Waubonsee Community College

American mojo, lost and found, restoring our middle class before the world blows by, Peter D. Kiernan

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 385-423) and index

index present

non fiction

American mojo, lost and found

bibliography

898924290

Peter D. Kiernan

restoring our middle class before the world blows by

Argues that America's might lies in its middle class and calls for a focused directive to reinvigorate the class in order to return the nation to greatnessAward-winning author Peter D. Kiernan focuses on America's greatest challenge--and opportunity--restoring the middle class to its full promise and potential. Our educated, skilled, and motivated middle class was the cornerstone of America's postwar economic might, but the country's dynamic core has struggled and changed dramatically through the last three decades. Kiernan's extensively researched story, told through individual histories, shows how the middle class flourished under unique circumstances following World War II and details how our middle class has been rocked and shaped by events abroad as much as at home. Through his storytelling emerges a picture of middle-class decline and opportunity that is fuller and more useful than other examinations in terms of charting a path forward. His unique global perspective is a vital ingredient in charting the way ahead. This new frontier thesis shows that middle-class greatness is again within our grasp. Americans must embrace what brought our middle class to prominence in the first place--our American Mojo--before it is too late and other countries steal the march.--From publisher description

Lost. Paradise lost: misplacing America's middle class, the beginning ; The invasion: a postwar middle-class miracle ; Chocolate milk: first cracks in the façade ; Dream stealer: the uninvited demand their rights ; Love/Haight: youth in revolt ; The three uglies: Nixon's hydra of economic woes ; Flying the hump: surviving the Republican wreck ; Tall Paul and the tamers: Reagan reconsidered -- Found. The one percent problem: not the invisible hand, but the invisible handshake ; The one percent solution: a time for wealth to lead the charge ; The renaissance: living a dream deferred ; The zone: confronting dragons of poverty and winning ; The march of the black middle class: return of economic segregation ; American matriarchy: a new engine of the middle class ; The Latino generation: an American super-minority ; G, myself, and I: America's place in global manufacture ; La grippe: the United States of underemployment ; Back to work: the new abnormal of job creation ; Middle earth: the world's exploding middle class ; The cyclone: high winds in the developing world ; America's choice: stay the course or restore our middle class by immersion in the emerging world ; Mojo found: how you change everything