What is the author's tone in the book, The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap?

“The Divide” is filled with terms that reference Wall Street, the financial world and the economic crisis of 2008. For example, leading up to the decline Wall Street banks and financial concerns were involved with exotic loans and investments that included “short bets” and “derivatives.” These financial institutions were left mainly on their own without the oversight of “regulatory” entities like the SEC. A number of the Wall Street investors who nearly brought down the world economy were “hedge fund” managers.

These concerns were extremely aggressive and their executives agreed with actor Michael Douglas in the movie, “Wall Street” when he told a group of potential investors that “greed is good.” The most elite group of Wall Street tycoons were all billionaires and were known as “The Masters of the Universe” because of their power, influence and wealth.

A memo was written by Eric Holder when he was an attorney with the Clinton Administration. Although it was not his intention, his memo was the fundamental defense for not prosecuting “white collar” crime. His memo was widely read and was entitled, “Bringing Criminal Charges Against Corporations.” This document eventually led to “non-prosecutions” and “deferred prosecutions” of corporations who had committed fraud and other crimes during the economic collapse.

There is much focus on the poor in this book and descriptions of the humiliation and stress that applicants for “government aid” were subjected to. There were searches of their homes to make sure that they had not lied to the government. Minorities in New York City were subjected to racial profiling and targeted for minor crimes like “loitering,” “riding a bike on the sidewalk” and “obstruction of pedestrian traffic.” This overall program was known as “stop and frisk” and was roundly detested by those who were targeted. Many believed that it was unconstitutional. The police department defended this policy by claiming that they were trying to get guns off the street.