An interview by Mark Karlin, Truthout magazine, with writer Nancy MacLean, who’s book ‘Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America’ shines a light on the work of economist James McGill Buchanan who’s work inspired the Koch brothers, among others.
If you have the nerve after 6+ months of Trump, you should read it here.
“Buchanan convened corporate and rightwing leaders to teach them how to use what he called the “spectrum of secession” to undercut hard-won reforms through measures that have now become core to Republican practice: decentralization, devolution, federalism, privatization, and deregulation. We tend to see the race to the bottom as fallout from globalization, but Buchanan’s guidance and the Koch team’s application of it through the American Legislative Exchange Council and the State Policy Network reveals how it is in fact a highly conscious strategy to free capital of restraint by the people through their governments.”
I was sleepless last night, there was a connection I was trying to make between the current rush to voter suppression and other manipulations of our democracy, such as gerrymandering the GOP is pressing on us in various “red” states.
I thought of this post and followed the link to read the truthout interview with Nancy McLean, and she filled in the blanks for me again. I’m surprised I forgot this in the 4 years since I read it.