What an absolutely amazing book. It examines the immiseration and degradation and alienation experienced by workers and the poor under capitalism. It exposes the bare greed and hatefulness of capitalists and pro-capitalist politicians. But something which I think a lot of people miss, it also exposes the subconscious elitism of the rich who hand out charity to the poor. Elliot Rosewater is not the hero of this story. It's no coincidence that the alternate title of this book is "pearls before swine", because that is how he views his efforts. While he may genuinely feel love and care for the poor, (far more genuine than many of the politicians who turn up to rural areas during elections to heap platitudes on these "real Americans"), he still sees them as grotesque, pitiful, worthless, useless freaks. And whilst his efforts may have made the lives of some of these townsfolk more bearable, I think the message of the story is clear: the problem isn't that there are some people who are mean like Senator Rosewater, and the solution isn't that we should be more caring and giving like Elliot; the problem is that we live in a system where there are some people who own all the saw factories and broom factories and other people who have to find work in those saw factories and broom factories, and the solution is to get rid of that system.