Reddit Reddit reviews Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America

We found 20 Reddit comments about Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
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20 Reddit comments about Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America:

u/QuickAltTab · 77 pointsr/politics

The George Mason economics department and law school is deeply rooted in the Koch political machine, anyone interested in its history and outsized influence on our government for the last several decades should read Democracy in Chains.

u/FortFucker · 46 pointsr/politics

Man, whoever amongst us hasn't already read her book "Democracy in Chains" is comically missing the point of most of what the GOP is doing. They're not seeing the situation as the chess board that the Koch organization sees it to be.

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Too many of us bemoan the individual moves of various republicans in state and federal office, but it's mostly part of a vast, coordinated effort to literally rewrite our Constitution to permanently prevent the will of the people from having any power over private-sector commercial interests.

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https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966

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r/KochWatch

u/arcangleous · 38 pointsr/CanadaPolitics

The same Eisenhower who extremely critical of wealthy industrialist taking control of the national and attempting to exploit the poor to their benefit? I'm not saying everything he did was good, but he was aware that a certain, powerful segment of the population was more interested in ranking up a high score in their bank accounts than helping people.

> Neoliberalism, love it or hate it, saved the economy in the 80s and 90s.

That's a massive over-simplification, and mostly inaccurate. While several important metrics from measuring the economy did improve during that period, "real wages" (wages adjusted for inflation) didn't grow significantly between 1981 and 2011. A lot of the economy growth came from women entering the work force in larger numbers & obtaining wages comparable to men, from computers & automation massive boosting the productive per worker, and a massive increase in the access to credit (debt). Of the three, Neoliberalism/Laissez-Faire economy only really affected the third, with probably overall negative consequences. At the heart of the Great Recession was the house market collapse: Because of the lack of real wage growth, people couldn't afford to buy houses except through increasing ridiculous mortgages, which they were able to obtain since the investment class demands growth. This debt bubble was leveraged to create even more (imaginary) wealth, which showed up in most of the economy metrics (especially the stock market). It just disappeared when reality set in and real wages couldn't support incurred debt, crashing the economy.

> Nixon brought in the Environmental protection agency.

I put Nixon on the list for breaking the law to maintain political power. Without Watergate, he would not have made the list.

> Political parties respond to the needs and wants of the electorate.

The reason I mentioned think tanks is that they are one of the tools used by conservative to re-frame and shape the wants of the electorate. Most traditional think tanks collect facts and do analysis to build policy recommendations, but many conservative ones (especially ones funded by the Kochs) begin with the ideology and cherry-pick the data to support the policies they have already written. It's both intellectual dishonest and much easier to build a convincing narrative with. I suggest reading Dark Money and Democracy in Chains if you want to examine the interplay between conservative think tanks, public opinion and money.

> People are the ones who vote after all.

Which is why voter suppression and gerrymandering play such an important role is US elections. Given the ugly history of disenfranchisement in that country, it's much easier to build support for preventing "the wrong people" from voting that it is to actually convince other people to support your policies. It's disguising and disgraceful. Thankfully, the Supreme Court up here has been consistent on supporting everyone's right to vote.

u/voodoochile78 · 24 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

Effort Post: I went to a talk by Duke University professor Nancy Maclean that detailed the historical roots of the modern far right movement. She traces it back to James Buchanan (Nobel Prize in Economics) who did his work from George Mason University, and his relationship to the Koch brothers. The title of the book derives from a quote from Buchanan that "for Capitalism to thrive, Democracy must be enchained." He also said that every constitution currently in existence is garbage and should be thrown away.

On the topic of throwing away constitutions and starting again, the book details how these guys were invited to implement their perfect government in Chile (Pinochet), and have also done so in North Carolina and Wisconsin. Their ultimate goal for the United States is to do a State-driven Constitutional Convention to throw out our constitution. The Republicans pretty much have all the states they need to do this.

Anyways, here's the book. It's the most depressing thing you'll read this year.

https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966

u/MSHDigit · 22 pointsr/EarthStrike

Jane Mayer, Dark Money

Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains

This is well-documented and reported. Please do some reading, specifically on John Olin and the Koch Brothers and James Buchanan and the neoliberal Mont Pelerin Society hostile takeover of higher education and public discourse in general. Even the Tea Party was astroturfed.

u/gursh_durknit · 11 pointsr/Bad_Cop_No_Donut

I just read an entire book about the libertarian movement in this country called Democracy in Chains. I highly recommend. Yes, the staunchest libertarians are wealthy elite that are trying to cut taxes to preserve their wealth; they are against public education, police, Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, public infrastructure, environmental protection - everything. They have cultivated their messaging in a way that makes the unwealthy and uneducated useful idiots for their movement by making them think that they'll be richer by paying marginally fewer taxes despite the fact that they are being robbed of major public investments; ones that have made us the democracy that we are. And some of the libertarian think tank leaders acted as political advisors to the Chilean government in the second half of the 20th century and largely contributed to Chile's current economic mess.



