How do we take our democracy back from the oligarchs and build a livable future? When we’re up against all the money in the world, what is our leverage? And what does an economy based on human dignity look like? Economist Isabella Weber joins Gaslit Nation to discuss the urgent answers in her new book, Anti-Fascist Economics: In Defense of Affordability, Dignity, and Democracy.
Weber grew up in Nuremberg, Germany, an ancient city–important for the Holy Roman Empire–which is why the Nazis chose it to launch the Third Reich, with their racist Nuremberg Laws and fascist pageantry rallies. Witnessing the scars of that nightmare, she studied the history of how business elites empower fascism to crush workers and keep them in line. History repeats today with American oligarchs and high-powered law firms cozying up to Trump as his goon squad, ICE, disappears people off the street, and to concentration camps, and his regime weaponizes the government against dissidents and elections.
We discuss the oligarchs’ revolt of threatening to leave states that dare to force them to pay their fair share in taxes, how FDR won the war against wannabe oligarchs as a national security urgency of protecting democracy, the chilling legacy of Joe McCarthy’s Red Scare, how to confront the weaponization of greed used by Russian oligarchs to hijack democracies, and much more. To listen to our full discussion, grab your discounted annual membership at Patreon.com/Gaslit or GaslitNation.Substack.com – thank you to everyone who supports our independent journalism during these difficult times. It means a lot.
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Show Notes:
Anti-Fascist Economics, by Isabella Weber https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804175/anti-fascist-economics-by-isabella-weber/
Isabella Weber on Anti-Fascist Economics: https://www.isabellaweber.com/anti-fascist-economics
Germany’s Far-Right Achieves an Electoral Breakthrough in Key State Election https://www.wunc.org/2026-09-06/germanys-far-right-achieves-an-electoral-breakthrough-in-key-state-election
Sheinbaum, Business Sector Agree to Lower Basic Food Prices https://mexiconewsdaily.com/?p=409456
Oil Companies Made $200 Billion in Profits in 2022. Here’s How https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/03/03/oil-companies-made-200-billion-in-profits-in-2022.html
Address at Madison Square Garden, October 31, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-madison-square-garden-new-york-city-1
Political Aspects of Full Employment, by Michał Kalecki https://mronline.org/2010/05/22/political-aspects-of-full-employment/
Mark Zuckerberg Makes Deal With Meta to Help Him Pay California Billionaire Tax, If It Passes https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ap-top-news/2026/10/22/mark-zuckerberg-makes-deal-with-meta-to-help-him-pay-california-billionaire-tax-if-it-passes0
Meta Apologizes After Suspending “No Kings” Instagram Account https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2026/10/19/meta-apologizes-after-suspending-no-kings-instagram-account
Trump’s DOJ Investigating Suspiciously Well-Timed Trades https://thedailybeast.com/trumps-doj-investigating-suspiciously-well-timed-trades/
Mysterious Trading Patterns Follow Trump Into War https://axios.com/2026/03/25/trump-iran-oil-insider-trading
The Rise of End Times Fascism, by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Article 1 https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html
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This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.