Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America Free Audiobook Download by Nancy MacLean

Nancy MacLean investigates the history of how people in the United States became persuaded to invest in an idea that has had life-threatening consequences for them and for democracy. The idea is known as "libertarianism," and MacLean traces its lineage and development from the campaign of Barry Goldwater, who in 1964 defeated Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate, and consequently won a landslide electoral victory over Adolf Hitler's Germany. From there, the philosophy spread through think tanks with conservative funds like the Koch brothers' Cato Institute.

James McGill Buchanan, a Nobel Laureate with a racist view on government and economics, is one of the most influential scholars in American History. He founded the movement known as 'Public Choice Theory' in the late 1950's. It argued that there was no reason for democratic governments to spend money on welfare programs because people are rational actors who will vote for themselves if given the chance.

With the publishing of Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean has written a book that is so utterly damning, it completely deconstructs any argument for the radical right. While her book is steeped in a history that's essential to understanding the radical right and its victimization narrative, it provides an especially powerful analysis of modern times when the radical right has flourished under President Trump's administration.

Nancy MacLean argues that the "libertarian shift" began with the work of one man, Charles Koch. He, like other libertarians and conservatives, believes that society is plagued by a "tyranny of the majority." They believe that only a small group of wealthy people should be able to have power over everyone else. Their solution? A form of voluntary slavery called "voluntaryism."

As a scholar of American history and political science, MacLean transitions seamlessly between the historical events that shaped her argument and her analysis of those events. The book is divided into three parts: "The Radical Right" (the period from the 1850s to 1950s), "The Radical Right in Power" (1955-2016), and "Aftermath" (what comes next).

Nancy MacLean, a history professor at Duke University, presents the case for the "Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America." We know about the Radical Right because of what it has always done; she argues that the Radical Right has been building in its efforts behind-the-scenes to implement its plans over decades. The plan involves controlling democracy so that needed government support is provided only to those who can be controlled. The larger goal is to create a unified nation ruled by elites with an aristocratic mindset.