The Divide

American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap

By: Matt Taibbi

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 14 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, NPR, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

A scathing portrait of an urgent new American crisis

Over the last two decades, America has been falling deeper and deeper into a statistical mystery:

Poverty goes up. Crime goes down. The prison population doubles. Fraud by the rich wipes out 40 percent of the world’s wealth. The rich get massively richer. No one goes to jail.

In search of a solution, journalist Matt Taibbi discovered the Divide, the seam in American life where our two most troubling trends—growing wealth inequality and mass incarceration—come together, driven by a dramatic shift in American citizenship: Our basic rights are now determined by our wealth or poverty. The Divide is what allows massively destructive fraud by the hyperwealthy to go unpunished, while turning poverty itself into a crime—but it’s impossible to see until you look at these two alarming trends side by side.

In The Divide, Matt Taibbi takes readers on a galvanizing journey through both sides of our new system of justice—the fun-house-mirror worlds of the untouchably wealthy and the criminalized poor. He uncovers the startling looting that preceded the financial collapse; a wild conspiracy of billionaire hedge fund managers to destroy a company through dirty tricks; and the story of a whistleblower who gets in the way of the largest banks in America, only to find herself in the crosshairs. On the other side of the Divide, Taibbi takes us to the front lines of the immigrant dragnet; into the newly punitive welfare system which treats its beneficiaries as thieves; and deep inside the stop-and-frisk world, where standing in front of your own home has become an arrestable offense. As he narrates these incredible stories, he draws out and analyzes their common source: a perverse new standard of justice, based on a radical, disturbing new vision of civil rights.

Through astonishing—and enraging—accounts of the high-stakes capers of the wealthy and nightmare stories of regular people caught in the Divide’s punishing logic, Taibbi lays bare one of the greatest challenges we face in contemporary American life: surviving a system that devours the lives of the poor, turns a blind eye to the destructive crimes of the wealthy, and implicates us all.

©2014 Matt Taibbi (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Ambitious . . . deeply reported, highly compelling . . . impossible to put down.”—The New York Times Book Review

“These are the stories that will keep you up at night. . . . The Divide is not just a report from the new America; it is advocacy journalism at its finest.”—Los Angeles Times

“[Matt] Taibbi is a relentless investigative reporter. He takes readers inside not only investment banks, hedge funds and the blood sport of short-sellers, but into the lives of the needy, minorities, street drifters and illegal immigrants, to juxtapose justice for the poor and the powerful. . . . The Divide is an important book. Its documentation is powerful and shocking.”—The Washington Post

Eye-opening and mind-blowing

This is an excellent listen for anyone who is interested in the (skewed) American justice system. I didn't know of such enraging stories of polarized systems functioning on the same planet but on a parallel universe. The welfare story reminds me of the clip shown on The Daily Show: white newscasters questioning whether people on aid should buy fish "because fish is expensive". I wish those people can wake up from their monolithic dream of America the Rich and realize how ridiculous how money controls politics and how anyone is treated.. . Author Matt Taibbi illustrates the story so well I can envision the scenes as the story is being read. I would recommend to people who has a thirst for truth.

unnerving to say the least

another great book by matt taibbi. pretty scary and sad of how the system is set up.

More awesome work by Matt Taibbi

What made the experience of listening to The Divide the most enjoyable?

Matt Taibbi is an outstanding reported. I am biased, I read and follow all of his work on Rolling Stone and other blog sites. That said, his perspective on how we deliver 'justice' in this country between those who have and have not is something everyone should have in their heads before they form an opinion on politics or ethics.

What other book might you compare The Divide to and why?

Chris Hayes Twilight of the Elites

Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?

This book was very well read. Very entertaining.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Two worlds compared

The ‘facts’ of this book are enlightening and frustrating. I air quote ‘facts’ because I didn’t research any of this so just assume it’s true, although likely spun a bit to get the point of the book across.

The injustices – both in terms of oppressing the lower class and letting the upper class get away with near murder – is insane and just wrong. That said, the author gets to pick the stories and makes us believe that they are the norm. I have some doubts. Not that I have specifics, but take welfare fraud as an example. The stories of how the few spotlighted characters were treated and their personal situation was enraging. However, I have no doubt that fraud is real and costs taxpayers A LOT. Maybe the cases cited are 2% of all situation or maybe 80%; I have no idea.

Unfortunately, I didn’t hear any suggestions for how to remedy the situation. So other than bringing our attention to certain tragedies, what has the author brought to the table in terms of reform? Same with the other side of the story, where rich people get away with a lot. Do we assume all rich people get away with everything. Doubtful. I’m middle class so I guess in the author’s opinion I probably get treated fairly on average… not overly oppressed but not free to break laws without penalty. That feels true enough.

As far as the book goes, the author cites some interesting and compelling cases to make his point. However, it feels disjointed as it’s a stretch to tie these together meaningfully. The stories could have stood alone as two separate books – but he wanted to compare the situations, so we get one book. No problem, but just pointing out it’s not a continuous story.

I’m not a political person and I appreciated that the author (as far as I’m concerned) didn’t blame the situation on one party or the other. Surprisingly, I felt if he leaned blame more heavily on one side than the other, then it was aimed at Democrats. But Bush’s administration got their fair share of jabs as well.

Overall I recommend this so you can have build an awareness and see how future events unfold and follow this trend (or not) for yourself. Also... Ray Porter is the man, so how can you not get this book?

facinating and infuriating

The book is shocking, facinating, heartbreaking, infuriating, and funny. I highly recommend this book, everyone should read this. I also really liked the style of writing and authors voice.

Awesome, in-depth and entertaining

What an interesting tour of a world that we never get to see, vs. a world that unfortunately, we can't avoid.

Very compelling; not a fan of the narration style

Taibbi certainly makes his point. Very well researched, and very well written so that a banking-industry layman like myself can grasp the implications of what he is relaying. He also makes very effective use of concrete examples to demonstrate the differential treatment in two increasingly distant American groups.

Criticisms: I've read other accounts of the banking bail out, and while they don't leave you glowing with pride, there are some rejoinders to Taibbi's all-out criticism that he doesn't address (though he does take the legal justification head on). It's a great account, but certainly it is biased. You may not like it if you are a republican of the country-club variety, but you may as well check it out anyhow so you hear the full thrust of Taibbi's case.

My lowest score is the performance. Porter seems to be a very capable narrator, but I think he made a tactical mistake. Nearly every revelation or accusation (and there are many) is delivered in a tone of such fierce condemnation that you find yourself resisting it. I find it far more effective to use the understated approach. Let the audience seethe from the facts alone. It may be counterintuitive, but it works better if you're looking for a reaction.

Very informative and mind altering!

The narrator was great! This book gives facts and examples to experiences known as acceptable and status quo. My perspective on the justice system, government officials and programs and the path to poverty is forever changed.

Part of my Rage Reading Series

Amazing book that highlights what late stage capitalism looks like. Thought you had an idea of how it works? Give this a read.

A crazy, sensory-indulging safari of information.

What did you love best about The Divide?

The chapters about stop & frisk, immigrants, and welfare were so remarkably cringe-worthy, I had a pit in my stomach by the end of each chapter. On the other hand, the financial sector chapters were so elaborate and juicy, it was fascinating. I really started to examine my own reactions to these vastly different scenarios.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't think I could pick one. They were all so compelling. Prem Watsa might have been my favorite chapter. It had me sitting in front of my house in my car until it was over.

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

SOOOO charismatic. And his performance was spot on for this subject matter. If I had read some of the things in this book, I would have read it with a similar reaction.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

absolutely. I was surprised at how engaging it was. I was expecting it to be dry in parts and finance is practically a different language. But Taibbi takes the reader on a.. not so much a roller coaster as it was a safari.. a crazy sensory-indulging safari.

Any additional comments?

It introduced new context into how I perceive both the wealth gap and the justice system. I'm ashamed at how I used to look at people in these situations.