Ep 140: Is ‘Democracy’ a Scam? with Laurie Calhoun

Ep 140: Is ‘Democracy’ a Scam? with Laurie Calhoun  

In this episode I welcome back Laurie Calhoun, an author and senior fellow at the Libertarian Institute. Laurie published a recent article at the Libertarian Institute entitled “Sham-ocracy, Scam-ocracy” in which she explores how the rhetoric of democracy has been used in pursuit of very anti-democratic ends. We discuss how democracy theoretically means ‘the rule of the people’ and how the political and media class as co-opted it to mean something much different. We explore how ‘Russiagate’, the Trump trials, and his attempted assassination are undemocratic, how European challengers to right-wing political parties claims they are a threat to democracy, and Trump’s own failure to embody democracy during his presidency. She then explains how war is the greatest threat to democracy, how both parties participate in the warfare state, why the Cold War and the War on Terror were not democratic, and if World War II can properly be described as a ‘just’ war. We close by reflecting on the downsides of Democracy and the need for constitutional restraints and free speech.

Additional Resources

• https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/sham-ocracy-scam-ocracy/
• Laurie Calhoun at the Libertarian Institute: https://libertarianinstitute.org/author/lcalhoun/
• Blog: https://thedroneage.wordpress.com/
• Laurie on X: @laurielcalhoun
• Mises Article on French Elections: https://mises.org/power-market/warmongers-win-french-legislative-election-while-everyone-else-loses