Edit: Here is a link to the book.

u/PM_ME_MANY_THINGS · 9 pointsr/thebakery

It seems like nobody else has responded to you, which sucks, so in the spirit of comradely cooperation, I'll take a crack at it.

> so if anyone has recommendations for websites, videos, articles, links, books, documentaries or anything similar it would be very much appreciated.

A great place to start, whenever you want to talk about the rise of capitalism in America, is Howard Zinn's A People's History Of The United States which you can find online for free. More broadly, The Marxist Internet Archive's History section is a fantastic resource to pull from, and obviously it's all completely free. There's also Anthropocene or capitalocene?: Nature, history, and the crisis of capitalism by Parenti et al is a good in-depth dive. If you're looking for the history of the conservative movement in the US, you can't do any better than Democracy In Chains by Nancy Maclean which really details how the institutional and systemic support received happened, using unprecedented archival material discovered basically by chance.

There's some great resources in terms of articles, too:

[NOTE: I've tried to mark all free PDFs, and anything that isn't behind a paywall will be tagged NP]

the ubiquitous wiki article [NP]

the Kate Sharpley library an anarchist library with a lot of essays, pamphlets, and books from a variety of left voices from throughout history, many of which talk about history. [NP]

There's scholarly articles, but some are hidden behind a paywall, I'll list them anyway, on the off chance you have JSTOR:

an article about how the financial industry contributes to military conflict [NP]

a philosophy paper by Zizek about violence in capitalism but he also has his book, Violence online for free as well [free PDF]

• a paper called Prosperity and Violence: the political economy of development [free PDF]

• a paper called America's Culture of Terrorism: violence, capitalism, and the written word

The Gendered Violence of Development: Imaginative geographies of exclusion in the imposition of neo-liberal capitalism

From global capitalism to economic justice: an inquiry into the elimination of systemic poverty, violence and environmental destruction in the world economy [NP]

Violence and the Rise of Capitalism: Frederic C. Lane's Theory of Protection and Tribute

A short history of American capitalism [free PDF]

Violence in capitalism: Devaluing life in an age of responsibility

Violence and social orders: A conceptual framework for interpreting recorded human history by DC North, JJ Wallis, BR Weingast

So then we come to videos, which I'll list even more popular ones on the off chance that you or anyone availing themselves of this resource haven't seen them already. Some of these won't be from "left" sources, because it's important to get an understanding of the reactionary framing of the history of capitalism is critical here, too. I'm going to include videos about Capitalist Realism, both the book and the concept, because it's very relevant to this discussion:

[NOTE: where applicable, I've marked playlists PL]

History of Ideas - Capitalism by School of Life

The History of Capitalism, Feudalism, Slavery, and Marxism by Richard Wolff

American Capitalism - FINALS by Cornell University [PL]

The Accent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World by Niall Ferguson

The Decline Of Feudalism And The Rise of Capitalism Part 1 by The Academic Agent

A History Of Capitalism And Economic Thought by Joyce Applebey

A Brief History Of Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis

A Brief History Of How We Got Here And Why by Mark Blythe

Mark Fisher: Capitalist Realism by Simon Obrek

Marx's Theory Of Capitalism by Yale Courses

Slavery, Capitalism, and the Making of the Modern World by The Watson Institute For International And Public Affs

Freedom and Slavery: The Birth of Modern Capitalism by Socialist Appeal

What Was Liberalism #2: Capitalism and History by PhilosophyTube

The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008) by The Film Archives

Capitalist Realism, Mental Illness, and Societies Of Control by Mad Blender

The Demonstration Of Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher

Christopher Lasch, the Alt-Left, and Capitalist Realism by Zero Books

Democracy In Chains by Nancy Maclean 1

Democracy In Chains by Nancy Maclean 2

Episode 13: Democracy In Chains by Literary Hangover

Democracy In Chains by Nancy Maclean 3

Episode 1622: Democracy In Chains w Nancy Maclean by The Majority Report

Origins Of The Radical Right & The Crisis Of Our Democracy by thisisUIC

The Origins Of The Billionaire-Funded Radical Right & The Crisis Of Our Democracy

Marxism 101: How Capitalism Is Killing Itself with Richard Wolff by Empire Files

Sorry for dropping so much on you, I probably invested way too much time into this, but hopefully there's at least something in here that you'll find useful. Enjoy

u/not_too_old · 7 pointsr/politics

Democracy in Chains is a great book that talks about the Koch network. link

u/39andholding · 5 pointsr/politics

Hanson is the product of decades of investment and infiltration by the Koch brothers into George Mason University. See references below describing the long history of the development of the Right Wing’s plan for reverting our country back to the time and culture of the deep post-Civil War South. Hanson’s ideas have arisen due to the cozy environment created when the university chose money over principle.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/the-architect-of-the-radical-right/528672/

https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/19/despot-disguise-democracy-james-mcgill-buchanan-totalitarian-capitalism

u/Gentleman_Villain · 5 pointsr/esist

If you haven't read Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean, then this article is a good reason for you to do so. The US was 70%+ pro environment in the 70's.

