BOOK REVIEW: Dancing With The Devil

(Originally published 2009, paperback edition 211 pages)

All businesses continually try to externalize risk. The ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots is irrefutable. Ms. Dodson shows examples of how the moral quandry some mid-level employers and managers have when continually faced with employees who make substandard pay; otherwise know as the working poor. There have been other books such as William Ryan's 1971 book, "Blaming the Victim," that shown how middle-class Americans rationalize putting all the blame on the poor for their horrible situation. Ms. Dodson's brings the scenario into the present day. Much of the blame is now tailored as the working poor having bad work habits and bad reproductive habits.

Business and managers without empathy don't care one lick if an employee is struggling to make ends meet because of crappy wages and an ungodly work schedule. The companies don't care or ignore that the working poor's kids are alone and failing in school because of no parental involvement the businesses have caused. The companies don't care or ignore that the employees have no health care. Many of the examples in the author's book are about these exhausted people who are working two jobs and, justifiably, constantly living in fear. Many managers and executives take an Ann Rand approach, shrug their shoulders and continue to exploit their hapless quasi-slaves. Ms. Dodson believes the "moral underground" is a disorganized rebellion against corporate malfeasance. The book is basically many disjointed examples of people down on their luck. It also explains the logic of people in power for exploiting other human beings in such manners and, trust me, these suits sleep just fine at night.

If you have any empathy, you will find it a difficult read. I found most of the author's remedies to be unrealistic and incomplete. However, any time an author shines a light on the ugly underbelly of capitalism, they should be commended. In our country's current zeitgeist, the pursuit of profit and the acquisition of things as well as power and status has been at the expense of our humanity. It's well worth reading.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #294)