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The velvet rope economy : how inequality became big business / by Schwartz, Nelson,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education, highways to home security--there is an invisible velvet rope rising, separating Americans into two radically different experiences of life. On one side of the velvet rope is a friction-free existence where, for a price, needs are anticipated and catered to. Red tape is cut, lines are jumped, appointments are secured, and doors are opened. On the other side of the rope, friction is practically the defining characteristic, with middle-and working-class Americans facing a Darwinian fight for an empty seat on the plane, a place in line with their kids at the amusement park, a college acceptance, a hospital bed. We are all aware of the gap between the rich and everyone else, but when we weren't looking business innovators stepped in to exploit it, shifting services away from the masses and finding new ways to serve the privileged. New York Times business reporter Nelson Schwartz offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the velvet rope economy and those who created it: the ship-within-a-ship on Norwegian Cruise Lines that saves the best views for the wealthy, a special pager for donors that reaches San Francisco's top cardiologist, a $4,000-a-night maternity suite, firefighters who save one home but not the house next door. And he shows the toll of velvet rope innovation on the rest of us: long waits for an ambulance, packed highways, school athletics that are pay to play. What's more, as decision-makers and corporate leaders increasingly live on the friction-free side of the velvet rope, they are less inclined to change--or even notice--the barriers everyone else must contend with"--
Subjects: Income distribution; Affluent consumers; Classism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A fire so wild : a novel / by Ruiz-Grossman, Sarah,author.;
"With the emotional echoes of Little Fires Everywhere and the lush atmosphere of Disappearing Earth, a riveting debut novel in which a wildfire creeps toward Berkeley, California, igniting tensions as characters from all walks of life confront the injustices growing beneath the city's surface. As a wildfire threatens Berkeley, the city's inhabitants are forced to reckon with the cracks in the lives they've built. Abigail, a wealthy white woman, decides to throw a lavish birthday in a hillside mansion to raise money for the city's newest affordable housing project-and prove to her family that she's made something worthwhile of her life. Sunny, a construction worker who sleeps in a van along the bay's shore, is in the running for an apartment in the complex-but only if enough funds are raised at the party to subsidize low-income rentals. As the heat and smoke from the approaching blaze descend upon the town, tensions rise and residents-young and old, haves and have nots-confront the inequities laid bare, and the fragility of building a life in a world on fire. Alternating among a colorful cast of characters, A Fire So Wild is a timely, tautly paced novel that questions why when everything burns, not everyone is left with scars"--
Subjects: Political fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Interpersonal relations; Low-income housing; Wildfires;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The trouble with billionaires / by McQuaig, Linda,1951-; Brooks, Neil.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: Income distribution.; Rich people; Rich people;
© c2010., Viking Canada,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A walk around the block : stoplight secrets, mischievous squirrels, manhole mysteries & other stuff you see every day (and know nothing about) / by Carlsen, Spike,1952-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."On his regular walk one morning, Spike Carlsen realized there was an entire world outside his front door that he knew nothing about. How does that fire hydrant work, he wondered? Why are street lights shining more brightly than ever before? And, on a more personal level, why does an easy stroll around the neighborhood always leave him feeling more creative and spry, better able to take on the day? A simple walk around the block set Carlsen off on an investigative journey to discover everything he could about every thing we take for granted in our everyday life, from manhole covers and recycling bins to pedestrian crossings and bike lanes. Leading readers on a spirited adventure through his hometown, and other environs, Carlsen explains with wit and erudition the engineering marvels, unheralded utilities, and secret economic and health benefits hiding in plain sight. Like how the addition of a front porch reduces crime and increases property value. And how planting a $10 boulevard tree cuts air-conditioning costs by 20 percent, while generating approximately $30,000 worth of oxygen and $31,000 worth of erosion control. Or how a simple walk, in addition to reduce your chances of a stroke (20 percent), cardiovascular disease (30 percent), and broken bones (40 percent), can increase creativity by 60 percent. Engaging, entertaining, and informative, A walk around the block is a narrative celebration of all the seemingly random stuff we encounter at any given moment"--
Subjects: Curiosities and wonders.; Material culture.; Recreation.; Inventions.; Questions and answers.;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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X-Men. [graphic novel] / by Hickman, Jonathan,author.; Yu, Leinil Francis,artist.; Silva, R. B.,1985-artist.; Buffagni, Matteo,artist.; Alanguilan, Gerry,artist.; Gho, Sunny,colourist,artist.; Beredo, Rain,colourist.; Gracia, Martegod,colourist.; Cowles, Clayton,letterer.;
The X-Men find themselves in a whole new world of possibility ... and things have never been better! Jonathan Hickman and superstar artist Leinil Francis Yu reveal the saga of Cyclops and his hand-picked squad of mutant powerhouses!T+.
