Post: #1

Check it. Good breakdown on how power concentrations have changed

http://www.scribd.com/doc/30859747/The-D...e-an-ebook

Post: #2

Converted to a better format for Kindle with k2pdfopt.

The Descent of Power (Kindle).pdf (2.6 MB)

Post: #3

Rieno how did you rip it off scribid?

I'd love to get some books from there and put them on my kindle

Post: #4

(10-01-2013 07:12 PM)Valhalla Wrote:  Rieno how did you rip it off scribid?

I'd love to get some books from there and put them on my kindle

Downloaded as PDF and used k2pdfopt tool to make it readable.

Post: #5

My question was regarding how to do this without paying for scribid, which isn't really doing anything except hosting it.

Unless you already have a subscription?

Post: #6

Robert Greene's writing is so damn clear.

That said, I'm (somewhat) critical of this essay. I don't think there's necessarily a fundamental transformation afoot in how power tends to be concentrated. Greene is right that there are more people involved in powerful inner circles now than there were before, but there is also a much larger human population than there used to be. If you actually look at the PERCENTAGE of people who have power at the top, the Western world is definitely becoming more top-down and top heavy. The powerful are just somewhat more 'scattered' than they used to be. For example, Greene cites the breakdown of the record industry's prestige, as evidence of power becoming more horizontal than it used to be. But are there actually less people at the top now, or have some of the people at the top just moved from record companies to Youtube? I think the basic music industry dynamic of a few rich artists and promoters at the top and a ton of broke artists at the bottom, is truer now than ever.

I also think that a lot of the 20th century's supposed horizontality was derived from the reality of a strong middle class and a lot of open free trade. As these start to break down, we can expect more concentration of power.