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The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream | 
 enlarge | Author: John Zogby
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $14.00
You Save: $12.00 (46%)
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 3020
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.1 x 1
ISBN: 1400064503
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.097309045
EAN: 9781400064502
ASIN: 1400064503
Publication Date: August 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: A nice clean hardcover, in excellent dj, of the 2008 Random House 1st edition (as pictured). No marks to text. Ready to ship.
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Product Description
According to super pollster John Zogby, whom The Washington Post calls “the maverick predictor,” the conventional wisdom about the United States–that we’re isolated from the world, politically fragmented, and inclined toward material pleasure–isn’t just flawed; it may be 180 degrees from the truth. In this far-reaching and illuminating look at contemporary American life, Zogby reveals nothing less than The Way We’ll Be. Drawing on thousands of in-depth surveys conducted especially for the book, Zogby points out where we’re headed–politically, culturally, and spiritually.
The American dream is in transition; it is rapidly being redefined by four meta-movements: living with limits as consumers and citizens; embracing diversity of views and ways of life; looking inward to find spiritual comfort; and demanding authenticity from the media, our leaders, and leading institutions. Spearheaded by today’s eighteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds–the “First Global” generation–Americans are becoming more internationalist, consensus-oriented, and environmentally conscious and less willing to identify themselves by the things they do to earn or spend their money. But this is more than a youth tide. Americans of all ages are moving beyond old divides–red state/blue state, pro-life/pro-choice, beer drinker/wine connoisseur–to form a new national consensus that will shape the nation for decades to come.
Zogby’s cogent analysis of the data yields an astonishing perspective on Americans’ thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, now and in coming years. Understanding this emerging reality will be key for
• leaders in all fields who want to reach audiences that are more media-savvy, better informed, and more technologically enabled than ever before
• individuals in search of rewarding and fulfilling careers in tomorrow’s growth fields
• politicians and CEOs looking to marry policies and practices to the rising demand for social responsibility
• anyone who wants to market to the emerging new American consensus
Beyond telling a fascinating story, the conclusions in this book are a must-read for everyone from Main Street to Madison Avenue to Capitol Hill. Filled with expert analysis and insight from one of today’s most successful predictors and trend spotters, The Way We’ll Be will redefine how we view America’s future.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Analysis needed September 21, 2008
Joshua Kim (Etna, NH)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Very disappointing. Zogby never goes beyond all his data to draw the insightful connections or provide the penetrating analysis that I was looking for. Yes, his central theme that American's are now living within an age of limits is a strong observation (and backed up with data) - but I was left wondering what are the larger forces that have caused this shift. Mark Penn's book Microtrends is a much better book - as by slicing the world in smaller segments he is able to tell a deeper and more satisfying story.
 Poll Answer Trends Extrapolated into Future Life Styles and Attitudes September 18, 2008
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Naturally, you would expect a pollster to take poll answers and try to use them to predict the future: That's how pollsters make a living. Interestingly, their predictions quickly fall apart when the future is more than a few days away. That should be a hint that polls are a weak basis for looking at longer-term trends.
If you had polled teenagers in the sixties, you would have extrapolated their poll answers into having a country filled with wild livers among the following generations.
Each person is formed by events, reactions to events, the passage of time, and learning. Poll answers are a result of those formative influences. If Mr. Zogby can learn how to predict those influencers, then poll answers might have more value.
This book will mostly be of interest to those who don't know very much about how young people think about today's burning questions. If you are a young person, I doubt if you will learn very much except about how polls and poll interpretations are created. If you have young people in your family, you also know what's going on. If you are older and don't have much contact with younger people, you will probably think this is a three or four star book.
I also found lots of little errors in the book that made me wonder how careful a pollster Mr. Zogby is. One of my favorites was a sentence describing how those who were born during World War II were affected by their experiences during the Depression. Hmm. I guess the effects of the outside world on yet-to-be-conceived children are much stronger than I realized.
This was a hard book for me to finish. When I was done, I didn't feel like it was worth the effort.
 polling discoveries support cautious optimism September 18, 2008
Michael Odza (Santa Fe)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Disclosure: I'm in a new partnership with Zogby's company, and only read this book because of it -- and was happy to discover that it gave me a sense of optimism about the next powerful generation. It's a fast read: a delightfully straightforward explanation of why polling can be reliable, and why it sometimes is not, precedes an analysis of the newest generation, which is distinguished by significant percentage differences on key issues from the most recent "me" generation. Over half the current 18-29 have passports, way up from prior generations -- and this is an indicator of a completely different self-image -- much more likely to call themselves citizens of the world than of their country, and much more likely to care about global issues.
