Unelected city builder's dark legacy: 50-year bestseller shows power's true cost
Half-century old book about **Robert Moses** still shapes how we see political power today. Its story of an un-elected official who changed New York forever makes readers think about who should run things
Back in the mid-70s‚ Robert Caro wrote something that changed how we look at power in America - a big book called The Power Broker that still sells like hot-cakes today (it moved 40k copies just this year)
The books main character Robert Moses went from being a smart-as-heck Yale grad to New Yorks most powerful un-elected official: he built parks highways and bridges but didnt care who got hurt along the way. Starting in the roaring 20s he collected government jobs like trading cards - from park commissioner to construction chief
If the end doesnt justify the means what does
His work changed NY forever but not in a good way: he built low bridges to keep buses (and poor folks) away from beaches; made highways that split up neighborhoods; and kicked out whole communities just cause they were in his way. In East Tremont alone fifty-four apartment buildings got destroyed - thats hundreds of families who lost their homes just for one mile of expressway
The books timing was perfect coming out when Nixon left office; it made people think hard about what happens when somebody gets too much power. Even Barack Obama said reading it at age 22 changed how he thinks about politics. These days with the presidential election coming up in a few days its message hits different: we gotta be real careful about who we trust with power cause - as Pete Buttigieg pointed out - some of Moses racist choices are still causing problems today
