Joel Kotkin Livres

In ways not seen since the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century, America is becoming a nation of increasingly sharply divided classes.

The book explores the profound impact of an anticipated increase of one hundred million Americans by midcentury on society. It delves into how this demographic shift will reshape various aspects of life, including work dynamics, economic growth, and social interactions. Through insightful analysis, the author presents a forward-thinking perspective on the challenges and opportunities that such a transformation will bring, encouraging readers to reconsider their views on population growth and its implications for the future.

Following a remarkable epoch of greater dispersion of wealth and opportunity, we are inexorably returning towards a more feudal era marked by greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism. If the last seventy years saw a massive expansion of the middle class, not only in America but in much of the developed world, today that class is declining and a new, more hierarchical society is emerging. The new class structure resembles that of Medieval times. At the apex of the new order are two classes--a reborn clerical elite, the clerisy, which dominates the upper part of the professional ranks, universities, media and culture, and a new aristocracy led by tech oligarchs with unprecedented wealth and growing control of information. These two classes correspond to the old French First and Second Estates. Below these two classes lies what was once called the Third Estate. This includes the yeomanry, which is made up largely of small businesspeople, minor property owners, skilled workers and private-sector oriented professionals. Ascendant for much of modern history, this class is in decline while those below them, the new Serfs, grow in numbers--a vast, expanding property-less population. The trends are mounting, but we can still reverse them--if people understand what is actually occurring and have the capability to oppose them.

Following a remarkable epoch of greater dispersion of wealth and opportunity, we are inexorably returning towards a more feudal era marked by greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism. If the last seventy years saw a massive expansion of the middle class, not only in America but in much of the developed world, today that class is declining and a new, more hierarchical society is emerging. The new class structure resembles that of Medieval times. At the apex of the new order are two classes--a reborn clerical elite, the clerisy, which dominates the upper part of the professional ranks, universities, media and culture, and a new aristocracy led by tech oligarchs with unprecedented wealth and growing control of information. These two classes correspond to the old French First and Second Estates. Below these two classes lies what was once called the Third Estate. This includes the yeomanry, which is made up largely of small businesspeople, minor property owners, skilled workers and private-sector oriented professionals. Ascendant for much of modern history, this class is in decline while those below them, the new Serfs, grow in numbers--a vast, expanding property-less population. The trends are mounting, but we can still reverse them--if people understand what is actually occurring and have the capability to oppose them.

Acclaimed urbanist Kotkin examines the evolution of urban life over the millennia and, in doing so, attempts to answer the age-old question: What makes a city great? Despite their infinite variety, all cities essentially serve three purposes: spiritual, political, and economic. Kotkin follows the progression of the city from the early religious centers of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and China to the imperial centers of the Classical era, through the rise of the Islamic city and the European commercial capitals, ending with today's post-industrial suburban metropolis. Looking at cities in the 21st century, Kotkin discusses the effects of developments such as shifting demographics and emerging technologies. He also considers the effects of terrorism--how the religious and cultural struggles of the present pose the greatest challenge to the urban future.--From publisher description

"Urbanist Joel Kotkin challenges the conventional urban-planning wisdom that favors high-density strategies and instead advocates for "smart suburbs" that take advantage of new technologies, family-friendly policies, and sustainable planning"--

W tej niewielkiej książce Joel Kotkin (ur. 1952), wykładający w Kalifornii amerykański demograf, urbanista i geograf, zawarł zdumiewające bogactwo syntetycznych informacji o siedmiu mileniach historii miast świata. Zasadnicza wartość tego dzieła nie wyczerpuje się jednak w wiedzy historycznej, łatwo dziś dostępnej z wielu źr�deł, lecz w głębokim rozumieniu tego fenomenu ludzkiego instynktu społecznego, jakim jest miasto. Śledzimy, jak gł�wne wyr�żniki jego istoty, zwłaszcza sakralne pochodzenie, determinowały jego rozw�j, a ich brak przynosił regres. Ta zwięzła historia miast ilustruje tezę, że stanowią one najdonioślejsze, najbardziej skomplikowane i najbardziej tw�rcze dokonanie ludzkiego ducha społecznego. Podbudowane taką filozofią rozważania Kotkina fascynują szerokością perspektywy i czasowej, i przestrzennej. Dzięki syntetycznej, a zarazem trafnej charakterystyce czytelnik zapoznaje się z naturą i specyfiką najr�żniejszych miast: starożytnych, japońskich, radzieckich czy nazistowskich, śledzi problemy miejskie przed rewolucją przemysłową i po niej, poznaje r�żne formy ?urbanizmu? w świecie, historię i stan obecny relacji centrum?przedmieścia. A przede wszystkim uświadamia sobie, że żywe miasta nie są zwykłą sumą budynk�w i ulic, lecz żywym tworem, formą wsp�lnotowej misji, bez kt�rej żadne z nich nie przetrwa.