The Surplus American—How the 1% Is Making Us Redundant

"The Surplus American" documents a chilling social unraveling in which the majority of Americans are being rendered jobless and redundant. The book explains the long crisis of surplus people, showing that the jobless are the tip of the iceberg. The book identifies a number of primary groups within the category of surplus, including the underemployed, people forcibly removed from or induced to leave the labor force, retirees, people involved in make-work by government or business, those hired to control the unemployed, and those employed to boost consumption and manage unrest. Surplus people are the dirty underside of our capitalist economy, and the authors sketch their story over the past several centuries, as well as the present condition and the future destiny of a surplus nation. Offering a timely analysis of social movements such as Occupy Wall Street, and using both narrative and theatrical devices, the authors conclude that new inclusive social justice movements are essential not only to solving the crisis of surplus people but also to redirecting an economy driven by outsourcing, new technology, and a merciless global corporate strategy.