THE SCREWING OF THE AVERAGE MAN

by David Hapgood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 1974

Hapgood is to socialist economics as Eric Berne is to psychoanalytic theory, and as such, is likely to make a larger dent in that common-man audience than Marx and Freud combined. He offers a simplistic categorizing that anyone can feel at home with -- transfer screwing, third. partying, fail-to-collect, youtooism, catch-85, wordnoise -- the hustles invented by the ""experts"" who are the snake-off and gold-brick salesmen of our time. Among those exploiters of socialism-for-the-rich, capitalism-for-the-poor are bankers, brokers, insurance men, lawyers and doctors and if they don't getcha the universities, the automobile industry, the nursing home and IRS will. Elementary as ABC on one level, but ultra-readable muckraking on another, with fascinating highlights on who's been getting what (naming names like MGIC Investment Corp., Lockheed, Morgan Guaranty, GM, Educational Testing Service, the AMA, the interlocking Rockefeller directorships, H. Ross Perot, and Bebe Rebozo) and how monopoly capitalism ensures that they can keep it even if the average guy's cut keeps getting smaller and smaller according to the trickle-up theory. The Watergate issues, writes Hapgood, are ""only footnotes"" to the turn of the larger screw. A comprehensive primer on the collusive inequity of the American system -- with a certain folksy appeal.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION