#Review: Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us? by Manu Joseph

Manu Joseph’s Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us is a sharp, unsettling, and darkly witty exploration of one of the most glaring contradictions in contemporary India: why do the poor, despite their daily struggles, not rise in revolt against a system built to exploit them?

Joseph spares no one. He points out the absurdities of privilege with biting humour—how the price of a single salmon meal can equal days of a labourer’s hard work, how maids and workers live invisible lives beside us, and how society’s hypocrisies go unquestioned. His questions are provocative, even uncomfortable: Why don’t they resist? Why is there peace amidst such inequality?

The brilliance of the book lies not just in its fearless critique but also in its ability to hold up a mirror to both the complacency of the privileged and the resilience of the poor. It is as much a social diagnosis as it is a wake-up call, written in Joseph’s trademark style—satirical, incisive, and painfully relevant.

A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the undercurrents of India’s socio-economic divide, and for those willing to confront truths we usually prefer to ignore.

Find this book here.