By Brad Swanson:
Celebrated author Nancy MacLean visits our region on Wed. Oct. 3 for a free presentation on her prize-winning book “Democracy in Chains:The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America ” .
MacLean’s book has won prestigious awards and she has earned national prominence — including this recent appearance with Bill Maher — for exposing an organized campaign by radical libertarians to seize the agendas of the nation’s universities, political institutions and judicial system, aided by the open wallets of the Koch brothers.
The presentation is 7:30 – 9 pm on Wednesday October 3rd at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax at 2709 Hunter Mill Road in Oakton, VA 22124. (Directions here).
Sign up to reserve a seat here.
The radical right seeks to destroy public faith in institutions in order to protect the power of the 1%. They work assiduously to promote a national agenda that undercuts our democracy. And the evidence of their success is everywhere, from the White House to classrooms, courtrooms and state assemblies.
While their plan is national, our own George Mason University is ground zero. Funded by the Kochs and like-minded wealthy donors, GMU’s right wing think tanks continue the work of their founder, economist James M. Buchanan, who laid the intellectual framework and created the strategy for the radical right’s assault on democratic values.
In fact, GMU’s continuing ties to Charles Koch led to a lawsuit seeking to open the books on financial gifts to the GMU Foundation, and an admission by GMU that some GMU donor agreements with the Koch family “fall short of the standards of academic independence.”
But that is only a small component of the far-reaching campaign to turn back the clock and turn over power to a plutocratic elite — a campaign we must resist.
Author MacLean is a distinguished history professor at Duke University and winner of a dozen prizes and awards for her publications. Her book, a finalist for the National Book Award, while shocking, is deeply rooted in original research. It is scholarship at its best.
The event is organized by The Blue View and sponsored by our publisher, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee
For further information, contact us at newsletter@fairfaxdemocrats.org
Reserve a free seat today!
Brad Swanson is the editor of The Blue View. He is an international investment manager and previously worked as a diplomat and journalist.