The Social Justice Discussion Group will meet on Friday, November 21 at 1:30 pm on Zoom to consider three articles related to the book Dark Money, by Jane Mayer.

This well-researched book challenges the notion that grassroots organizing and an organic antipathy towards big government led to today’s conservative movement. Instead, Mayer, who writes for The New Yorker, recounts the four-decade funding influx from billionaire donors that was used to strategically influence our political system. They created foundations that could accept anonymous donations; set up think tanks and university research centers; and underwrote (unfounded) smear campaigns against targeted candidates.

We will be discussing the following articles related to the book:

1) A 2016 NPR Fresh Air interview transcript that describes the genesis and evolution of a secretive network of megadonors seeking to influence elections and policies.

2) A 2010 New Yorker article by Mayer that reflects her research for the book (published in 2016) and explains how the Koch brothers “created” and funded the Tea Party movement.

3) A 2021 NPR Fresh Air interview with Mayer that reveals “big money” efforts to defend the lies about the 2020 elections and further influence election legislation and policies.

Additional suggested readings include:

* "Is This the End of Big Money Politics?" by Mayer, published in The New Yorker, 2016, describes a donation strategy to influence senate and house elections and the Supreme Court

* An engaging Democracy Now interview with Mayer (transcript) about Dark Money, 2016

* "They see themselves as heroes, instead people are saying they’re manipulating American politics; Jane Mayer on the method behind the Koch brothers’ brilliant madness," Salon (digital) Magazine, 2016, an excellent review of Dark Money

* "The Big Money Behind the Big Lie," by Mayer, published in The New Yorker, 2021, describes funding efforts to bolster public belief that the 2020 election was flawed.

* "Inside the Koch-Based Effort to Block the Largest Election Reform Bill in Half a Century," by Mayer, published in The New Yorker, 2021, describes strategies used by large donors to thwart voting legislation popular with the public.