An Orgy of Thieves: Neoliberalism and its Discontents

by Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair

In An Orgy of Thieves , veteran investigative journalists Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn chart the rise of neoliberalism in the United States. The book details how the Democratic Party reinvented itself in the 1980s and 1990s as a more corporate-friendly party, jettisoning many of the economic and social policies the party had advanced since the days of FDR. From the passage of free trade pacts like NAFTA to the gutting welfare for poor mothers, Cockburn and St. Clair provide an unsparing how the New Democrats betrayed the aspirations of the party’s base of minority voters, organized labor and environmentalists in order to appease the interest of Wall Street tycoons and K Street lobbyists. The authors emphasize that neoliberalism is more than just an economic theory but represents an entire theory of government defined by relaxed regulations, harsher crime laws and a more interventionist foreign policy abroad. An Orgy of Thieves captures the structural transformation of the country, as the billionaire class exploded and much of the rest of the country got left behind. Here are not rigorously researched accounts of the new policies but vivid profiles of the politicians who put them into practice: Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Stephen Breyer, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. An Orgy of Thieves sheds a dramatic new light on an era of profound change in America.

223 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Alexander Claud Cockburn was an American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch. Cockburn also writes the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation and a weekly syndicated column for the Los Angeles Times as well as for The First Post, which is syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

Reviews

[Sedigo Hgfx · Rating 5 out of 5]

He had come to believe that his life was a failure, that he was a burden on those he loved, a burden they were struggling to afford, a burden that weighed on his conscience, a burden he just couldn’t think about anymore
and had to silence with a bullet to the head.