NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE - A clear-eyed warning about
the increasingly destructive influence of America's "shame industrial
complex" in the age of social media and hyperpartisan politics--from
the New York Times bestselling author of Weapons of Math
Destruction
"O'Neil reminds us that we must resist the urge to judge, belittle,
and oversimplify, and instead allow always for complexity and lead
always with empathy."--Dave Eggers, author of The Every
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Times (UK)
Shame is a powerful and sometimes useful tool: When we publicly shame
corrupt politicians, abusive celebrities, or predatory corporations, we
reinforce values of fairness and justice. But as Cathy O'Neil argues in
this revelatory book, shaming has taken a new and dangerous turn. It is
increasingly being weaponized--used as a way to shift responsibility for
social problems from institutions to individuals. Shaming children for
not being able to afford school lunches or adults for not being able to
find work lets us off the hook as a society. After all, why pay higher
taxes to fund programs for people who are fundamentally unworthy?
O'Neil explores the machinery behind all this shame, showing how
governments, corporations, and the healthcare system capitalize on it.
There are damning stories of rehab clinics, reentry programs, drug and
diet companies, and social media platforms--all of which profit from
"punching down" on the vulnerable. Woven throughout The Shame Machine
is the story of O'Neil's own struggle with body image and her recent
weight-loss surgery, which awakened her to the systematic shaming of fat
people seeking medical care.
With clarity and nuance, O'Neil dissects the relationship between shame
and power. Whom does the system serve? Is it counter-productive to call
out racists, misogynists, and vaccine skeptics? If so, when should
someone be "canceled"? How do current incentive structures perpetuate
the shaming cycle? And, most important, how can we all fight back?
