LAL #029 — The 2021 Commission on Domestic Discontent: Who Should Be On It?

<p>Calls for a commission to study the January 6 “insurrection” at the Capitol present an interesting opportunity to take a long and sustained look at what ails the American republic. But the Commission needs to ask the right questions.</p> <p>And? It needs to be staffed by the right scholars.<br /> <br /> In this podcast, I provide what I believe to be the proper framing and focus of the Commission, and propose a structure for how to answer the most important question and who should be tasked accordingly. Here's an outline of that structure: </p> <p>Chapter 1 — The Presidential Election of 2016</p> <ul> <li>Joseph Uscinski's "<a href= "https://www.amazon.com/American-Conspiracy-Theories-Joseph-Uscinski/dp/0199351813">American Conspiracy Theories</a>" </li> </ul> <p>Chapter 2 — Big Tech Communications</p> <ul> <li>Shoshana Zuboff's "<a href= "https://www.amazon.com/s?k=age+of+surveillance+capitalism&i=stripbooks&crid=149A0CUKYI2KV&sprefix=Age+of+Sur%2Cstripbooks%2C160&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_10">Age of Surveillance Capitalism</a>"</li> </ul> <p>Chapter 3 — Is Hate Speech on the Rise?</p> <ul> <li>Daryl Johnson's "<a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Hateland-Long-Americas-Extremist-Heart-ebook/dp/B07FJLHJ7F">Hateland: A Long, Hard Look at America's Extremist Heart</a>"</li> <li>Anne Case and Angus Deaton's "<a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Despair-Future-Capitalism-Anne-ebook/dp/B08K3TW9QX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q7KBH6195OZ0&dchild=1&keywords=deaths+of+despair+and+the+future+of+capitalism&qid=1622124615&s=digital-text&sprefix=Deaths+of+Des%2Cdigital-text%2C169&sr=1-1">Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism</a>"</li> </ul> <p>Chapter 4 — What is the Crisis of Legitimacy?</p> <ul> <li>Paul Reitter and Chad Wellmon's work in the <a href= "https://www.chronicle.com/article/max-weber-invented-the-crisis-of-the-humanities/"> Chronicle of Higher Education</a> re: Max Weber's seminal, "Politics as a Vocation"</li> </ul> <p>Chapter 5 — The Role of the 2020 Pandemic in Lessening the Bonds of Civil Association</p> <ul>