pt. I. You're fired: the essay : Americans as a surplus people ; Who are the surplus people? ; How to make money from the creation of surplus people ; The four roots of surplus people production ; How many surplus people are there in the United States? ; Introducing the history of surplus people ; How capitalism created surplus people right from the very beginning ; How the first truly industrial society, Britain, used surplus people ; How American capitalists controlled the surplus population before World War I ; World War I and the Roaring Twenties ; The Great Depression begins ; Roosevelt, Keynes, and the New Deal ; America at its height ; America enters decline ; The age of Reagan ; Does our theory hold up? ; What to do? The Tea Party and the Occupy Movement ; The Tea Party and the dangerous politics of reaction ; The Occupy Movement and the politics of hope ; The past and future of the Occupy Movement ; Why a play is an effective way to discuss politics and economics

pt. II. I like firing people: the play

pt. III. I like firing people: a version performed at Boston College.