Everything Is a Scam Now

social contract. When you hear this phrase, “everything is a scam now,” you know exactly the feeling of resignation we all share. In this workshop, we will look at how finance and private equity came to dominate the American economy, replacing commercial exchange with gaseous financial tricks to enrich investors rather than provide services, from toys to healthcare to housing. Was truth ever a principle of economic governance? We will touch upon the rise of Silicon Valley and its behemoths that engineer products designed to increase our paranoia and alienation. How do they continue to squeeze profit out of every facet of life? We will be gentle and fun about the study of political economy, then turn to essays and poetry that can teach us ways to write about this urgent complaint. Readings will include: essays by Cory Doctorow, Adam Tooze, and Tim Barker; excerpts from Bryan Burrough and John Helyar’s Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco (1989), Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager (2010), Melinda Cooper’s Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance (2024); and poetry by Amiri Baraka, Mohammed Zenia, Benjamin Krusling, and Dana Ward, among others. Each session will include lectures, discussions, and writing exercises that bring us closer to articulating how scams influence our own resentments and rebellion. Format: In person Capacity: 20 participants Cost: $100–300 (Sliding scale $25–75/session, no one turned away for lack of funds)