From market crisis to market boom, from welfare to wealth care, fromhomelessness to helplessness, and an all-out assault on the globalenvironment-these are just some of the indecencies of contemporaryeconomic life that Profit Pathology takes on. Here, Michael Parentiinvestigates how class power is a central force in our political lifeand, yet, is subjected to little critical discernment. He notes howbig-moneyed interests shift the rules of the game in their favor whileunveiling the long march by reactionaries through the nation'sinstitutions to undo all the gains of social democracy, from the NewDeal to the present. Parenti also traces the exploitative economicforces that have operated through much of American history, includingthe mass displacement and extermination of Native Americans and theenslavement of Africans. Parenti is a master at demonstrating the impactof monomaniacal profit accumulation on social services-especiallyhealth care-and human values. Here he takes us one step further, showinghow unrestrained capitalism ultimately endangers itself, becoming a"self-devouring beast" that threatens us all. Finally, he calls for asolution based on democratic diversity and public ownership-"because itworks."