Michael Mechanic_33

There are 788 billionaires in the USA. Like most people who read Michael Mechanic's 'Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live and How Their Wealth Hurts Us All', I think I'd handle mega-wealth just fine, given a chance. But Mechanic makes a strong case for the profoundly toxic social and psychological effects of wealth on the wealthy, and without an opportunity to prove him wrong, I'll take his word for it. Most of this material was familiar, but one thing felt new: Mechanic reports on the growing paranoia of the uber-rich, nervously building fences and buying islands against the moment when the justifiable outrage of the have-nots explodes into action.