On Corruption in America
And What Is at Stake
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Chayes
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By:
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Sarah Chayes
About this listen
From the prize-winning journalist and internationally recognized expert on corruption in government networks throughout the world comes a major work that looks homeward to America, exploring the insidious, dangerous networks of corruption of our past, present, and precarious future.
“If you want to save America, this might just be the most important book to read now." (Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains)
Sarah Chayes writes in her new book that the United States is showing signs similar to some of the most corrupt countries in the world. Corruption, she argues, is an operating system of sophisticated networks in which government officials, key private-sector interests, and out-and-out criminals interweave. Their main objective: not to serve the public, but to maximize returns for network members.
In this unflinching exploration of corruption in America, Chayes exposes how corruption has thrived within our borders - from the titans of America's Gilded Age (Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, et al.) to the collapse of the stock market in 1929, the Great Depression, and FDR's New Deal; from Joe Kennedy's years of banking, bootlegging, machine politics, and pursuit of infinite wealth to the deregulation of the Reagan Revolution - undermining this nation's proud middle class and union members. She then brings us to the present as she shines a light on the Clinton policies of political favors and personal enrichment and documents Trump's hydra-headed network of corruption, which aimed to systematically undo the Constitution and our laws.
Ultimately and most importantly, Chayes reveals how corrupt systems are organized, how they enable bad actors to bend the rules so their crimes are covered legally, how they overtly determine the shape of our government, and how they affect all levels of society, especially when the corruption is overlooked and downplayed by the rich and well-educated.
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"Both right and left revile 'the swamp,' but Sarah Chayes is the first to provide a compelling--to say nothing of brave--account of how sophisticated self-dealing networks of every stripe are rigging the rules and poisoning our politics. If you want to save America, this might just be the most important book to read now." —Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains
"I can't imagine a more important book for our time." —Sebastian Junger
"Compelling, fascinating . . . a call to action." —The Huffington Post
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Trickle Up Poverty
- Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security
- By: Michael Savage
- Narrated by: Robert Louis
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Trickle Up Poverty is your best defense against the Obamanomics that are dragging the middle class, and everyone else, into a Marxist-Socialist death spiral. The Savage manifesto you hold in your hands shows how Obama is circumventing the Constitution to push through his radical agenda - and, most important, how we can restore our country to the power and prestige that Barack Obama and his corrupt and degenerate "czars" are trying to destroy.
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The book is much better than the radio show
- By Jonnie on 12-19-10
By: Michael Savage
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Reason
- Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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From Robert B. Reich, passionate believer in American democracy and public servant, Reason is a guide to confronting and derailing what he sees as the mounting threat to American liberty, prosperity, and security posed by the radical conservatives, Radcons as he calls them.
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Reason
- By Ron Green on 03-13-05
By: Robert B. Reich
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Killing the Planet
- By: Rodney Howard-Browne, Paul L. Williams
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In Killing the Planet: How A Financial Cartel Doomed Mankind, best-selling authors Rodney Howard-Browne and Paul L. Williams investigate the true motives and consequences of the Pilgrim Society. Early members of the Society included J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Paul Warburg, Mortimer I. Schiff, Otto Kahn, and John D. Rockefeller.
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superb
- By Doug Dobbins on 11-28-20
By: Rodney Howard-Browne, and others
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The Fourth Revolution
- The Global Race to Reinvent the State
- By: John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling authors of The Right Nation, a visionary argument that our current crisis in government is nothing less than the fourth radical transition in the history of the nation-state. Dysfunctional government: It' s become a cliché, and most of us are resigned to the fact that nothing is ever going to change. As John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge show us, that is a seriously limited view of things. In fact, there have been three great revolutions in government in the history of the modern world.
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A must read for everyone wondering whats going?
- By Truth-be-told on 03-30-15
By: John Micklethwait, and others
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The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order
- America and the World in the Free Market Era
- By: Gary Gerstle
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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To be sure, neoliberalism has contributed to a number of alarming trends, not least of which has been a massive growth in income inequality. Yet as the eminent historian Gary Gerstle argues in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order, these indictments fail to reckon with the full contours of what neoliberalism was and why its worldview had such persuasive hold on both the right and the left for three decades.
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Cursory, unoriginal, class-blind
- By A Reviewer on 10-24-22
By: Gary Gerstle
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The Party Is Over
- How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted
- By: Mike Lofgren
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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There was a time, not so very long ago, when perfectly rational people ran the Republican Party. So how did the party of Lincoln become the party of lunatics? That is what this book aims to answer. Fear not, the Dems come in for their share of tough talk - they are zombies, a party of the living dead. Mike Lofgren came to Washington in the early eighties - those halcyon, post-Nixonian glory days - for what he imagined would be a short stint on Capitol Hill.
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A Great Analysis
- By Dan D on 09-04-12
By: Mike Lofgren
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Trumpocalypse
- Restoring American Democracy
- By: David Frum
- Narrated by: David Frum
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A huge swath of Americans have put their faith in Trump, and Trump only, because they see the rest of the country building a future that doesn't have a place for them. If they would risk their lives for Trump in a pandemic, they will certainly risk the stability of American democracy. They brought the Trumpocalypse upon the country, and a post-Trumpocalypse country will have to find a way either to reconcile them to democracy - or to protect democracy from them.
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Trump More Dangerous Than the Axis of Evil
- By J.B. on 05-26-20
By: David Frum
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Plutocrats
- The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
- By: Chrystia Freeland
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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There has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but in the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Alarmingly, the greatest income gap is not between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, but within the wealthiest 1 percent of our nation-as the merely wealthy are left behind by the rapidly expanding fortunes of the new global super-rich. Forget the 1 percent; Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at break-neck speed.
