MixedThe Irish Times (IRE)That the book is unoriginal isn’t necessarily a criticism. Whether society is willing to give a name to it or not, there has always been an acceptance that poverty kills and capitalism has its victims. The attempted shock factor of this book seems to be a slightly clumsy \'But did you know it kills white people too?\' ... What is a criticism, however, is the absence of any form of critical analysis of the unconstrained system of capitalism in America today. The authors lay the blame at the feet of bad-faith actors in US private healthcare or pharmaceutical industries ... However, they too easily dismiss the role a publicly funded national health service could play in alleviating the crisis ... Devoid of any real policy solutions, the authors resort to rudimentary explanations drenched in the apple-pie politics of capitalism past. Simplistic longings for the return of communal gatherings in churches and union halls and lamentations for the breakdown of the traditional nuclear family are offered instead of actual legislative policy changes, healthcare or education reform ... An interesting read if you too long for the good old days, less so if you’re minded toward some sort of structural change.
