Dark Money
How a secretive group of billionaires is trying to buy political control in the US
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Dark Money
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Narrated by:
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Laurel Lefkow
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By:
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Jane Mayer
About this listen
One of The New York Times' top 10 books of 2016.
Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality? Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again? Why have protections for employees been decimated? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers?
The conventional answer is that a popular uprising against "big government" led to the ascendancy of a broad-based conservative movement. But as Jane Mayer shows in this powerful, meticulously reported history, a network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views bankrolled a systematic, step-by-step plan to fundamentally alter the American political system.
The network has brought together some of the richest people on the planet. Their core beliefs - that taxes are a form of tyranny; that government oversight of business is an assault on freedom - are sincerely held. But these beliefs also advance their personal and corporate interests: many of their companies have run afoul of federal pollution, worker safety, securities, and tax laws. The chief figures in the network are Charles and David Koch, whose father made his fortune in part by building oil refineries in Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany. The patriarch later was a founding member of the John Birch Society, whose politics were so radical it believed Dwight Eisenhower was a communist. The brothers were schooled in a political philosophy that asserted the only role of government is to provide security and to enforce property rights.
When libertarian ideas proved decidedly unpopular with voters, the Koch brothers and their allies chose another path. If they pooled their vast resources, they could fund an interlocking array of organizations that could work in tandem to influence and ultimately control academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress, and, they hoped, the presidency. Richard Mellon Scaife, the mercurial heir to banking and oil fortunes, had the brilliant insight that most of their political activities could be written off as tax-deductible "philanthropy".
These organizations were given innocuous names such as Americans for Prosperity. Funding sources were hidden whenever possible. This process reached its apotheosis with the allegedly populist Tea Party movement, abetted mightily by the Citizens United decision - a case conceived of by legal advocates funded by the network.
The political operatives the network employs are disciplined, smart, and at times ruthless. Mayer documents instances in which people affiliated with these groups hired private detectives to impugn whistle-blowers, journalists, and even government investigators. And their efforts have been remarkably successful.
Dark Money is an audiobook that must be heard by anyone who cares about the future of American democracy.
©2016 Jane Mayer (P)2017 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about Dark Money
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gregory Monk
- 19-07-17
A book to understand why we are where we are
Where does Dark Money rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Towards the top as it is both an important historical documentation that perfectly describes why we are where we are right now and there were no issues at all with the narration.
Who was your favorite character and why?
It was a book of villains.
Any additional comments?
I found this book particularly useful in both expanding my knowledge on political framing and also for seeing the Libertarian movement for what it is, at the top level.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Neil Green
- 09-03-18
Excellent book about an important topic.
This book is very well written and appears well researched. A wake up call to anyone who cares about democracy.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Neil
- 06-02-18
Follow the money
A bone-chilling account of how a small group of millionaires have shifted US politics to the right.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Tony Murphy
- 15-10-18
The Real Conspiracy. control of democracy.
A lesson in how to control a country and subvert democracy using money to mis inform the electorate and undermine the opposition. ideas promoted in other recommended books such as Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean; books by Naomi Klein; eg The Shock Doctrine, No is Not Enough, and How Democracies Die by Levitsky and Ziblatt
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Fishforreal
- 21-06-18
Illuminaing
A very interesting sweep of the rise of interest groups and their networks. I found the narrator's delivery very good as well.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mister Peridot
- 03-10-17
Important study of US politics
Laurel Lefkow does a great job of reading Jane Mayer's study of the Koch brothers' brigade and their extremist right-wing crusade. This an important book and has been acknowledged as such by the NY Times and various other open minded parts of the media. Its important to be reminded again and again how self-serving some very successful people are and how it is they see themselves. Jane Mayer's book does a brilliant job of just that, documenting in well researched detail just what these people have been up to. And clearly they are not finished yet. In a way its a modern version of how men since time immemorial have bidden to rule the world in their own image. Such a foolish and ephemeral quest!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Briony
- 02-06-23
Terrifying
If just some of this fascinating book is a true unbiased account of the state of American politics then God forbid.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- fuse
- 20-07-17
Excellent
It was not as tedious as I thought it might be. I was always Intrigued about big money influence in politics in general and in particular America. Well worth listening to.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Heather Harris-Phillips
- 18-06-21
American democracy on the auction block?
I learnt so much from this book. I have decided to read more instead of listening to the talking heads on TV and podcast program. Thanks Jane.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rafal
- 01-11-21
Roots of America's polarization unveiled
Suddenly everything that's been happening in the USA has become clear. The fossil fuel industry pollutes politics as much as it pollutes the environment. The rich are running the poor into the ground and the whole world will suffer the consequences.
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