Billionaire-backed radical-right networks manipulate politics through clandestine think tanks.
Evidence
Historian Nancy MacLean and journalist Jane Mayer document hidden operations of radical-right ideologues and their billionaire backers who command unlimited funds for the purposes of political and public manipulation, relying on clandestine networks of think tanks, donor organizations, and media outlets to skillfully exploit citizen unrest and drive it toward extremist views. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1768
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels the surveillance-capitalism apparatus Zuboff describes — hidden manipulation of populations toward ends they didn’t choose — suggesting a shared playbook across economic and political domains. — connects to: The Tea Party fused astroturfing with grassroots entrepreneurship into a self-propagating franchise — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 908; Neoliberal think tanks were designed to influence elites rather than politicians — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 576; Neoliberal ‘spontaneous order’ rhetoric masked deliberately orchestrated institutional networks — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 2114 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Neoliberal ‘spontaneous order’ rhetoric masked deliberately orchestrated institutional networks
#corroborates(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2114 - Ousted neoliberal officials retained power through think tanks and civil society
#exemplifies(0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1616 - The early neoliberal network deliberately concealed its political-bias intentions from the public
#corroborates(0.78) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1829 - Neoliberal think tanks were designed to influence elites rather than politicians
#qualifies(0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 576 - Liberal framing of the good-bad Muslim divide enables right-wing conspiracy theories
#responds-to(0.72)