Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West

by Justin Farrell

Overview

A revealing look at the intersection of wealth, philanthropy, and conservation

Billionaire Wilderness takes you inside the exclusive world of the ultra-wealthy, showing how today's richest people are using the natural environment to solve the existential dilemmas they face. Justin Farrell spent five years in Teton County, Wyoming, the richest county in the United States, and a community where income inequality is the worst in the nation. He conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews, gaining unprecedented access to tech CEOs, Wall Street financiers, and other prominent figures in business and politics. He also talked with the rural poor who live among the ultra-wealthy and often work for them. The result is a penetrating account of the far-reaching consequences of the massive accrual of wealth and a troubling portrait of a changing American West where romanticizing rural poverty and conserving nature can be lucrative, socially as well as financially.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691217123
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Series:	Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology , #24
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	230,721
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Justin Farrell is a professor at Yale University in the School of the Environment. Twitter @J_Farrell

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Setting Off into the Wilderness 1

Part I How We Got Here and What It Feels Like 29

1 New Nation of the Ultra-Wealthy 31

2 Mount Billionaire 49

Part II Using Nature to Solve Economic Dilemmas 77

3 Compensation Conservation 81

4 Connoisseur Conservation 99

5 Gilded Green Philanthropy 120

6 Moneyfest Destiny 144

Part III Using Rural People To Solve Social Dilemmas 167

7 Becoming Rural Poor, Naturally 171

8 Guilt Numbed 204

Part IV Ultra-Wealth Through The Eyes Of The Working Poor 239

9 No Time for Judgment 243

10 Cracking the Veneer 265

Epilogue The Future of Wealth and the West 299

Appendix Methodological Notes 309

Notes 339

References 357

Index 369

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Billionaire Wilderness is a thoroughly reported, measured account of what it's like to live in Wyoming's new Gilded Age, and a welcome addition to the national debate on the American West—what it's for, who it belongs to, and who gets to decide its future."—Nate Blakeslee, New York Times bestselling author of American Wolf

"This important and innovative book offers a rarely seen glimpse into the lives of the ultra-wealthy, exploring the ways in which they think about status, social inequality, privilege, and the environment in a context where all of these factors collide on a regular basis."—David Naguib Pellow, author of Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement

"Justin Farrell explores a bold new understanding of nature and people in America's wealthiest county. This startling, provocative, and respectful analysis of conservation and the Teton community will ignite important future scholarship. A must-read."—Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the Spur Award for Best Western Contemporary Nonfiction, Western Writers of America

Finalist for the Reading the West Book Award in Adult Narrative Nonfiction

One of Amazon's Best Books of 2020 in Business and Leadership

From the Publisher

"The real stories billionaires tell themselves to justify their wealth."

Medium

"[Justin] Farrell (Yale Univ.) renders a picture of how the ultra wealthy live, protect their wealth, and handle the stigma associated with being unbelievably rich. . . . Highly recommended."

Choice

2019-12-01
An examination of income inequality through the lens of Teton County, Wyoming, which is "both the richest county in the United States and the county with the nation's highest level of income inequality."

Teton County has become the primary or secondary home for a large influx of multimillionaires and billionaires, who are attracted by the breathtaking natural beauty and the absence of a state income tax. A similarly large population—perhaps 30% of the county—consists of low-income families who live in Teton County to fill jobs that serve the wealthy residents. Farrell (Sociology/Yale Univ.; The Battle for Yellowstone: Morality and the Sacred Roots of Environmental Conflict, 2015), a Wyoming native, found that the bulk of the low-income families are immigrants who speak Spanish as their first language. The author also writes about how he was raised by a mother who depended on rich people for income as a house cleaner. Farrell eventually moved away, becoming a first-generation college student and an academic researcher. In his chronicle of his return to where he grew up, he examines both sides of the divide. The book contains some sections packed with academic jargon, including one about the research methodology underlying the 200-plus in-depth interviews of the wealthy and the working poor who serve them in various capacities. Farrell learned that the wealthy tend to view themselves as sensitive, generous philanthropists, part of a county where everybody gets along and where distinguishing between the rich and the poor is mostly irrelevant because they are all friends. The laborers, on the other hand, do not perceive the relations as friendships. While the author found little overt hatred among the laborers, he did uncover puzzlement about why the wealthy seemed to lack empathy and self-awareness. "The working poor," writes the author, "called into question many of the positive perceptions ultra-wealthy people have of themselves….They pointed out the irony and false virtue of affluent environmentalism, and link it to the ongoing suffering of the working poor."

An eye-opening look at a specific element of economic and social inequality.

Kirkus Reviews