Despite the title, the enemy that Davis targets as the culprit behind “why the world sucks”—that is, the “cancer,” “terrorists,” and “parasites” that push disinformation and propaganda and are willing to let the world burn to preserve their power and economic advantage—is identified in this outraged debut as “Predator”s rather than “assholes.” That’s not to say that Davis names names when singling out the “aberrant behavior pattern common to very wealthy, powerful people” that has, in his analysis, brought civilization to the brink of climate disaster, authoritarian leadership, and have suckered the rest of us into accepting—and sometimes even defending—a “Predatory society” with “poor, disenfranchised ‘enslaved’ Everyday People at the very bottom.”

While warning against conspiratorial thinking, singling out groups, or targeting and “attacking” these Predators, Davis endeavors to make the case that these Predators are the cause of injustice and inequity, and to demonstrate how they have achieved this, especially with the unwitting aid of the creators of social networks. Finally, Davis strives to show readers how to reclaim narratives, fight back, and stop “spending our lives on a treadmill going nowhere just to power the heavenly lifestyle of wealthy and powerful Predators.” As this summation suggests, Davis paints with a broad brush (“Many extremely wealthy tech people see themselves as virtual gods”) while taking care to note that Predators fit no one demographic. Still, his sweeping, dehumanizing, and sexually charged rhetoric—"Everyday People .. are getting psychologically raped by Predators”—routinely echoes propagandists he decries.

For Davis, that’s part of the point, fighting fire with fire. He acknowledges throughout that this battle is asymmetrical, as Predators feel free to “[blow] things up,” while Everyday People must strengthen and protect the institutions that have failed to stop this Predation. Still, that language clashes with his calls for civility among Citizen Activists, whom he urges to stop fighting distractions like “microaggressions” and instead take on Predators. Davis blames bad actors rather than the system itself, though his efforts to direct anger in a productive direction feel wan compared to his ferocious diagnosis of the problem.

Takeaway: Outraged call for fighting back against powerful “Predators” who profit from the state of things.

Comparable Titles: Michael Mechanic’s Jackpot, Peter Pomerantsev’s This Is Not Propaganda.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-