The superclass
Subtitle: the global power elite and the world they are making
By: David Rothkopf
Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9781408701096
Subjects: Elite (Social sciences); Power (Social sciences)
Description: They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world's most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time. Today's superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group. But do they have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen, as nationalist critics have argued? Has their influence fed the growing economic and social inequity that divides the world? Who sets the rules for a group that operates beyond national laws? Drawn from exclusive interviews and extensive original reporting, this book draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our lives.--From publisher description.

"Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world's most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time." "This book is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented examination of the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: The Power Elite on the Promenade -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Each One Is One in a Million: Meet the Superclass -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Ceteris Non Paribus: Inequality, Backlash, and the New Order -- -- Ch. 3.; title: Lessons of History: The Rise and Fall of Elites -- -- Ch. 4.; title: The Multinational Moment: When Finance and Business Became the Center of It All -- -- Ch. 5.; title: Globalists Vs. Nationalists: Political Fault Line for a New Century -- -- Ch. 6.; title: The Age of Asymmetry: Decline of the Titans and the Rise of Shadow Warriors -- -- Ch. 7.; title: The Information Superclass: The Power of Ideas -- -- Ch. 8.; title: How to Become a Member of the Superclass: Myth, Reality, and the Psychopathology of Success -- -- Ch. 9.; title: The Future of the Superclass -- And What It May Mean for the Rest of Us.