(Conversation recorded on October 17th, 2024)
Show Summary
As the trust in the U.S. presidential election process continues to be in question, alongside growing polarization and dwindling good-faith conversations, the precarity of our democratic systems is becoming increasingly worrisome. Amongst the rising tensions, calls for civility are sorely needed – regardless of who wins.
In this conversation, Nate is joined by former Congressman Richard Gephardt to discuss the importance of democracy as a system of self-governance, as well as the need for respecting differing views in order to keep that system intact. Richard highlights the unique historical context of U.S. democracy, emphasizing the ongoing commitment of citizen participation required for its survival.
How can we encourage bipartisan collaboration and compromise toward effective policy action beyond the current election cycle? In what ways do our rapidly evolving information systems, including social media and artificial intelligence, deepen our political divides? Despite the domestic and global challenges facing us, is there hope for the future of the American “democratic experiment”?
About Richard Gephardt
Richard Gephardt is an attorney, author, lobbyist, and politician who served 28 years in the United States House of Representatives. He is the President and CEO of the Gephardt Group, where he works to inspire a new understanding of citizenship based on activism to bring about economic, social, and political change.
Gephardt previously served as the United States House Majority Leader (1989-1995) and House Minority Leader (1995-2003). He is the author of three books, including An Even Better Place and The American Immigrant: The Outsiders.
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
00:00 – Richard Gephardt info, prior TGS Episode
01:10 – Advance Policy
02:39 – Tristan Harris, TGS Episode
04:06 – 1979 US Constitution
04:19 – Athenian Democracy + Roman Republic
06:10 – A republic if you can keep it
08:42 – Churchill quote on democracy
11:00 – Growing partisan hostility
11:30 – Trust in election results
15:50 – 2004 voting conspiracies Ohio
16:50 – Proportion of Republicans who believe Biden’s win was illegitimate
17:15 – Lawsuits regarding the 2020 election
17:49 – Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election
18:45 – Swing states
19:15 – Gerrymandering + Redistricting in different states
20:43 – Ranked Choice Voting
25:20 – The printing press and witch hunts
26:47 – Radio and the rise of the Nazis
27:50 – Social media algorithms
28:33 – Aza Raskin, TGS Episode
28:53 – Center for Humane Technology
29:00 – Project Liberty + bid for TikTok
38:58 – John McCain
39:59 – Campaign finance reform
41:05 – Institute for Civic and Community Engagement
42:00 – 535 Not 1
46:36 – US voter turnout
48:13 – Clausewitz
49:14 – The Sunni-Shia divide
52:36 – US debt
53:20 – US Federal spending
Comments
Welcome to the new Resillience commenting system!
We have moved from the former Disqus commenting system to a new system as of September 10, 2026.
We made this change because of privacy concerns regarding Disqus. It's also part of a set of changes to bring more services to the Resilience community under a single login: commenting, (coming September 2026), and online courses (coming 2027). Unfortunately, your old Disqus comments may not reliably link to your account in this new system. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
No one can win elections. If this discussion typifies the current ideology and level of understanding of the Post Carbon Institute I am discouraged and skeptical. It has been a long time since the American public was enabled and allowed to participate in domestic or foreign policy. Even elderly Jimmy Carter understands we are living in an extreme plutocracy/oligarchy. Most of what Nate presents amounts to a bourgeois fantasy soaked in exceptionality and entitlement. The primary reason we are being forced into authoritarian totalitarianism is that wealth has been increasingly concentrated over a long period of time. The US Constitution is an elitist document favoring the rich that was written in a time of slavery with only propertied white male voters. We were destined for this impasse from day one.It's not just that political opponents are not respected.
We have a political economy that is illegitimate and unworthy of respect. The lethal lack of respect comes from a tiny wealthy minority (0.01%) having the ability to legally implement polices and projects that have no regard for nature and basic human needs. Both parties are in fact structurally illegitimate. We're not playing a football game. We're facing extinction. And it's mighty late in the process. Order under law becomes impossible once law abiding people can't survive. We are reaching that condition. Elections may have been intended as a way to apportion opportunity and resources fairly and efficiently, but voting becomes irrelevant once that collapses, and it has. All this talking shop about a lost/obsolete political regime is only hot air. Being polite to a guy with an assault weapon doesn't matter very much. We're all Palestinians now. Dick Gephardt is a goner. Nate Hagens is not a good reporter. He sounds to me like an investor, promoting schemes and dreams.
I’m sorry you feel that way, Red Hornet.
It’s hard to avoid feeling hopeless and helpless in the current situation, especially for those of us who are old and tired.
My strategy is to focus on those thiings that I can control, in which some success is possible.
I was painting the 250 square foot surface of my front porch floor just after I critiqued Nate and Dear Leader Gephardt, and I completed that task with good results Sunday. From that I'm tired, but not from my fight against fascism, and complicity to fascism. In front of my house the Trump Train rolls by, less than 25 feet away. Meanwhile you're feeling your supposed insularity up in Canada, maybe reading the Tyee. Resilience exhibits a Forrest Gump attitude, that life is their box of chocolates, that while you can't know the future it will not be so bad. I'm gonna open the box for you. What the world will get after Trump's demise is J.D. Vance, an unknown but predictable piece of fudge, that will make Calvin Coolidge seem a Godsend. He's an employee of Peter Thiel, a billionaire citizen of Germany and New Zealand who founded PayPal and Palantir. He is a Pal who will make us Pay. A lawyer and Right-Libertarian philosopher, Thiel subscribes to "mimetic theory" and so believes people are only "monkey see:monkey dos." Here is the core belief of memetics:
"The scapegoat mechanism has one requirement for it to be effective in restoring the peace; all participants in the removal of the scapegoat must genuinely believe that he is guilty. It is also essential that the scapegoat cannot strike back afterwards, so it is common for him to be killed. Once he is gone, peace will quickly be restored, further confirming his "guilt". However, the scapegoat is chosen arbitrarily. The resulting peace is borne from violence, and this form of violence controlling violence has existed since the beginning of civilizations." (from Wikipedia)
If scapegoats can also be human categories we can anticipate how your chocolate will taste.