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A review by mercedesb
Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class by Catherine Liu
2.0
The description of this book as a polemic is accurate. If you are angry and feel like you need a good vent-sesh, this could be for you.
However, I found it lacking.
The titular PMC’s identity changes throughout the book becoming whatever boogeyman the author needs for the point she’s making. Sometimes it’s university students, sometimes it’s mid-level white collar workers, sometimes it’s the financial execs who benefitted from the 2008 financial crisis, and then at other times it’s the wealthiest of wealthy political donors.
There is a lot of talk of class solidarity but no examples of it within the text. Rather than uplift ideas from poor and working class communities, it’s more about self hatred and hatred of the elite. It even goes so far as to dismiss some schools of thought, like intersectionality, that originated in the very communities the author seeks solidarity for.
And finally, I didn’t see any solutions or actions. It really was just critical and nothing else. The book is extremely short so maybe that’s not the point but that’s also what made it not for me.
However, I found it lacking.
The titular PMC’s identity changes throughout the book becoming whatever boogeyman the author needs for the point she’s making. Sometimes it’s university students, sometimes it’s mid-level white collar workers, sometimes it’s the financial execs who benefitted from the 2008 financial crisis, and then at other times it’s the wealthiest of wealthy political donors.
There is a lot of talk of class solidarity but no examples of it within the text. Rather than uplift ideas from poor and working class communities, it’s more about self hatred and hatred of the elite. It even goes so far as to dismiss some schools of thought, like intersectionality, that originated in the very communities the author seeks solidarity for.
And finally, I didn’t see any solutions or actions. It really was just critical and nothing else. The book is extremely short so maybe that’s not the point but that’s also what made it not for me.