The Liberal Politics & Current Events Book Club discussion

We'll be reading The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Kate E. Pickett and Richard G. Wilkinson through the end of January.

This thread can be used to give book reviews as well as for a general discussion of the book. Please feel free to start a new discussion in the book club folder if you'd like to focus on specific aspects of or ideas from the book.

This looks like an excellent read. I will try to access this and join in on this thread! :)

I downloaded this onto my Kindle but can't see the graphs!! I think Amazon should warn you when illustrations can't be seen - this has happened to me before:(.

MadgeUK wrote: "I downloaded this onto my Kindle but can't see the graphs!! I think Amazon should warn you when illustrations can't be seen - this has happened to me before:(."

How annoying! As the text consistently refers to the graphs that's a bit of an oversight.

I found the book excellent, and entirely compelling - although I do have to take into account that my worldview leans that way in any case. That's an important point, actually; the authors take some pains to state that their arguments aren't reliant on a particular political viewpoint, that the evidence shows that societies are better off as a whole with greater equality. I do think this is slightly disingenuous, but entirely necessary. Clearly the liberal left has seized on this book, as it supports what so many of us see as simple common sense and gives evidence to counter the abhorrent Thatcher / Reagan / Bush trickledown, supply-side economic model.

While the initial reception to the book was almost rapturous, there has been criticism since - largely from groups supported by the right wing, such as the so-called Tax Payers Alliance (who have been shown to be fully funded by big business, a perfect example of an 'astroturf' organisation). Most of the criticism, all of which has been countered by the authors and their supporters (whether effectively is an open question; it is an ongoing argument) has questioned the veracity of the conclusions drawn from data, and the accuracy of the data itself. The simple answer is that all the sources Wilkinson and Pickett use are thoroughly peer reviewed; it comes down to interpretation of the data. Sociology is the messiest of the sciences, and economics barely even qualifies.

What I haven't seen is any rebuttal that is able to say that more equal societies are worse off than less equal ones, so surely this in itself should commend it as a goal.

I think it is quite a timely read with the Occupy movement being so active. It would be great to think that there is something in the zeitgeist suggesting change is coming. Perhaps I am old and cynical, but the reactions to OWS, the rapid return to power of the banks following the financial collapse, and the state of politics seem to me to show that the kind of gentle, gradual sea-change the authors recommend won't work, and the kind of revolution needed isn't forthcoming. Things will change, I'm sure. Everything does, but I fear it will take some catastrophe far beyond what we have seen since 2008 to achieve this.

Sorry for sounding negative, and for the broad comments. I will comment on details later.

By the way, there is an excellent TED talk by Richard Wilkinson here, and I think on youtube along with several others on the subject.

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilk...