Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet

“The three hundred largest yachts in the world emit as much carbon dioxide as the ten million inhabitants of Burundi.” —from Burned by Billionaires

Recently, it has become increasingly evident that extreme concentrations of wealth and power have profound impacts on our politics, but extreme inequality’s influence on our daily lives—and our futures—has been vastly overlooked.

In Burned by Billionaires, author and a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, Chuck Collins chronicles how the actions of the top .01% have severe consequences for the rest of us, especially those of marginalized identities. Collins takes down the “myth of meritocracy,” unraveling how the rich rig the game in their favor, resulting in a concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny (but growing) class of billionaires—leading to both intense income and political polarization.

In a wholly original argument, Collins charts this economic, social, and ecological destruction and shows how these effects manifest in every facet of our society, including:

• Increasing the tax burden on ordinary working people
• Reducing public funding for schools, roads, and other essential infrastructure
• Shrinking the pool of affordable housing, especially in poor and urban areas
• Accelerating climate change and dictating what ends up on our dinner plate
• Shaping the news we consume and fueling the spread of misinformation

Collins argues that perhaps, worst of all, the concentration of wealth and power is leading to political hijacking, undermining the democratic principle that our votes matter equally. Full of engrossing charts, graphs, political cartoons, and more, this book is an urgent call-to-action and road map to a more equitable society, where everyone has access to the resources that will allow them to thrive—and one where it is no longer commonplace to live in a constant state of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety Burned by Billionaires offers a pointed prescription for taking power back from the billionaire class and achieving the shared prosperity that comes from a healthy and equal society.