps back to talk about it literately and with true wisdom.

Lapham is an original.

And a pleasure to read.

This is thinking of the highest order.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most famous of fantastic essayist and 'class traitor' Lewis H. Lapham's collections gives an insightful insider's view of how the rich really are different from you and me. Or me, at least.

[Freespirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned 1) the underpinnings of society's craziness; 2) why I do the stupid things I do;


Great read up to now, and still more to read!

[Sunbirdhawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful, poetic, clarity. I will read this again.