This is a detailed 10-page book report on J.K. Galbraith's The Culture of Contentment. Both a political and socioeconomic treatise, it reveals the power dynamics that keep our own status quo alive while depending on the oppression of an "underclass" made up of the disenfranchised poor. The US, more than Europe, is the site of this culture of contentment, since part of its economic-psychological appeal is to moralize affluence and demonize poverty. The paper also includes the author's (positive) opinion on Galbraith's theory. 10 pgs. Bibliography lists 1 source.