What changed? Koch and his endorsement of James McGill Buchanan's ideology.
Linky: https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966
Which is racist, classist, and generally fucked. But; the money worked.

u/ee4m · 4 pointsr/JordanPeterson

You are very naive about what this small government movement that has been sold to conservatives actually is.

It means limited democracy and no restrictions on the elite, these billionaires arent funding it and bribing all the politicians so you can have more freedom.

They didn't over throw democratically elected leaders and install the right libertarian military dictatorships in latin america so the people could have more freedom.

https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966



Want to know here the rise in the alt right came from, and the mass incarceration in the US came from?


The small government movement.

> Many articles in these newsletters contained statements that were criticized as racist or homophobic. These statements include, "Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal."[8][9][10][11] An October 1992 article said, "even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I’ve urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense... for the animals are coming."[12] Another newsletter suggested that black activists who wanted to rename New York City after Martin Luther King, Jr. should instead rename it "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg," or "Lazyopolis."[2] An article titled "The Pink House" said "I miss the closet. Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities."[2][13][14] Another newsletter asserted that HIV-positive homosexuals "enjoy the pity and attention that comes with being sick" and approved of the slogan "Sodomy=Death."[2]

>A number of the newsletters criticized civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., calling him a pedophile and "lying socialist satyr".[2][15] These articles told readers that Paul had voted against making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a federal public holiday, saying "Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for that pro-communist philanderer, Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressman. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day."[2][16][17] During the 2008 and 2012 presidential election campaigns, Paul and his supporters said that the passages denouncing King were not a reflection of Paul's own views because he considers King a "hero".[18][19][20]

>In a January 2008 article in The New Republic, James Kirchick, who studied hundreds of Paul's newsletters held at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, and at the Wisconsin Historical Society, wrote that the newsletters "reveal decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays".[2][21] The newsletters also criticized the state of Israel. One investment letter called Israel “an aggressive, national socialist state”; a 1990 newsletter discussed the “tens of thousands of well-placed friends of Israel in all countries who are willing to work for the Mossad in their area of expertise”; one quoted a "Jewish friend" who said the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a "setup by the Israeli Mossad".[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul_newsletters


Its fascism dressed up as freedom.

u/bullcitytarheel · 4 pointsr/worldnews

Haha - my girlfriend keeps telling me to start a YouTube channel. Personally, I think she just wants me to rant around the house less lol. But I've been thinking about putting something together - the lovely response from Redditors when I post comments like this make me think it might have a chance to be a successful way of getting the message out.

But if you're interested in reading about this stuff here are a few books by the people with real talent who did all the investigative legwork that I'm just repeating:

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307947904/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_V2.xDbT0G7T9Q

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101980966/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_23.xDbQ9EHJR5

u/dmoni002 · 3 pointsr/neoliberal

> public choice theory

is a Koch brothers proposal!

No but seriously public choice is perfect for looking into MIC. My dad is government and works around the Norfolk naval base area and all the anecdotes I've heard detailing the extent of project mismanagement, union graft, and overall government waste were unfathomable - and that's just a relatively small sliver of the whole.

u/ThatFargoDude · 2 pointsr/politics

> Shit... The religious right was formed to stop integration.

So was modern "Libertarianism". The economist James Buchanan is a right-wing villain more people need to know about.

u/FockerCRNA · 1 pointr/politics

Its worse than that, read "Democracy in Chains" (written by a historian) to see that this systematic destruction of our democracy has been slowly progressing for much longer.

u/D74248 · 1 pointr/politics

You may find Democracy in Chains to be even more informative, if depressing.

Here

They truly are scum. And I say that as someone who used to be Republican.

u/Five_Decades · 1 pointr/AskALiberal

Read the book 'democracy in chains', it goes into the philosophical underpinning of the modern GOP.

Endgame is to restrict democracy as much as possible (they would prefer to go back to a time when only property owning white men could vote) since their ideas are very unpopular and then to turn the US into a corporate oligarchy. Remove as many taxes and regulations on the rich/powerful as possible while also removing the entire social safety net, while also keeping a lot of laws and restrictions limiting people's ability to fight back against their agenda (gerrymandering, stacked courts, voter suppression, anti-union laws, anti free speech laws, corporate media).

The end game is to turn the US into Chile under Pinochet. Remove all laws and taxes on the rich, and create very draconian laws governing everyone else so they can't rebel in any meaningful way (taking away their voting rights, their ability to protest, their ability to organize into unions, their ability to share ideas etc). The modern GOP doesn't believe in small government, they want a very powerful and influential government to suppress and neutralize the riff raff so they can't fight back against corporate oligarchy.

https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Chains-History-Radical-Stealth/dp/1101980966

u/FoldingUnder · 0 pointsr/atheism

It's just a way to get monkeys out to vote. I'm sure there is big money behind Kavanaugh.
I think Nancy MacLean wrote a very good book on the subject: Democracy In Chains

u/victoitor · -1 pointsr/brasil

Link para o livro fonte. Caso alguém queira pesquisar por conta própria sobre o conteúdo do livro.