Me too. And I think many observers within and outside the United States also wonder what’s going on. So, it’s fortunate we have Evil Geniuses by Kurt Andersen, a book that goes a long way toward unpacking and making sense of the modern American polity, where it comes from and where it might be headed.
The OED defines a conspiracy as “a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful”, and a conspiracy theory as “a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event.” And yes, Virginia, there really are conspiracies. Of course, my first thought was that it had to be those dastardly Anunnaki causing trouble for our great neighbour to the south, but then I’d just be taking pot-shots at geckos all day. On the other hand, Kurt Andersen’s book convincingly details actual individuals and groups behind a decades-long, concerted effort to dismantle Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation and subsequent post WWII liberal initiatives.
THE ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION came to power during the Great Depression of 1930’s America, and began what Andersen calls a “second phase” of progressive legislative activity aimed at reining in the most egregious practices of big business and financial elites of the time. The “first wave” occurred during the “Progressive Era” in the 1890s through the efforts of “muckraking” journalists and continued under the administration of Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin’s cousin, who was President from 1901 to 1909.
By the turn of the century, the pendulum had swung in favour of the working class, following decades of elite wealth accumulation, which had culminated in an era of extreme income disparity known as the Gilded Age of late nineteenth century. During this period, anti-trust legislation was enacted by Teddy Roosevelt who became known as the “Trust-buster” president, and laws around food and product safety, working conditions, forty-hour workweeks, etc., were initiated.
Of course, rich elites didn’t acquiesce graciously, nor for long, because they almost immediately began to challenge “New Deal” legislation and reforms, though its legacy would remain strong for decades still, with additional progressive legislation brought forward by Lyndon Johnson in the early 1960s. During postwar America, on average, the working class prospered, accumulating enough wealth to establish households and homes, along with having public benefits like Old Age Security, unemployment insurance, worker pension plans, healthcare benefits, public schools, and libraries, etc. Income inequality was tamped down to a considerable extent through progressive income tax schemes that saw taxes for the wealthy set at much higher rates than in the past (and today). The most egregious elements of Capitalism, that had run rampant during the Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties in America, were for the most part brought to heel by New Deal policies and other progressive legislation. Social unrest caused by economic disparity was far less during this period. But that would not last.
RICH ELITES , AS A BODY, hated the 60s. Long hair and beads, drugs, free sex, pornography, disrespect for family, church, and civic traditions. It was too much. And some of them said: “Enough!” And took action. The pendulum was beginning to swing back. Andersen points out that one of the foundational structures of the new Right was a new economic model to serve its interests.
At the University of Chicago during 60s, economist Milton Friedman (later chair of the Federal Reserve under Reagan) developed and espoused what came to be called the “Friedman Doctrine” that had as its core principle the absolute right and “correctness” for companies to maximize profits and shareholder wealth, and to let business do business. This scheme was the way forward to grow the American economy and create wealth for all (or just for some, as it turned out in practice). His writings and teachings were highly influential during this period. And like-minded begets the like-minded.
Another “evil genius” in the growing Chicago
school of economics was the Austrian economist, Fredrich Hayek, whose new theory
of economics, “Free-market Capitalism”, had as its unwavering mantra of letting
markets “decide”, maintaining open markets, and most of all, keeping governments
out of business. Today, we call this energetic, new formulation of capitalism “neo-liberal
economics”. Under Reagan in the United States and Margret Thatcher in Britain,
neoliberalism flourished, as did rich elites. “Greed is good” was the barely
concealed subtext. The working class and increasingly the middle
class saw their wages and salaries stagnate, and jobs become automated or disappear
overseas. Increasing corporate profits and increasing shareholder wealth became the only goals of big business.
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| Michael Douglas as "Gordon Gekko" |
AND FROM THE RANKS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION a lawyer named Lewis Powell (later serving on the Supreme Court) issued a memo, in 1971, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that was an unabashed “call to arms” for corporate America to reassert its dominance in the American polity. He gave a detailed analysis of how this was to be accomplished, and many elites who read his report (it was widely distributed by the Chamber of Commerce) took his suggestions to heart. It came to be known as the “Powell Memo”.
THUS, armed with a new type of economic activity and a growing consensus within elite circles that change was the order of the day, as well as funding from the billionaire class, battle lines were soon drawn.
Andersen meticulously follows "the money trail” laid
out by Powell, showing how rich oligarchs began to endow schools of business and
economics in the universities, as well as creating scholarships, research grants, think tanks and
institutes, lobbying firms, and buying up news and media outlets, as well as contributing to the election
campaigns of like-minded legislators. It was class warfare, often by stealth and behind the scenes: by sponsoring this academic's work or creating that think tank; supporting the political aspirations of conservative-minded politicians, legal scholars and jurists, or lobbying for changes to campaign finance, tax law, trade practices, anti-anti-trust laws, etc., etc.
It was a “long game” played for the highest stakes by elites, and it paid off as the Overton Window* of American politics gradually shifted to the right, so that, by the time Bill Clinton became president in 1991, anti-working-class policies like “free” trade, bank and securities "deregulation", welfare “reform”, changes to tax codes, “right to work” legislation, etc. were increasingly more acceptable to a supposedly left-of-centre Democratic Party, an institution that once touted itself as the champion of everyday people. And this rightward drift continues to the present day, with Andersen highlighting the various "evil geniuses” and their organizations, think tanks, publications, politicians, etc., all promoting and safeguarding conservative elite agendas.
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| Kurt Andersen |
Today, Andersen says the time is ripe for another shift, given the economic fallout from the 2008 housing crash and the pandemic, but will it be a "doubling down" on the part of the Right** or a pendulum swing to the Left? As they say, the jury is still out.
Cheers, Jake.
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* “The Overton Window of political possibility is the range of ideas the public is willing to consider and accept.
In the United States, the idea of different races mixing in public, or women’s suffrage were once considered fringe, extreme policies. That they’re now deemed common sense, reflects progress in shifting the Overton window.
A politician seeking to maximize their chances of re-election should determine where the Overton window for key policy issues is, via public opinion polls and other means, so they can successfully campaign on those ideas.”
https://conceptually.org/concepts/overton-window
** Not forgetting that the "Right" in today's America includes much of the Democratic Party, that can described as right-of-centre, for the most part.
An additional irony demonstrating the Right-wing's capture of American jurisprudence is the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision of 2010 that saw corporations being granted the same legal standing as persons under the law, and having the same access to "free speech" protections. This allowed the absurd situation whereby corporations can freely donate hundreds of millions of dollars to so-called "Super PACs" (Political Action Committees), in support of political candidates of their choice--all under the rubric of "free speech". Because corporations are people, too! 😒
[It's time to house train those puppies! Ed.]
Andersen, Kurt. Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America—A Recent History. Random House, New York, 2020.
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