SKU: 1534019822

What's the Matter with White People?: Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was

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What's the Matter with White People?: Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was""In this wonderfully insightful book, Joan Walsh shows how America built a large and vibrant (although mostly white) middle class that fueled the greatest economic boom in history and made a reality of the American dream. Hers is the story of postwar America told through a working class New York Irish Catholic family whose political divisions mirrored the nation's. Moving and powerful, her account will help people of all races think through how we

""In this wonderfully insightful book, Joan Walsh shows how America built a large and vibrant (although mostly white) middle class that fueled the greatest economic boom in history and made a reality of the American dream. Hers is the story of postwar America told through a working class New York Irish Catholic family whose political divisions mirrored the nation's. Moving and powerful, her account will help people of all races think through how we can build a just and prosperous multiracial America."" --Robert B. Reich

""A brilliant and illuminating book about America since the upheavals of the '60s and '70s. What's the Matter with White People? is about the heart and soul of America, from our Founding Fathers to Hillary and Barack.It's about our middle class, which so recently flourished, and how it has been injured and diminished almost beyond repair by greed and racist fear-mongering. It's about America's greatness and delusion, the betrayal of the working class, and the fragmentation of the Democratic party. It's about how Walsh's own Irish Catholic family from New York was treated, responded and fared in the years between Richard Nixon and Barack Obama Walsh writes with passion, precision, and insight into how racism has made such a bold public comeback. Her book was heaven for a political junkie like me, somehow managing to be painful and exhilarating at the same time."" --Anne Lamott

""Joan Walsh's reflections and observations from her personal journey as an Irish Catholic daughter of a Northeastern blue collar family provide a unique window into the hearts, aspirations, anguish, anger, fears, and pride of white working class voters during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. No one can properly understand current class politics and race relations in America unless they've read this book."" --Dr. Clarence B. Jones

The size and stability of the American middle class were once the envy of the world. But changes unleashed in the 1960s pitted Americans against one another politically in new and destructive ways. These battles continued to rage from that day to now, while everyone has fallen behind economically except the wealthy. Right-wing culture warriors blamed the decline on the moral shortcomings of ""other"" Americans--black people, feminists, gays, immigrants, union members--to court a fearful white working- and middle-class base with ever more bitter ""us vs. them"" politics. Liberals tried, but mostly failed, to make the case that we're all in this together.

In What's the Matter with White People?, popular Salon columnist Joan Walsh argues that the biggest divide in America today is not about party or ideology, but about two competing narratives for why everything has fallen apart since the 1970s. One side sees an America that has spent the last forty years bankrupting the country providing benefits and advantages to the underachieving, the immoral, and the undeserving, no matter the cost to Middle America. The other sees an America that has spent the last forty years bankrupting the country providing benefits and advantages to the very rich, while allowing a measure of cultural progress for the different and the downtrodden. It matters which side is right, and how the other side got things so wrong.

Walsh connects the dots of American decline through trends that began in the 1970s and continue today--including the demise of unions, the stagnation of middle-class wages, the extension of the right's ""Southern Strategy"" throughout the country, the victory of Reagan Republicanism, the increase in income inequality, and the drop in economic mobility.

Citing her extended family as a case in point, Walsh shows how liberals unwittingly collaborated in the ""us vs. them"" narrative, rather than developing an inspiring, persuasive vision of a more fair, united America. She also explores how the GOP's renewed culture war

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 08/01/2012
ISBN: 9781118141069
Pages: 278
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.00d

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SKU: 1534019822

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4.7 ★★★★★
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Jason D. Carroll
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
POLYESTER?!?!
Color: Ivory, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt), Color: Ivory, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt)
POLYESTER?!?! So i just bought several of these. Nice and big and fluffy, looked very clean, very nice. Cats instantly were scared/curious. The back of the skin, the wool, all looked nice, and then I noticed it had a tag on it... The tag says... 100% POLYESTER! What?!?!? This is supposed to be New Zealand Sheep Skin pelt! Shouldnt be any Polyester at all. So, just before I was about to return it, i did a small burn test. I cut off a small bunch of hair and burned it. The fire tried to light but it quickly extinguished itself. And the smell... yes... the smell told me it is REAL WOOL and the fact the fire went out right away also confirms this is not oil based. THIS IS REAL, This is NOT Polyester. I guess also a lot of ppl are returning because of the tag, so these are at a HUGE DISCOUNT!!! BUY THEM UP!!! They also came in vacuum packed bags, looked nice and kept very nice. These are excellent! See my photos, the tag, the burned bunch of hair... fire went out, i tried it three times, fire kept instantly going out... smells organic like animal hair when burned, not like oil/polyester. ENJOY!!! I PAID FOR THESE, I was not given anything here!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2025
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Dee
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Love this product!
Color: Linen, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt)
This sheepskin elevated a boring leather couch to a luxurious sitting space! I purchased 2, one for each loveseat, as sometimes the leather is a little cold. The sheepskin with a small lumbar pillow and voila! A cozy place everyone gravitates to! The sheepskin is soft and cozy and everyone comments they want one! ha probably will get this as a couple of gifts (for those guests that said they wanted one too)
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2026
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Laney
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
Perfect sheepskin rug
Color: Ivory, Size: 2'3" x 3'5" (Large Pelt)
This sheepskin rug is fabulous! I have it over my office chair and I LOVE it. It does not shed, it stays in place and fits over the seat and up the entire back of the chair with a bit remaining to hang over the edge. My cat sleeps on it every chance he gets. Great value for the price! Just looking at it brings me joy, such a beautiful sheepskin.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2026
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FRECKLEFRACK
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Dog ignores, but I like
Color: Ivory, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt), Color: Ivory, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt)
I bought this for my dog, who is old and has creaky joints. My dog prefers to continue resting in uncomfortable places that put my plants in peril. He does not ever recline on this dead sheep and looks at me as though I am the sheep slaughterer. Spouse asked if it came in bigger sizes. Since this is the skin of a dead sheep, it depends on live sheep girth. Anything bigger would likely have to be sewn together from multiple dead sheep. I find the girth of this sheep pelt perfectly acceptable. It is nice and thick and soft and fairly easy to vacuum. I frequently recline on it when stretched out on the floor, and am grateful it does not leave a mess or make noise like my dog, who should be grateful that his pelt is still attached to his body.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2024
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Sound Diva
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 1
SHRINK Wrapped. NO Customer Support.
Color: Ivory, Size: 2' x 3' (Pelt)
These arrived shrink wrapped and when put down as throw rugs, are lumpy. They are a little less so after 10 minutes on air fluff in the dryer. They look nice and fit my bedroom well but I’m concerned about walking over them since I prefer a level surface that is even. Customer support does NOT exist. There appears to be a chat option but there are no responses. Reading other information, I’ve decided to try a metal comb. So now I’m waiting for that to arrive. If it wasn’t so difficult to deal with the size difference, I would have simply returned them. I may still and just purchase a return container.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2026

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