PSYC 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Zanny Minton Beddoes, Blue Ridge Mountains, Corrado Gini
Document Summary
Growing inequality is one of the biggest social, economic and political challenges of our time. But it is not inevitable, says zanny minton beddoes. In 1889, at the height of america"s first gilded age, george vanderbilt ii, grandson of the original railway magnate, set out to build a country estate in the blue ridge mountains of north carolina. He hired the most prominent architect of the time, toured the chateaux of the loire for inspiration, laid a railway to bring in limestone from indiana and employed more than 1,000 labourers. With 250 rooms spread over 175,000 square feet (16,000 square metres), the mansion was 300 times bigger than the average dwelling of its day. It had central heating, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, lifts and an intercom system at a time when most. American homes had neither electricity nor indoor plumbing. A bit over a century later, america"s second gilded age has nothing quite like the.