BIG DOG The Origin of the Rich Person's Species

Author: Richard Coniff
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: [The New York Times]: A historically funny, sharp, rich social and cultural critique! A masterpiece that blends academia, wit, literary imagination, and engaging perspectives. The author claims to have straddled the two writing themes of the rich and the beasts, ultimately combining them in this book. From the perspective of a journalist, he observes the rich as animals, focusing on the age-old question of "Are the rich really different from you and me?" and discovers that compared to ordinary people, they are undeniably aliens; or rather, they are more like animals than humans. With a humorous attitude, the author reveals the strategies the rich use to establish dominance, their antics to flaunt wealth, the motivations behind their hierarchical conflicts, and their eccentric mating habits. Through comparisons with other exotic creatures, the author gives us insight into the animal instincts of this dazzling group, and helps us understand that even in ancient times, when the ancestors of the rich were still sleeping around campfires, they had already established social behavior patterns that persist today. He also explores how these patterns continue to influence their behavior, what evolutionary advantages they have developed to accumulate wealth daily, how they leverage primate dominance behaviors to retain property, and how they transform wealth into social status.