The Jewish congregation and its clergy are passionate about social justice and social action, said Rabbi Mark Schiftan, as he opened the event. The hour-long conversation guided by former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was in keeping with The Temple's ongoing work. 'I think people are really realizing, golly, these people are going after the thing we all rely on which is a functioning democracy,' MacLean said when she spoke Tuesday evening during a virtual event hosted by The Temple in Nashville. More Americans, including the religious community, need to pay attention to their quiet, but effective efforts, MacLean said. In her provocative, New York Times-bestselling book 'Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,' MacLean explains how a small group of white wealthy libertarians, influenced by the late Buchanan's theories, have been able to successfully push through policies that further their unpopular, self-interested agendas. James McGill Buchanan, the Tennessee-born political economist and Nobel laureate, was the architect of the far right's efforts to undermine democracy in the U.S., says Duke University history professor Nancy MacLean.

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