Un examen profundo de cómo el racismo ha roto el pacto social, erosionado el bien común y dañado la vida de todos los estadounidenses; un análisis sincero de cómo estas profundas heridas pueden comenzar a sanar.
Si se compara con otras naciones industrializadas, Estados Unidos está perdiendo terreno en casi todos los indicadores de bienestar social. Eduardo Porter sostiene que esto se debe, en gran medida, al problema racial.
En El precio del racismo Porter, periodista veterano de The New York Times, muestra cómo la animadversión racial ha paralizado gran parte de las instituciones clave de una sociedad sana, incluyendo los sindicatos, la educación pública y la red de seguridad social, y cómo las consecuencias se tornan cada día más graves. A través de un repaso de la historia reciente -desde el New Deal de Franklin D. Roosevelt, o las reformas de Bill Clinton y Barack Obama, hasta la política divisiva de Donald Trump-, Porter argumenta cómo la hostilidad racial ha bloqueado en cada paso la cohesión social, dando lugar a un país que no solo falla a sus ciudadanos de color, sino a todos, incluidos los blancos.
La crítica ha dicho...
'En la era de las 'fake news' y la falta de credibilidad, es siempre refrescante y esperanzador leer a uno de los periodistas más respetados de este hemisferio. [...] El precio del racismo es una lectura obligatoria para comprender a los Estados Unidos en este siglo turbulento en que vivimos.' -Jorge Ramos, Univision
A sweeping examination of how American racism has broken the country's social compact, eroded America's common goods, and damaged the lives of every American--and a heartfelt look at how these deep wounds might begin to heal.
Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States is losing ground across nearly every indicator of social health. Its race problem, argues Eduardo Porter, is largely to blame.
In American Poison, the New York Times veteran shows how racial animus has stunted the development of nearly every institution crucial for a healthy society, including organized labor, public education, and the social safety net. The consequences are profound and are only growing graver with time. Leading us through history and across America--from FDR's New Deal through Bill Clinton's welfare reform to Donald Trump's retrograde and divisive policies--Porter pieces together how racial hostility has blocked American social cohesion at every turn, producing a nation that fails not only its black and brown citizens but white Americans as well.
American Poison is at once a broad, rigorous argument, and a profound cri de coeur. Even as it uncovers our most tenacious national pathology, it points the way toward hope, illuminating the ways in which, as the nation becomes increasingly diverse, it may well be possible to construct a new understanding of racial identity--and a more cohesive society on top of it.
"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
-Oscar Wilde
The Price of Everything starts with a pretty simple premise. There is a price behind each choice-individual, collective, or national-that we make. Whether we're deciding whether or not to buy a cheeseburger, go to the doctor, go to college, or go to war, everything has its price. And Porter sets out to explore them all, seeking a broad understanding of how we set prices and how prices change our lives.
But the strange connections and hidden motivations he uncovers are anything but simple. They are unexpected, sometimes shocking, always interesting, and ultimately highly enlightening. Porter has a gift for uncovering the hidden logic of price that drives all our actions. His stated goal takes him in some interesting and rather counterintuitive directions, such as:
· Assigning an actual price tag to women and tracking their rising value as a function of economic growth
· Comparing the cost-per-vote in corrupt São Tomé to the supposedly less-corrupt (and less efficient) campaign spending of U.S. politicians
· Explaining why McDonald's burger menu pricing encourages irrational behavior
The Price of Everything will show listeners how prices, both explicit and unspoken, move people and societies. A cosmopolitan journalist with a taste for empirical observation and an appreciation for the social sciences, Porter's wide-eyed approach brings new life to his subject. His broad perspective leads him to draw unexpected connections bridging disparate disciplines and cultures. In this fascinating and elegant narrative, Porter proves just how prices have enormous influence on people, in fact shepherding the flow of our lives.
