The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead

Updated with a new afterword

Free cable television. Imaginary tax deductions. Movies and music downloadable on your home computer. Do you take your chance to cheat? David Callahan thinks many of us would: witness corporate scandals, doping athletes, plagiarizing journalists. Why all the cheating? Why now?

Callahan blames the dog-eat-dog climate of the past twenty years: An unfettered market and unprecedented economic inequality have corroded our values and threaten to corrupt the equal opportunity we cherish. Callahan's "Winning Class" has created a separate moral reality where it cheats without consequences—while the "Anxious Class" believes choosing not to cheat could cancel its only shot at success in a winner-take-all world.

Analyzing the very latest scandals, The Cheating Culture takes us on a gripping tour of cheating in America and makes a powerful case for why it matters.

"Everything you ever wanted to know about what's gone wrong with ethics in our society is explained in David Callahan's remarkable and readable new book. For its meticulously researched, thoughtful and damning look at our broken moral compass, this should be required reading . . . This is one of those rare books that will make you mad, ashamed, and one may hope, determined to change."—Philadelphia Inquirer

David Callahan is cofounder of the public policy center Demos, where he is a senior fellow. He is the author of five previous books, and his articles have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. He received a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and lives in New York City. Look for more information about cheating on his Web site, www.cheatingculture.com.