Stacked deck a story of selfishness in America

Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-244) and index.

1. The Big Myth -- 2. The Myth's Dark Underside -- 3. The Myth Lives in the Law: Private Law -- 4. The Myth Lives in the Law: Public Law -- 5. Liberal Philosophy's Fundamental Mistake -- 6. Vulnerability: The Heart of the Matter -- 7. Vulnerability and American Liberalism -- 8. The Selfishness Surplus: A Matter of Choice -- 9. Fairness and Games -- 10. Fairness, Trust, and Responsibility.

Drawing on current events, law, philosophy, economics, politics, sociology, and psychology, and applying them to vital issues of our day, Mitchell tells a story of a national faith that is deeply at odds with our common emotions and intuitions, to expose the ways in which that national faith justifies the selfishness of the lucky and preserves the status quo of economic and political distributions.