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  • Published: 4 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9798890572639
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $60.00

Who Killed the American Dream?

The Greatest Political Crime Ever Told



Can't afford housing or healthcare? One 1886 Supreme Court fraud gave corporations constitutional rights over you—discover how billionaire oligarchs stole your future and the constitutional amendment to take it back.

You work harder than your parents did, yet you can’t afford a home. Billionaires are richer than ever. You know the system is rigged—but no one’s told you how it happened or who rigged it.

Here’s what they don’t teach in law school: In 1886, the Supreme Court never ruled that corporations have constitutional rights. That “precedent” came from a single fraudulent sentence inserted by a court reporter working with a corrupt justice. One headnote. One lie. The greatest legal heist in American history.

That fraud did the following and more:

  • Crushed unions and shipped jobs overseas
  • Slashed taxes for the wealthy and gave corporations the power to buy elections
  • Transferred trillions from working families to billionaire oligarchs

That’s why your paycheck doesn’t stretch. That’s why corporations have more rights than you do. That’s why democracy is eroding. For 140 years, they’ve distracted Americans by blaming immigrants, “welfare queens,” and each other—while billionaires rewrote the rules. Now people are pushing back: passing local ordinances, organizing for a constitutional amendment, and reclaiming power for We the People.

The rebellion has begun. Stop blaming your neighbors. Start demanding accountability. Learn how the system was stolen—and how to take it back.

  • Published: 4 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9798890572639
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $60.00

About the author

Thom Hartmann

Thom Hartmann is an award-winning author, international lecturer, teacher, and psychotherapist. His books have been written about in Time magazine, he has been on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and he has been featured as a guest on numerous radio and TV shows, including NPR's "All Things Considered," CNN, and BBC. A former journalist, editor, and occasional woodsplitter, he lives in Vermont with his wife, Louise.

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