Second Blog on Third Book

As I kept reading Collins’ book, I continued to be impressed by what he talked about. I liked how he took basic information about himself and his family and seamlessly integrated it in a way in which it connected with the topic he was discussing for the section. At points, he directly connects with the reader. He puts himself in their shoes and begins to share his thoughts on their situations. Because he spent the prior pages explaining his life and his beliefs about the divide between the 99 percent and 1 percent, one can understand the perspective that he’s coming from. Collins also includes statistics that helps the reader get a general understanding how many people are involved in the more specific groups. He puts America in perspective of the world, which gives an even wider picture of the financial problem.

Another aspect I started to notice was that Collins began each chapter with a quote. As I read the chapter, I could see how the quote related to the content discussed. For example, in chapter 3, Elizabeth Lesser’s quote about staying awake as our lives changed correlated very well with what Collins discussed in the chapter itself. He brought up a story about Hank’s involvement in leading construction brigades to Kenya. Collins talked about how Hank felt changed by this decision and how alive he felt, which was further emphasized by his wife’s remark that he reminded her of the man she married 48 years ago. Later in the chapter, Collins talks about deservedness in the sense that people should get what they deserve. He talked about the very rich individuals who do not understand the context of their wealth, as many people work just as hard as they do. They are not awake to their changing life because they do not see the reality of their role in society; they are too consumed in their current luxuries.