Subjects: Graphic novels.; Superhero comics.; Science fiction comics.; X-Men (Fictitious characters); Mutation (Biology); Superheroes;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A living remedy : a memoir / by Chung, Nicole,author.;
"From the bestselling author of ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW comes a searing memoir of class, inequality, and grief--a daughter's search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she's lost. In this country, unless you attain extraordinary wealth, you will likely be unable to help your loved ones in all the ways you'd hoped. You will learn to live with the specific, hollow guilt of those who leave hardship behind, yet are unable to bring anyone else with them. When Nicole Chung graduated from high school, she couldn't hightail it out of her overwhelmingly white Oregon hometown fast enough. As a scholarship student at a private university on the East Coast, no longer the only Korean she knew, she found a sense of community she had always craved as an Asian American adoptee--and a path to the life she'd long wanted. But the middle class world she begins to raise a family in--where there are big homes, college funds, nice vacations--looks very different from the middle class world she thought she grew up in, where paychecks have to stretch to the end of the week, health insurance is often lacking, and there are no safety nets. When her father dies at only sixty-seven, killed by diabetes and kidney disease, Nicole feels deep grief as well as rage, knowing that years of financial instability and lack of access to healthcare contributed to his premature death. And then the unthinkable happens--less than a year later, her beloved mother is diagnosed with cancer, and the physical distance between them becomes insurmountable as COVID descends upon the world. Exploring the enduring strength of family bonds in the face of hardship and tragedy, A Living Remedy examines what it takes to reconcile the distance between one life, one home, and another--and sheds needed light on some of the most persistent and tragic inequalities in American society"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Chung, Nicole.; Adoptees; Adoptive parents; Equality; Grief; Income distribution; Interracial adoption;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Sunbelt blues : the failure of American housing / by Ross, Andrew,1956-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Today, a minimum-wage earner can afford a one-bedroom apartment in only 28 out of 3,140 counties in America. The single worst place in the United States to look for affordable housing is Osceola County, Florida. Once the main approach to Disney World, where vacationers found lodging on their way to the Magic Kingdom, the fifteen-mile Route 192 corridor in Osceola has become a site of shocking contrasts. At one end, absentee investors snatch up foreclosed properties to turn into extravagant vacation homes for affluent visitors, destroying affordable housing in the process. At the other, underpaid theme park workers, displaced families, and disabled and elderly people subsisting on government checks are technically homeless, living crammed into dilapidated, roach-infested motels or even in tent camps in the woods. Through visceral, frontline reporting from the motels and encampments dotting central Florida, renowned sociologist Andrew Ross exposes the overlooked housing crisis sweeping America's suburbs and rural areas, where residents suffer ongoing trauma, poverty, and nihilism. As millions of renters face down evictions and foreclosures in the midst of the COVID-19 recession, Andrew Ross reveals how ineffective government planning, property market speculation, and poverty wages have combined to create this catastrophe. Immersive and compassionate, Sunbelt Blues finds in Osceola County a bellwether for the future of homelessness in America"--
Subjects: Housing policy; Housing; Low-income housing; Real estate investment; Working poor;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Animal kingdom. [videorecording] / by Barkin, Ellen,1954-actor.; Gordon, Molly,1994-actor.; Speedman, Scott,actor.; Hatosy, Shawn,1975-actor.; Robson, Ben,actor.; Weary, Jake,1990-actor.; Cole, Finn,actor.; Warner Bros. Entertainment,production company.; Warner Home Video (Firm),distributor.;
Molly Gordon, Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary, Finn Cole.Originally broadcast on television in 2018.When his mother overdosed on heroin, California 17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody (Finn Cole) had his extended family to fall back on for a sheltering home. Unfortunately, as his grandmother (Ellen Barkin) and uncles (Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary) are a reprobate clan of career criminals, he might have been better off in the system.Canadian Home Video Rating: 14A.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Fiction television programs.; Television programs.; Television crime shows.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Criminals; Dysfunctional families; Mothers and sons; Orphans; Crime;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Capitalism: A Love Story. by Moore, Michael,film director.; Moore, Michael,actor.; Birch, Thora,actor.; Lionsgate (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Michael Moore, Thora BirchOriginally produced by Lionsgate in 2009.Exactly one year and a day after the initial Wall Street bailout, Michael Moore (SICKO, FAHRENHEIT 9/11) looks at the global financial crisis and the U.S. economy during the transition between the incoming Obama Administration and the outgoing Bush Administration. In standard Moore fashion, he mockingly draws attention to the Wall Street and Government decisions that have enabled what he calls "the biggest robbery in the history of this country."Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Capitalism.; Current affairs.; Economic development.; Americans.; Documentary films.;
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Poverty in Canada / by Sharma, Raghubar D.,1947-;
Includes bibliographical references (p. [148]-158) and index.Looks at reasons behind the rise of income inequality in Canada and identifies the disadvantaged groups most at risk of living in poverty.LSC
Subjects: Poverty; Poor;
© c2012., Oxford University Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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