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Good Storytelling but ... analysis is "eh'
- By Susan on 11-04-12
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Yellen
- The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval
- By: Jon Hilsenrath
- Narrated by: Jon Hilsenrath, Seth Podowitz
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An engrossing and deeply human chronicle of the past fifty years of American economic and social upheaval, viewed through the consequential life of the most powerful woman in American economic history, Janet Yellen, and her unconventional partnership in marriage and work with Nobel Laureate George Akerlof.
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Must read
- By Ali on 03-26-24
By: Jon Hilsenrath
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Stealth War
- How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept
- By: Robert Spalding
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The media often suggest that Russia poses the greatest threat to America's national security, but the real danger lies farther east. While those in power have been distracted and disorderly, China has waged a six-front war on America's economy, military, diplomacy, technology, education, and infrastructure - and they're winning. It's almost too late to undo the shocking, though nearly invisible, victories of the Chinese. In Stealth War, retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding reveals China's motives and secret attacks on the West.
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A General with a backbone loaded with truth "woke"
- By Jason on 10-01-19
By: Robert Spalding
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Hostile Takeover
- Resisting Centralized Government's Stranglehold on America
- By: Matt Kibbe
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Hostile Takeover is a rebellious challenge to the "upper management" of government, who are choking American prosperity and liberty. Matt Kibbe exposes the privileged collusion of Washington insiders - and maps out a proven plan for how to return power from the self-appointed "experts" back to the people. Dubbed "one of the Tea Party's masterminds" by Newsweek, Kibbe reveals how grassroots citizens can and will check the federal behemoth and restore the American enterprise.
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An amazing book from an interesting perspective
- By Aaron on 12-28-12
By: Matt Kibbe
What listeners say about On Corruption in America
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dyren Baldwin
- 02-09-22
An Outstanding Production of Work
Ms. Chayes, delivered a very informative and thought provoking book. From the beginning to the end of this audio book, my attention was kept. Ms. Chayes provided so much knowledge of the unknown to the average US citizen, I found myself on several occasions thinking WTF & Are You Serious moments. I'm also very appreciative that she narrated her work, I was able to recognize the emotions expressed throughout the listening. In learning what I was hearing, alot of frustration came over me, this was a continuous reminder as to why I don't trust nor belive politicians. I digress, brilliant audio book by the author, I'd love to hear more like this from you, your experiences. thank you for sharing.
Awesome
Semper Fi
Stay In The Fight
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- Phyllis
- 09-12-21
Excellent Book, Speculative Conclusions
Each chapter was fascinating but required some fact checking and careful review of the path to conclusion. In the interest of “poetic” writing, the author tended to make blanket, unsupported claims. Often, independent checking yielded that she was correct. Occasionally, she stretched the conclusion to a falsehood or at best unsupported conclusion
Despite some problems, I highly recommend this book. Well worth the time both to read and investigate.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jamie Fairchild
- 04-16-24
Revealing the acceptance of corruption in America
This book should be required reading for every American citizen. It’s incredibly well researched. It’s incredibly well organized. So many things that have bothered me over the years about the way money controls the politics and life in this country— she explains how all these things tie together and how the networks operate. It’s full of those a-ha moments. And the best part is that in the last chapter, she gives hope by offering solutions that we can all participate in. It is so necessary to offer those solutions because the book overall is very intense and at times distressing. It also must be recognized that this woman is a true expert, who has worked all over the world and in multiple administrations. I highly recommend this book.
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- DAVE BELLAVIA
- 10-03-21
very well written and well documented.
interestingly written words, weaving of religion, mythology. actual history, current events, and global patterns of corruption.
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1 person found this helpful
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- MrMarkus
- 03-08-24
This is the most thorough description of the real deep state you’ll find.
I’ve read dozens of books on the topic and this is perhaps the best. From offering the big sweeping historical view of the challenges to any people’s government anywhere in the world, through considerations of various cultural differences, to the realities of the modern globalized world economy, Chayes describes how corruption networks so readily emerge. The she talks realistically but passionately about how we might prevent our final descent into corruption driven servitude.
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- AMP
- 10-03-20
Must Read
All people should read this book. It challenges the fundamentals of our society and who we are. Can not recommend enough.
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- Linnie Toh
- 11-19-21
should be required reading at universities
Sarah Chayes' fe experience along with her considerable research and her obvious devotion to enhancing our understanding of the political system we are all unwilling participants of at this time has made for and I opening and brain expanding experience that does not let you see America the same again.
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- Rick
- 03-07-24
A critical look at our current state.
I am a person with career history working first as a hunter of the types of individuals featured in this book, and later as a technologist that worked around many of the places and organizations that are broadly outlined in the chapters. The book adds a yellow highlighter to the reality of our world today but then. towards the end of this book, wondered if this was a new version of a utopian Marks or Lenin channeling through the author. Well, we all know how that worked out and so the irony that 'the Hydra' never dies in this book is not lost on me.
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- Marilee Hume
- 09-24-21
A challenge to every American
The author has used not only her own vast experience but has accepted and requested even more knowledge and insight from experts in various fields of endeavor related to politics and government, culture, history, mythology, in whatever direction her research, experience, and concern for our country have taken her, to inform us about the systemic corruption in TheUnited States. She then issued a clear, detailed list of many ways in which we as ordinary citizens can weed out that corruption
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2 people found this helpful
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- Ian
- 01-05-22
Spectacular!
This is clear and concise writing that held my interest from beginning to end. It must be more widely read as it is an important work for today’s population.
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