I enjoyed reading this book, but I can't give it any more stars because of the big feeling of foreboding it gave me. Brooks manufactured this feeling by taking an idea--like the argument that younger people paying into Social Security now won't reap any of its benefits--and magnifying the effects of that the idea. (I just today saw a politician on TV arguing that the retirement age should be raised, so it's not like this stuff isn't out there. Granted, be was being mocked on the daily show. But these days who isn't?)

Brooks imagines that in 2030 cancer has been cured and that leaves all the baby boomers kicking well into their 90s, which puts a huge strain on the economy. Young people, feeling bitter, begin thinking about revolution, which turns to violence. Meanwhile, America's first half-Jewish president is dealing with the catastrophe of the biggest earthquake ever to hit California. Los Angeles is leveled, and America can't pay to fix it. (In 2030 the national debt is...considerable.)

To tell his story Brooks bounces back and forth between common people and the uber-rich. The "olds" as they're called in the book, and the young people. Those with power and those without. It's unsettling, but interesting, and while I hope it's not the future I can't say that it's entirely unlikely.