The Way We'll BE September 17, 2008
sandytiger (DC)
An absolute must read for anyone interested in the future of America. Zogby provides extraordinary insights into the interests and values of the next generation. While his focus is on 19-29 year olds, his observations touch all age groups. The key is Zogby's ability to explain one attribute by citing a phenomena extant in another group. His command of the data allows him to make what are truly visionary proclamations.
Any who wants to sell to the public-- whether the idea/item is a political idea, new form of health care, distribution of music, comedy content, university curriculum--MUST READ Zogby's book.
An excellent study of Generation Y September 16, 2008
Gaetan Lion
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
John Zogby has taken a different approach to envisioning the future than his pollster colleague Mark Penn. While the latter in Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes focused on tens of disparate small trends under people's radar screen to depict a granular and diverse future, Zogby instead focused on developing an overarching theme. While Penn looks at the different information dots as stand alone, Zogby connects the dots. I am not saying one approach is better than the other. I am just saying their approach is very different.
Zogby's main theme is an analysis of Generation Y that he calls the `First Globals.' This makes sense since the young adults represent our future. So, "The Way Will Be" is what he anticipates Generation Y will be like when they reach middle age based on their existing character profile today.
Contrary to many of his contemporary, Zogby really likes what he sees when analyzing Generation Y. Most of his data polls are differentiated by age group. He invariably finds Generation Y a lot more tolerant and a lot more open minded then older generations. Generation Y's tolerance spreads across all social dimensions including race, gender, sexual orientation, and foreign cultures. Zogby states it is a result of their more diverse social context. They have had class mates of different races and different sexual orientation. Their exposure to this social diversity during their formative years is so much greater than for other generations. They understand Globalization and are more pro free Trade, pro NAFTA then their elders because they are part of an internet-connected worldwide market place. They are less jingoist than older generations. They are the most cosmopolitan age group in America, the most international, and one of the most concerned about the environment and human rights. They are the more likely to change their lifestyle to protect the environment. They are also a lot more pro alternative energy. For them, the Global Century has already taken over the American Century. Zogby is enthusiastic about their prospects as he thinks they will be the first generation since the GI's in WWII to give freely of themselves to make the world a better place.
During this intense Presidential campaign, it is interesting to observe that Generation Y is much more open to either electing an African American or a woman President than older generations. Zogby also noticed that Generation Y views are affiliated almost equally between liberals and independents. Yet, on some topics they can be conservative too. Zogby indicates they don't adopt a party platform. They look at each issue independently and make up their mind about the best solution on its own merit. In view of that, Zogby is very optimistic that Generation Y will break the polarized partisan political gridlock in Washington.
Zogby's overall positive assessment pretty much matches the one of William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 and Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. However, to Strauss and Howe's credit their books were truly prescient as they wrote the first book in 1991 when Generation Y were just toddlers and the second in 2000 when they were barely in high school. Strauss and Howe formulated their futuristic assessment of Generation Y based on their theory of generational cycles. Zogby's job was a lot easier; he could simply interview young adults in the contemporary context. This is not to denigrate Zogby's work. It is just to highlight that Zogby's contemporary findings confirm the work of Strauss and Howe done 17 years ago.
Zogby's second main theme besides Generation Y is how we Americans are becoming less materialist and more spiritual. Zogby's surveys reveal that our financial goals in terms of net worth and annual income are surprisingly modest. We are becoming content with lower levels of conspicuous consumption and more centered on who we are and focusing on happiness, self-esteem, integrity, achievement, and knowledge. We don't want more stuff; we want more meaning and purpose in our lives. He calls the numerous ones leading this shift the "Secular Spiritualists."
In the concluding chapter Zogby gives us his outlook on the near future. And, he likes what he sees. It makes sense since he likes Generation Y. Also, Zogby defines the prospect for each of the generations currently alive. His work resembles the one of Strauss and Howe, only the latter's were more detailed relying on an in depth historical framework. He anticipates that America in 2020 will be more tolerant and expect more substance and integrity of its leaders in all domains. We also will be much more environmentally conscious and of course more spiritual and less materialistic.
Using his surveys he makes broad pronouncements on global warming and the prospect for alternative energies. For a more balanced and complete view of global warming I recommend The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth on the supporting side and Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming on the skeptic side. Regarding the outlook of alternative energies I recommend the sobering but excellent Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence.
Besides analyzing Generation Y, Zogby educates us about the whole science of polling. He indicates that when doing political polling he always weights his results so to get the accurate mix of Republicans and Democrats. To my surprise, he indicates that the majority of his colleagues do not do that as they believe political affiliation is fluctuating all the time. I find this reasoning really flawed. I am really with Zogby on this one (weight to get the proper mix of Rep and Dem). I found out that Rasmussen like Zogby also does the weighting. During this Presidential election, this will cause me to pay more attention to Zogby and Rasmussen polls then the others.
Overall, I strongly recommend this book. I found everything he stated about Generation Y pretty insightful.
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