About this episode
The episode discusses the role of the wealthy in democracy, challenging the notion that billionaires are a threat to democratic values.
We live in a moment when billionaires are almost universally cast as a problem: A threat to democracy. A symptom of everything wrong with modern capitalism. In his new book Why Democracy Needs the Rich John McGinnis argues that the wealthy are not the enemies of democracy. They are, in fact, among its most important defenders. Attacking them may do far more democratic damage than we think. At what point does private wealth become not a democratic asset but a democratic threat? And what can technology, AI, wealth and power do to democracy in the future? These are among the questions Mathilde Fasting discusses with her guest, John O. McGinnis, Professor of Constitutional Law at Northwestern University. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Mathilde Fasting
Guest: John O. McGinnis
Topics covered
- democracy
- wealth
- capitalism
- technology
- AI
- politics
Keywords
- democracy
- wealth
- billionaires
- capitalism
- technology
- AI
- John McGinnis
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Northwestern University
Books & works: Why Democracy Needs the Rich
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